Blue Jays Add Three Coaches to MLB Staff

Earlier this afternoon, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters at the Winter Meetings (including our own John Bonnes) that his coaching staff for 2026 has been finalized.

"We have filled [the] assistant hitting coaching job," he said. "We have kind of backfilled [former bench coach Don Mattingly's] spot in a variety of ways. I'm giving those guys time to finalize with the teams they were with, and you'll have that full list really soon. One is internal, and two from outside."

Sportnet's Shi Davidi reports that former White Sox catching coach Drew Butera is one of the two external additions. The other is former Rangers minor league hitting director Cody Atkinson, according to Mitch Bannon of The Athletic. Bannon also notes that Eric Duncan was promoted to the major league coaching staff from within the organization. He was previously Toronto's director of position player development.

Presumably, Atkinson is the new assistant hitting coach, but it is not yet official what roles any of the Blue Jays' new coaches will be taking on.