After leading the Toronto Blue Jays to the World Series and a 20-win turnaround, John Schneider could be bringing home some hardware.
Schneider was announced as one of the three finalists for the American League manager of the year award on Monday. He will go up against Stephen Vogt of the Cleveland Guardians and Dan Wilson of the Seattle Mariners to earn the honour as the Junior Circuit’s top skipper.
The winner will be revealed on Nov. 11.
Schneider and the Blue Jays bounced back from a 74-win 2024 to shoot up the standings in 2025, winning 94 games and the AL East — their first division title since 2015 and the team’s most wins since 1993. Toronto also led MLB with 49 comeback wins, getting contributions from up and down its roster on the way to its special season.
Bobby Cox is the only Blue Jay to have won manager of the year after taking home the honour in 1985.
Vogt is up for the award once again after winning in 2024. He led the Guardians back to the playoffs and the AL Central title with 88 wins, erasing a 15.5-game deficit in the division with a 20-7 September finish.
Wilson, meanwhile, helped the Mariners return to October with a 90-win campaign. Seattle won its first AL West title since 2001 in the process, dethroning the Houston Astros, who had won the division in seven of the prior eight seasons.
Voting is conducted for each award prior to MLB’s post-season, so the Blue Jays’ World Series run won’t be factored into the awards.
The announcement came as Major League Baseball and the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) announced the finalists for the four major awards in each league for the 2025 season on Monday night.
All awards are voted on by the BBWAA, and the winners will be revealed next week.
The rookies of the year will be awarded on Nov. 10, the Cy Youngs on Nov. 12 and the MVPs on Nov. 13.
Here is a list of all three candidates up for each award:
AL MVP
Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners
José Ramírez, Cleveland Guardians
AL Cy Young
Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
Hunter Brown, Houston Astros
Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox
AL Manager of the Year
John Schneider, Toronto Blue Jays
Stephen Vogt, Cleveland Guardians
Dan Wilson, Seattle Mariners
AL Rookie of the Year
Roman Anthony, Boston Red Sox
Nick Kurtz, Athletics
Jacob Wilson, Athletics
NL MVP
Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers
Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies
Juan Soto, New York Mets
NL Cy Young
Cristopher Sánchez, Philadelphia Phillies
Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers
NL Rookie of the Year
Drake Baldwin, Atlanta Braves
Caleb Durbin, Milwaukee Brewers
Cade Horton, Chicago Cubs
NL Manager of the Year
Terry Francona, Cincinnati Reds
Pat Murphy, Milwaukee Brewers
Rob Thomson, Philadelphia Phillies
