John Schneider and Ross Atkins have never stopped talking to each other, it’s just the subject that has changed over the past two weeks.
Schneider and the Blue Jays formally agreed to a new contract on Friday to make him Toronto manager for at least the next three years, with a team option for the 2026 season.
Schneider and Atkins, the Blue Jays’ general manager, said after Toronto was knocked out of the playoffs, their daily conversations stopped being about winning now and instead focused on the long-term plans for the club. crew.
“It really changed at the end of the season to ‘OK, how are we really going to approach this’ and to look back and see the areas that we improved from a preparation perspective, from a performance perspective, but also areas where we can tighten it up,β Schneider said inside the bowels of the Rogers Center.
“Having open conversations with Ross and hearing his comments and feedback and hearing mine from a different perspective and then getting to a place where we think is best for the team and for the organization.
“That’s where he went from trying to win tonight to trying to win for the future, for many years in a row.”
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Schneider was promoted from bench coach to interim manager after Charlie Montoyo was fired on July 13. He led the Blue Jays to a 46-28 record and the playoffs, but Toronto was swept in the three-game wildcard series. Seattle Mariners.
Atkins said the removal of Schneider’s interim tag was a completely different circumstance from Montoyo’s hiring, when the Blue Jays interviewed several different candidates. This time it was an ongoing discussion about how to improve Toronto’s 10-9 playoff exit at Seattle on Oct. 8.
βAll of our energy went into winning every night and so being able to step back and think about things from a bigger perspective was really helpful for us and felt productive for John as well,β Atkins said.
Continuity until 2023
The Blue Jays finished the season ranked second in the American League East standings and first in the wild card race with a 92-70 record. Most of Toronto’s roster will remain in place next year and Schneider said his coaching staff is unlikely to be affected.
“You’re always trying to evolve and tweak things, whether it’s the way you prepare for a game, the way you communicate with the players, the way you communicate with the staff,” Schneider said. “It’s been really fun over the last week talking with Ross and our front office group and how we’re going to try to approach this and the things we’re going to put in place to try to improve our whole process .”
Schneider is the 14th manager in franchise history. His .622 winning percentage is the highest ever by a Toronto coach β with a minimum of 10 games managed β in his first season at the helm.
The 42-year-old from Princeton, NJ, Schneider was drafted by the Blue Jays in 2002 as a catcher and played six minor league seasons before becoming a coach.
He then managed at five different levels in the Blue Jays organization from 2009 to 2018, winning championships with Class A Vancouver, Advanced-A Dunedin and Double-A New Hampshire. Schneider joined the big league coaching staff in 2019 and was promoted to bench manager ahead of the 2022 season.
Schneider said coaching at Major League level became a goal just as his “very mediocre playing career” was coming to an end.
“That was the end goal, knowing that maybe it wasn’t with the organization I was working with,” Schneider said. “But I think it’s even more special to be sitting here with this hat, with this jersey. To be here now is pretty cool.”
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