MLB Insider Rightfully Lists Blue Jays Skipper As Top Awardless Manager in 2025
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One MLB insider (Anthony Castrovince) just came out with his All-MLB Awardless team and while most of them are up for debate on if they were snubbed or not this year there is one listed that is not up for debate, Toronto Blue Jays' manager John Schneider.
For example, there are players like Michael Busch for the Cubs listed who were exceptional and ranked near the top of nearly every stat category, but failed to receive any sort of accolade to reflect what he did at the plate this year. But one can easily argue why others won over him. This is not the case for Schneider.
This isn't a knock on Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt who won the AL Manager of the Year award. Vogt led the Guardians to a historic comeback to take the division title (a division they won last year). It is also hard to forget the second-half demise that the Detroit Tigers had, which led to what the Guardians and Vogt accomplished.
While what Vogt did was impressive and deserved some recognition, what Schneider did was even better.
The Blue Jays had a 20-game swing in only one offseason, going from last in the AL East to first an almost unfathomable turnaround. If a critic didn't follow this ballclub closely, it would be assumed they had a significantly different roster. They did not.
The same group of guys that finished dead last in the division just one season ago led them to the best year the organization has seen in over 30 years. The only recognizable name from the playoffs that wasn't a member of the 2024 team was their No.9 hitter Andrés Giménez.
2024 Compared to 2025
If there is one thing that doesn't lie in any sport it is stats and the Jays improvements in one calendar year have plenty to say.
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 |
Not only did the Blue Jays take their division it is important to note that they were in arguably the toughest in baseball and definitely the AL. There were only three teams in the AL in 2025 who had 90+ wins on the season both were in the AL East (and the other was not the Guardians).
The Blue Jays offense was dominant in Game 1 😤 pic.twitter.com/JrDWq0WqgS
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 25, 2025
It is truly impossible to comprehend that Schneider did not take home this honor as a manager but he is after one thing a world championship and it is a near guarantee they have a massive chip on their shoulders going into 2026.
This could ultimately be a totally different conversation at this time next year and nothing Schneider did for the ballclub has been diminished, despite not taking home this honor.
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.