TORONTO -- The kind of media circus that typically follows the Yankees around was in full force at the Rogers Centre on Thursday. New York happened to be in town to face the Blue Jays, but the horde of reporters flocked to Toronto's side for once.

Behind the wall of cameras and sitting on Toronto's bench was Jays manager John Gibbons, who carefully pieced together his words for the crowd of digital recorders and coinciding notepads. Gibbons had quickly become the focal point of a story worthy of the New York tabloids and wanted to shed some light on what happened the night before.

On Wednesday, Shea Hillenbrand -- Toronto's former designated hitter -- made critical comments about the Blue Jays organization in an angry pregame tirade. He later expressed his anger with Gibbons, who entered a players-only meeting and criticized Hillenbrand in front of his teammates -- an outburst that stemmed from a message the player wrote on a dry-erase board in the clubhouse.

According to multiple reports, Hillenbrand said the manager challenged him to a fight in front of the team and then said he would never play another game as long as Gibbons was at the helm. At that point, Hillenbrand said he was instructed to leave the team and Toronto designated him for assignment. That means the Jays have 10 days to either trade or release him.

"I don't have anything to say, other than he got his wish," Gibbons said. "I know he wanted to get out. That's no secret. To be honest, I don't think he wanted to be here for the last two years."

Gibbons had a lot more to say, though, and most of it dealt with what led up to Hillenbrand's dismissal. Toronto's manager confirmed that Hillenbrand had written, "This is a sinking ship," among other things, on the board in the clubhouse.

"Yeah," said Gibbons, when asked if Hillenbrand had written the message. "That's a fact. That's how the whole thing got started anyway. I just thought the timing of it all and the meaning of it -- the circumstances -- either you're with us or you're not."

A source within the team indicated that the meeting was in fact intended for just the players and was in no way called because of anything Hillenbrand had said or done. During the meeting, Gibbons entered the room and began to chastise Hillenbrand.

Hillenbrand didn't return a message left on his cell phone prior to Thursday's game against the Yankees, but it was reported on Wednesday that he took the blame for the note when confronted by Gibbons. On Thursday, Hillenbrand denied writing the words and also denied another report that claimed he ripped a Canadian flag patch off his hat after being removed from a game on Canada Day.

"It was a team meeting, and he singled me out and was cursing at me in front of the team," Hillenbrand said in a radio interview on Thursday. "He challenged me to a fight, and wanted me to get up and punch him in the face."

Another source, who was present at the meeting, said that Gibbons did, in fact, try to provoke Hillenbrand. The manager was vague when asked about the heated confrontation on Thursday.

"He had his chance to defend himself yesterday in front of his coaches and his teammates," Gibbons said. "He chose not to do that. Everybody reacts differently. We'll just leave it at that."

Gibbons did admit that he told Hillenbrand that one of them was going to be leaving the team because, "It got to the point where we weren't functioning well together."

"I believed in what I was doing," Gibbons said. "I meant it. It was going to be him or me. I came in and I told him he won't see the field as long as I'm here. If the front office feels differently, then he wins and I lose. Then I'd be the one out of here."

That was all Gibbons would allow himself to say about what took place behind closed doors.

"We're not going to get into one of those, 'He said, she said,' things," Gibbons said. "I know what happened. He knows what happened. His teammates know what happened. I can live with that."

So could Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi.

"[Hillenbrand] can say what he wants," Ricciardi said. "I've known John Gibbons for 20-something years, and if you can't play baseball for John Gibbons, then you can't play for anybody. I know there's been some rumors out there that Gibby's job is on the line. I'm here to tell you that Gibby's job is more secure today than it's ever been."

The feud between Hillenbrand and Gibbons runs deeper than just Wednesday's events, which began with the player fuming about being kept out of the starting lineup and calling the organization a "disgrace" because no one from the front office had congratulated him on adopting a baby girl recently. He was away from the team for three days to tend to the adoption process before rejoining the club on Tuesday.

Hillenbrand added on Wednesday that he "should've been traded two months ago," when he was rumored to be part of a deal that would've sent him to the Angels.

"I would rather lose than sell myself out and have someone play here that says those kinds of things about our organization," Ricciardi said. "I wouldn't even want the job if it meant I'd have to change everything I believe in. Someone else can be the GM here and act like that."

Hillenbrand, who also plays first and third base, had complained on and off about serving as Toronto's primary DH for the last two seasons. Last year, Corey Koskie and Eric Hinske occupied the corner positions, and Troy Glaus and Lyle Overbay start at third and first, respectively, this season.

"We told him he was going to be the DH," Ricciardi said. "He knew the role. [When we acquired Glaus and Overbay], he could've asked to be traded and he didn't. Sometimes we should be thankful for what we have instead of complaining about what we don't have."

Hillenbrand also was quoted as saying he had gone to Gibbons' office on numerous occasions to ask why he wasn't in the starting lineup for certain games. According to reports, Hillenbrand said Gibbons never offered "justifiable" explanations.

"I've seen some of the things written, and I've listened on the radio," Gibbons said. "There are a lot of things being said that are wrong, but I'm not going to get into that."

"He didn't come in to complain," Gibbons said later. "That might've been once."

Gibbons added that it was also "very inaccurate" that he and Hillenbrand hadn't been speaking for two months, something another report quoted Hillenbrand as saying.

"Maybe I come from a different line of thinking and contrary to maybe what some of you guys think," Ricciardi said, "but you make $5.8 million, you're healthy, you wake up in the morning without any physical problems and you're not happy? I don't know. I don't know what happened."

Gibbons didn't think the situation warranted any more discussion.

"I'm probably saying a little more than I intended," Gibbons said. "He's not here anymore, so we'll just move on."