FORT MYERS, Fla. — Maybe it will happen on a long bus ride back from a visiting park to Dunedin following a spring training game.

Or perhaps a meeting between Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins and manager John Gibbons will take place on a scheduled off-day.

Some time, likely before the start of the 2017 MLB regular season, both men expect to have a contract extension in place to provide, in Atkins words, “continuity” for a team that has made the post season the past two years.

With the one-year extension Gibbons signed last summer due to expire at the end of the upcoming campaign, the parties are intent and confident that a new deal will be reached soon.

“The advantage (of getting a deal done now) is us showing a commitment to one another,” Atkins said following the Jays 5-4 loss here to the Red Sox on Tuesday. “We continue to talk about it and I’m extremely optimistic we will be working together for the foreseeable future.”

Obviously, Gibbons would prefer a lengthier term than the one-year expiring deal and that request would appear to fit with Atkins’ vision as well. Talking to both men Tuesday, there doesn’t appear to be even a whiff of animosity in talks to this point.

“I’ve got peace of mind,” Gibbons said in the visiting manager’s office at the stadium otherwise known as Fenway South. “I’ve made a good living to this point. I enjoy my job. Everybody likes security, there’s no doubt. I think we’ll get something soon. Definitely.”

At times it’s easy to take Gibbons' laidback ways for granted. He decided to put off contract talks following last year’s ALCS loss to Cleveland because he recognized management’s need to address free agent concerns.

All in due time was his mindset.

There are some obvious benefits to being signed and sealed before Opening Day, however, largely a recognition from the players that the skipper isn’t going anywhere because of management’s commitment to him.

“John and I have worked well together over the (last) year and we both feel very fortunate to have established trust and respect,” Atkins said. “When you come into a new situation not having those established lines of communication, then going through a year we feel that not only was a successful one but a very productive one for the two of us (is a positive).

“So looking forward, we’re talking about the Blue Jays organization and not just the two of us leading it, but the two of us being a part of leading it together.”

Obviously Gibbons was the manager that both Atkins and club president Mark Shapiro inherited from the Alex Anthopoulos regime, so from their perspective, it made sense to see how the working relationship evolved between the three.

To that end, Atkins appears satisfied not only with the personal interaction, but with Gibbons’ handling of the team and its diverse clubhouse.

“He’s a very good in-game decision maker,” Atkins said. “He creates a good environment. Players can be themselves around him. He doesn’t play favourites and he treats people fair and consistently.

“He does more than check the boxes you are looking for in someone to manage a professional baseball team.”

Meanwhile, for Tuesday’s meeting with their AL East rivals, there were more veterans on board for the Jays' two-and-a-half-hour bus ride south than usual for road games this spring.

“It’s getting to be that time that (veterans) are going to start playing more and more and playing back-to-back days,” Gibbons said. “We’ll stretch ‘em out a little more. Now we have to start making that push to get ready for Opening Day.”

With that in mind, Tuesday’s lineup had several players likely to be on Gibbons' Opening Day roster.

Centre fielder Kevin Pillar, first baseman Justin Smoak, designated hitter Steve Pearce, and Darwin Barney and Melvin Upton Jr. were all among the starting nine.

Back up north in Clearwater, Josh Donaldson and Devon Travis saw live pitching for the first time this spring. Appearing as DHs and not running the bases, each got their first look at something other than batting practice or machine pitching.

“Just seeming some pitches … it’s nice to see some change in speeds,” Donaldson told reporters in Clearwater after facing Phillies' minor-league pitching. “I felt good overall.”

The Jays have an off-day on Wednesday, but Gibbons hinted that Donaldson could get some DH duty with the big-league club by the weekend.

The Jays play at home in Dunedin to the Yankees on Thursday and Tampa Bay on Saturday.

PRICE LIKELY TO START IN DL

It’s only a spring training game so it’s unwise to get too revved up about a game against their AL East rival Red Sox, even if there is a replica Green Monster out in left field of JetBlue Park.

Still, it’s hard not to follow what’s up with the BoSox and manager John Farrell dropped a nugget on Tuesday when he confirmed that injured lefty David Price is likely to start the season on the disabled list.

While that development is no surprise, it is notable given the Sox's standing as the favourite to win the pennant in the AL East.

"I think at this point, yeah, it would be hard to see him ready to go at the start of the season," Farrell said before the 5-4 loss to the Jays.. "We really won't have any kind of idea until he gets on the mound the first time and right now I don't know when that's going to be.”

Price, of course, hasn’t done much since he felt discomfort in his pitching arm back on Feb. 23. While doctors determined he wouldn’t need surgery, a lengthy recovery was expected.

“It was at the doctors’ recommendation to no put him on a structured throwing program, because it may be either too quick or too slow depending on how he feels,” Farrell said. “And a lot of what’s driving this on daily throwing schedule is how David feels.”

RED SOX (8-10) 5, BLUE JAYS (5-11-1) 4

— Jays RHP Joe Biagini made his fifth appearance of the spring, going two-plus innings and giving up two runs (neither earned) on two hits.

— The Jays launched two homers, Melvin Upton in the first and Mike Ohlman in the ninth.

— The Jays rally fell short, however, as they left the bases load in the top of the ninth.

rlongley@postmedia.com