The Blue Jays have officially removed John Schneider’s interim label and today announced that the 42-year-old has been hired as the team’s manager. Schneider signed a three-year contract, with a club option for the 2026 season.
A longtime member of the Jays organization, Schneider was promoted to benching coach before the 2022 season, but he took over as interim manager when Charlie Montoyo was fired on July 13. Toronto had a 46-42 record at the time of Montoyo’s shooting, but had played inconsistent baseball up to that point and was in the midst of a major slump that cost Montoyo his job.
This opened the door for Schneider, who stabilized things by leading the Blue Jays to a 46-28 record for the remainder of the season. Toronto took the top spot with a wildcard in the American League, although the Jays’ playoff trip was both short-lived and painful – the Mariners defeated the Blue Jays in the Wild Card Series, as the Jays were eliminated in Game 1 and then suffered a major bullpen failure in Game 2.
Despite the post-season disappointment, there was a sense that Schneider had done enough to earn the full-time managerial job. He reportedly has a lot of support from the clubhouse, and while Jays GM allowed Ross Atkins a little wiggle room during his recent end-of-season meeting with the media, he also stated that “it will be very difficult for us to be better than John.” Schneider” as the team’s next bank boss.
Schneider has spent his entire pro career with the Blue Jays, starting when he was a 13th-round pick for the club in the 2002 draft. After six seasons in the minors, Schneider retired from playing due to injuries and moved up to the coaching ranks, slowly working your way up the organizational ladder. Schneider led the rookieball partner of the Blue Jays, both A-ball affiliates and the Double-A affiliate from 2008-18, before being promoted to the big league coaching staff before the 2019 season. Coincidentally, Schneider’s climb coincided with the progress of several of Toronto’s young stars, so he was a familiar face in the dugout as Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Jordan Romano and others arrived in the major leagues.
Schneider’s early returns as major league manager are promising, and the three-year deal represents the front office’s confidence in their new skipper. However, Schneider is under immediate pressure as the leader of a team that has World Series ambitions but fell so devastatingly short in 2022. The outcome of one match (however important that match was) was not enough to erase Schneider’s work as manager of the past three months.
Schneider will become the third interim manager to receive a full promotion before 2023, after the Phillies’ Rob Thomson and the Angels’ Phil Nevin. With Toronto wrapping up their management situation, the White Sox, Royals, Marlins and Rangers are left as the teams still looking for a new skipper.