The Blue Jays have officially removed the interim label from John Schneider, announcing today that the 42-year-old has been hired as the team’s manager. Schneider was signed to a three-year contract, with a club option for the 2026 season.
A longtime member of the Jays organization, Schneider was promoted to the bench coach job prior to the 2022 season, but he took over as interim manager when Charlie Montoyo was fired on July 13. Toronto held a 46-42 record at the time of Montoyo’s firing, but had played inconsistent baseball 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 matters by leading the Blue Jays to a 46-28 record over the remainder of the season. Toronto captured the top wild card spot in the American League, although the Jays’ playoff trip was both short-lived and painful — the Mariners swept the Blue Jays in the Wild Card Series, as the Jays were shut out in Game 1 and then suffered a major bullpen collapse in Game 2.
Despite the postseason disappointment, there was a sense that Schneider had done enough to earn the full-time managerial job. He reportedly has plenty of support from within the clubhouse, and while Jays GM Ross Atkins left a bit of wiggle room during his recent end-of-season meeting with the media, he also stated that “it will be very difficult for us to find better than John Schneider” as the team’s next bench boss.
More to come…
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