Is John Schneider's future as Blue Jays manager in jeopardy?

Toronto's talented roster is playing well below expectations in 2023 but should Blue Jays bench boss John Schneider bear the brunt of fan's criticism for the team's concerning first half of the season?

Video Transcript

- I'm going to be brutally honest here and say that this team managed by John Schneider will not make the playoffs. And that has 109 likes on it, 11 retweets.

- Over the last few weeks, there's been quite a bit of noise from Blue Jays fans asking the team to relieve manager John Schneider of his duties. This is an unusual situation. Even though the team has been underperforming in 2023, this is a guy with less than 162 games as the manager. And overall, his record is pretty strong. Let's take a look at if there's a case to fire Schneider, where these calls are coming from, and what we do and don't know about the situation.

The reason Blue Jays fans have been restless with Schneider is clear-- the team has not performed to a level they expected in 2023. There's been a few cases of odd managerial decisions here and there. There's also the fact that the team gave up that 8 run lead in the Wild Card series in the playoffs in 2022. And the reality is that some people perceive there to be a listlessness around the team.

All of that is enough to get the pitchforks out. The question is whether that's a reasonable take. Blue Jays fans who want to see Schneider go do have a few things to lean on. The team is undoubtedly underperforming this season.

They may well miss the playoffs. It's about a 50/50 proposition at this point. And there have been a few cases of the manager using unusual tactics-- a recent example will be putting Whit Merrifield in the second hole in the lineup.

But the reality is this would be a really tough look for the Blue Jays front office. They replaced their manager midway through the season last year with Schneider, who was a hand-picked guy by Ross Atkins and the front office. And he's also someone who has a relationship with the players going back to the minor leagues, where he managed Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. and Bo Bichette.

Thinking objectively, it's hard to say that there's a strong case to fire Schneider, although it's understandable why fans might reach for that solution when the team just isn't performing at the level they're expected. What's tricky about these situations is the reality is most of the things a manager does are not clear to the public. Yes, Schneider is making tactical decisions that we can all see, but most of those decisions are more or less in line with what most managers would do.

That means a huge part of his job is managing the clubhouse, managing egos, and keeping everyone pulling in the same direction. It's really hard to know if he's doing a good job of that. And part of the reason for that is that it's a difficult thing to report on.

If you're covering the Toronto Blue Jays, you're seeing John Schneider every single day. So if you get an inkling that he's lost the room, or people no longer believe in his leadership, and you report on that, you're going to be held accountable for that reporting. That doesn't mean that it's not something you should do, but it does mean that it's something that people are only doing when they're very, very sure that that's the case.

As a result, we often don't hear a lot of concrete information about where a manager stands with his team until he's departed. From the perspective of some fans, John Schneider is simply not leading this team to enough wins. That is a reasonable take. It's a very talented roster that you'd expect more from.

But at the end of the day, cutting bait with him would be a bad look for the front office. And there's simply so much we don't know about whether he's handling the team well, motivating them well, and keeping them believing in their chances of making the playoffs and doing something in the postseason. As a result, it's understandable to call for John Schneider's job, but it looks like just noise right now.