Baseball fans may have waved the white flag on John Schneider’s Toronto Blue Jays, but the defending AL champions clearly aren’t listening.
Dylan Cease carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning of Saturday’s victory over the Yankees, pushing the Blue Jays within half a game of the AL’s third and final Wild Card spot. At 64-67, Toronto is among five teams within 2 ½ games of the No. 6 seed Rangers and Guardians.
But amid rumors that the Astros or Mariners could change managers if they miss the postseason, we haven’t heard much on that front about the 46-year-old Schneider — or, at least, not yet.
What’s gone wrong for John Schneider and the Toronto Blue Jays?
As simple as it sounds, the expectations must change when you’ve built a championship-caliber roster and come so close to winning the World Series. Last year’s Blue Jays weren’t the 2007 Rockies or 2019 Nationals who seemingly shot out of a cannon to unexpectedly capture their first pennant in team history.
In other words, anything shy of another deep playoff run would mark a significant failure on Schneider and the Blue Jays’ part. Ignore those who might try to look on the bright side and point out that Cease is on track to win his first Cy Young.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been a non-factor and is mired in the worst season of his career. All-Star second baseman Ernie Clement is the only Blue Jays hitter worth at least 1.6 bWAR; Toronto had eight such players last year, with Guerrero and George Springer both topping 4.0 bWAR. They’ve combined for 1.4 bWAR thus far.
So what changed? It can’t be as simple as Bo Bichette leaving for the Mets. Has Springer, who turns 37 in September, run into age-related regression? Anthony Santander missing the entire season certainly robbed the lineup of a potent power threat.
Should the Toronto Blue Jays fire manager John Schneider?
Barring something along the lines of an 8-16 September, it’s difficult to see the Blue Jays firing Schneider whenever their season ends. Ownership and management strike us as the ones who’d want to maintain the status quo.
That said, we can’t ignore the midseason concerns that Schneider had lost the locker room. We must then ask ourselves whether ownership would consult Guerrero — and if his input would have any sway over their plans.
The Blue Jays must nonetheless prioritize adding veteran leadership, because whatever Guerrero is doing isn’t working. Granted, that’s also assuming that the $500 million man has even bothered to step up and take on that responsibility.
All is forgiven with a championship, and we know that anything is possible once the playoffs kick off. But if what we’ve seen through 131 games is only a preview of what lies ahead, then Schneider’s seat will go from relatively hot to scorching.
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