Making the Case for a John Schneider Extension

The 2025 Toronto Blue Jays season has been a wild ride so far. As the Blue Jays approach the midway point of the season later this week, it's worth taking a look at the bigger picture of the season so far.

In 2024, the Blue Jays severely disappointed. They ended up being sellers at the trade deadline and finished with 74 wins. It felt like the team had more question marks than answers going into a pivotal 2025 season.

Well, here we are getting close to the end of June, and the Blue Jays find themselves sitting in the second Wild Card spot and within striking distance of the New York Yankees for the division crown. It's quite remarkable when you factor in that the key pieces the Blue Jays added this offseason haven't done a lot to help them win.

Anthony Santander had just a 65 wRC+ in his 50 games before getting hurt. Andrés Giménez's defence has been good, but he has just a 67 wRC+. Max Scherzer is set to return today, but so far, he’s only pitched three innings for the Jays. Jeff Hoffman has 17 saves, but a 5.29 ERA and -0.2 fWAR is certainly a disappointment, considering he was so good for Philadelphia the last few seasons. In fact, the Blue Jays' best offseason additions have been Eric Lauer and Myles Straw, and that would have surprised a lot of people coming into the season.

Now, there are lots of reasons the Blue Jays are playing better. Bo Bichette looks healthy and is producing again, Addison Barger and Ernie Clement have broken out as impact players, George Springer and Alejandro Kirk have taken their offensive games to another level, and the bullpen has gone from being historically bad to ranking in the top half of the league.

But some of the credit also needs to go to John Schneider. It's hard to pin down exactly how valuable having a good manager is to a team, but Schneider has done some things this season that should not only lead to the Blue Jays picking up his club option for 2026 but should also make him a candidate for an extension. Here’s why:

1) The clubhouse seems to be more comfortable
Part of the role of a manager is being able to control the personalities of the clubhouse, something that not all managers across baseball have been able to do. Yet, all vibes seem to be good right now in the Blue Jays' clubhouse. Sure, part of the reason is because the Blue Jays are winning, but another part of it is that there is more communication and players are happy. Back in April, Sportsnet's David Singh wrote an article about how some of the veterans on the team felt in the clubhouse. You can read the whole thing at this link, but here are a few key quotes:

• "We are in it, maybe even more than we ever have been. We're all on the same page and we're just communicating better.” - Kevin Gausman
• "We're playing as a team, completely. Everybody understands where we want to go and what we want to do." - George Springer
• "For the first time since I've been here, I feel like everyone's really, really comfortable with how everything's working. So it's just a fun feeling coming to the yard." - Chris Bassitt

That's a testament to the manager and the rest of the coaching staff; if the players are comfortable and happy to come to work, they will play better. It works in real life too, not just in baseball.

2) He hasn't been afraid to make some changes
There were times in the past when it seemed like Schneider was hesitant to make changes. There could be many reasons why that was, but it seems like he’s now being more flexible. In the past, he seemed hesitant to move Springer out of the leadoff spot even when he wasn't performing well, simply because either Springer didn't want to or Schneider didn't want to upset him (or maybe a bit of both). Now, Schneider seems to be more flexible with adjusting his lineup. He’s recently moved Vladimir Guerrero Jr. back to the three hole, where, over the course of his career, he’s hit much better. (.744 career OPS from the two spot compared to a .916 OPS while hitting third). Schneider also moved Addison Barger up to the two hole, getting him more at-bats and also adding a lefty in between Bichette and Guerrero. So far, it seems to be working.

3) The Blue Jays are actually doing small ball well
Say what you will about small ball. The best thing a batter can do in any particular plate appearance is hit a home run, but there is something to be said about a hitter doing what he can to get a guy over and bring him in when he needs to. Baseball Reference has a few stats that track situational hitting, and here’s where the Blue Jays rank in some of them.

They're fifth in baseball in productive out rate, seventh in percentage of PAs with a runner on third and less than two out in which that runner scores, and second in advancing runners that are on second base with nobody out. For reference, in 2024, they were seventh, eighth, and 19th in those categories (via Baseball Reference).

Part of this could just be that the Blue Jays are putting the ball in play more often, and this is a by product of that, but Schneider has gotten the Blue Jays to be productive and play for their team, and its probably related to why this club has 22 comeback wins and is 12-9 in one run games this year.

Now, there is a lot more to it than just what I've laid out, and the Blue Jays don't have to make any decisions in a rush. The long-term futures of president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins are still up in the air, and the team might be looking for security in those roles before turning attention to the manager. Yet, on merit alone, Schneider has done a lot this year to earn a longer leash with the Blue Jays, which would be another great development for a man who has been in the system since he was drafted in the 13th round in 2002.

John Schneider has made mistakes, and he will continue to make mistakes. There will be times when he takes a pitcher out of the game too early, or chooses to use the wrong reliever in the wrong spot, or does not pinch hit for someone when the situation clearly calls for it. Managing a professional baseball team is hard, and no manager will ever be perfect. But he’s gotten better year after year, and the argument can be made that he’s just going to keep improving. If the Blue Jays don't think so, then some other team in baseball will be happy to have John Schneider on their staff, and that would be a loss for this franchise.

Stats updated prior to games on June 24.