The Baltimore Orioles finally decided it was time to make a change, firing embattled manager Brandon Hyde on Saturday afternoon amid a nightmare start to their 2025 season. The O's 4-3 loss to the Washington Nationals on Friday night dropped them to 15-28, second-worst in the AL ahead of only the Chicago White Sox. While Hyde isn't the only one to blame for the current mess, he also wasn't blameless, and sometimes you just need a new voice in the clubhouse.
Much of the above should sound awfully familiar to Toronto Blue Jays fans. No, things haven't been quite so bad this year; Toronto is 21-13, five games back of the New York Yankees in the AL East entering play on Saturday. But with three loss in their last four games, the Jays also find themselves falling short of expectations in a crucial season. And they should take the O's desperation as a wake-up call when it comes to their own manager, John Schneider.
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Blue Jays can't afford to give John Schneider much more time
If anything, Schneider should be on an even shorter leash than Hyde, given his spotty track record over the last couple of years. He guided Toronto to 89 wins and a Wild Card spot in 2023, but he played a major role in the Jays' sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Twins, and he seemed all out of answers during the team's 74-win collapse last season.
Things haven't gotten much better so far this year. The Jays entered 2025 knowing that it was make-or-break, with GM Ross Atkins and president Mark Shapiro in the final years of their respective deals and some big roster decisions to make. Almost two months in, it seems clearer than ever that this team as currently constituted isn't making any real noise any time soon.
Schneider doesn't bare sole responsibility for that; this lineup simply isn't good enough, and lack of pitching depth has come back to bite them of late. But Schneider also isn't covering himself in glory, making the same in-game mistakes that have reared their head ever since he assumed the job in 2022. He doesn't seem to know which buttons to press when, and players don't seem to be getting better under his watch.
And the Jays can't afford to stay complacent, which the Orioles reminded them on Saturday. Bo Bichette might be gone in a few months' time, and he's not the only key player with an uncertain future. Things might get worse before they get better if Toronto can't turn this season around, and it seems very clear that Schneider isn't the man for that job.