It’s no secret that John Schneider entered the 2025 campaign on the hot seat. Like with many around the Toronto Blue Jays, there was pressure on the manager to help the club rebound from a last-place finish.
However, on Thursday, the predicament Schneider faced back then couldn’t seem further from his current one. That was underscored as general manager Ross Atkins revealed during his end-of-season media availability that the Blue Jays had exercised Schneider’s team option for 2026 and suggested an even longer contract was in the works.
“We have picked up the option,” Atkins said at Rogers Centre. “And he and I are talking about the potential of that being longer. Schneids has been unbelievable. He is a clear leader in this organization. Really, really good at his job and I’m very proud to be working with him.”
Schneider, who guided the Blue Jays to an American League-best 94-68 record, is a finalist for the AL Manager of the Year Award, which will be announced Tuesday, Nov. 11.
The club stumbled out of the gate with a 14-16 mark by the end of April and sat eight games behind the division-leading New York Yankees on May 28. That was the farthest behind the Blue Jays would get, though, as they altered their season with a remarkable run that ended in a World Series Game 7 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers last Saturday.
Schneider took over the reins as Blue Jays’ bench boss from Charlie Montoyo during the 2022 campaign and inked a three-year deal with the club that October. He owns a career 303-257 (.580 win-loss percentage) record in the regular season and went 11-7 during a 2025 postseason run that saw the Blue Jays bounce back from what could’ve been back-breaking losses in Game 5 of the ALCS and Game 3 of the World Series.
Schneider, who turns 46 in February, is a Blue Jays lifer with a charming organizational story. He was drafted in the 13th round by the club in 2002 and spent six seasons as a catcher in the minors before eventually becoming a manager who climbed various levels of the system.
Don Mattingly, Schneider’s bench coach, won’t return next season as he has stepped down to spend time with his family. While the GM wouldn’t fully commit to filling that role — “We’ll see, we’re going to work through the best way to align our staff,” said Atkins — he noted that each member of the coaching staff was invited back.
