How Blue Jays' John Schneider Emerged as AL Manager of Year Finalist
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Now that the Major League Baseball season has officially come to a close there will be quite a few personal player accolades announced in the next couple of weeks and one that isn't for the players, but the manager of the ballclub. A manager in both the American and National Leagues will be chosen for the top honor as the best in the business this year.
Usually a team that has the success that the Toronto Blue Jays had this year is going to have quite a few nominees across the board, but what makes this team special is how far they came from the year prior which ultimately makes their manager, John Schnieder, stick out. The Jays went from the worst team in their division to the best in one offseason.
Schneider is up against Stephen Vogt from the Cleveland Guardians, who had an historic comeback to take the AL Central, as well as Dan Wilson from the Seattle Mariners, who reached the ALCS and lost to Toronto in seven games.
A Miraculous Turnaround Year
The most notable change for this team was with their offense. This team had a historic performance at the plate in the playoffs which led them into the World Series, but that wasn't uncharacteristic for these guys. They set records throughout the season as an all-around threat in the hitting line up.
Critics who didn't follow the team from 2024 to 2025 would say that this was a roster full of sluggers who carried this team and they would be partially right. However, what they would be insinuating is that guys like Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer and Addison Barger weren't on the team last year, but they were.
In fact nearly every player in their hitting line up was on last year's roster- Ernie Clement, Alejandro Kirk, Nathan Lukes, Daulton Varsho etc. The lone player that was seen in the postseason who wasn't there in 2024 was the No. 9 hitter, Andrés Giménez who the Jays traded for in December of 2024.
2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
Record | 74-88 | 94-68 |
Division Ranking | Last | First |
Playoffs | N/A | Lost World Series (4-3) |
Runs Scored | 671 | 798 |
Total Hits | 1306 | 1461 |
Doubles | 280 | 294 |
Triples | 26 | 13 |
Home Runs | 156 | 191 |
RBI | 640 | 771 |
Drawn Walks | 510 | 520 |
Strikeouts | 1233 | 1099 |
Batting Average | .241 | .265 |
On-Base Percentage | .313 | .333 |
Slugging Percentage | .389 | .427 |
OPS | .703 | .761 |
Vogt and Wilson both led their teams to division titles, but ultimately their year's didn't compare to what the Jays had nor did they have quite the turnaround that Toronto did in a mere calendar year.
Ultimately, it feels like robbery if Schneider does not walk away with this honor after only his third full year with the Blue Jays as he managed them to their first World Series in over three decades after taking the AL East for the first time in a decade. This was an incredible year for the Blue Jays and without Schneider it would not have been possible.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.