One of the story lines that followed the Toronto Blue Jays all season was the retirement of the legendary Cito Gaston. A man who achieved near-cult status in Toronto after guiding the Jays to two World Series victories in the early 1990s, Gaston emerged from the golf courses of southern Florida to rescue the drowning 2008 version of the squad.

Gaston felt he was treated wrongly his last time around (he was fired a few years after the team won the world titles) but this time it was all about respect and giving him the goodbye tour he never received.

The year progressed with no serious talk of ever removing Gaston from his post as manager mid-season, a debate that arises in moments of frustration for nearly every single team.

The 2010 playing season — a spectacular success for the Jays by any standard — concluded at home with “Thank You Cito Night,” which saw players from the glory days return for a moving on-field ceremony before the game.

The hoopla sheltered a more urgent issue from public view for much of the season.

Who will lead the Jays post-Gaston now that another window for the team to be genuinely competitive appears at hand?

The question appears to be answered in the form of John Farrell, the 48-year-old Boston Red Sox pitching coach with a universal reputation for competence and zero professional managing experience. The search dates back to August and has been both rigorous and methodical, so Farrell is well-vetted.

There’s an impressive list of candidates who came close, sort of close, and were considered albeit not very seriously. Out of the running near the end was Rob Thomson, the Ontario-born New York Yankees first base coach; Bobby Valentine, a legendary figure from baseball’s yesterday that it seems was not too seriously considered; and Juan Samuel and Don Baylor, both of whom were endorsed by Gaston personally.

The often-accurate website MLBTradeRumors.com reported as recently as several days ago that the leading candidates were Red Sox coach DeMarlo Hale, in addition to Farrell, and Sandy Alomar Sr, brother of Jays’ heyday second baseman Roberto Alomar Jr.

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One name that doesn’t seem to have been fitted neatly into either category is that of Brian Butterfield, the Blue Jays’ long-time third-base coach.

Butter, as he’s known, has survived several managerial changes, which is a feat nearly unheard of in professional baseball (newly hired managers are usually permitted to bring in their own coaching staff).

It speaks to how highly he is regarded not only by his peers, but by the players he coaches. He is widely credited with nurturing many young Jays’ infielders into big league defensive stars, including standout second basemen Orlando Hudson and Aaron Hill.

Butter’s years in the organization make him intimately familiar, and with the crop of young prospects who will be coming up in the years ahead he just might be able to put the Jays over the top once again.

It now appears Butter has lost out in the race to be the Jays’ next manager. Unfortunately, most commentators assume he will head to another team, having missed the big prize in Toronto. If Farrell does not pan out as manager, Butterfield will be thought of as the one that got away, the first serious mistake in Anthopoulos’ young tenure.

But everything Anthopoulos has touched has turned to gold thus far, and here’s hoping Farrell will too.