The Toronto Blue Jays front office could be watching the fallout in Pittsburgh after a surprising move.
Following a 12-26 start to the 2025 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced the firing of manager Derek Shelton, the first such move for any team so far this season. But it surely won’t be the last, and CBS Sports’ Dayn Perry reported that Blue Jays manager John Schneider might be next.
“Schneider as Jays skipper is 0-4 in postseason games, and last season the Jays backslid to a disappointing 88-loss season — their worst season since 2019, when they were rebuilding,” Perry wrote. “Present conditions find them at four games below .500 and tied for third place despite what was a reasonably active winter.”
The Blue Jays executives might feel that they have given Schneider ample talent to do better, even as they have failed to entice players like Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto to join the team. Toronto has the third-highest payroll in Major League Baseball, per Spotrac, and it brought in bonafide veterans like Anthony Santander, Andres Gimenez, Jeff Hoffman and Max Scherzer this winter.
And, most notably, the team agreed to a 14-year, $500 million extension for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. shortly after the season started.
“Given that Schneider’s job seemed to be in danger coming out of the 2024 season, he’s done nothing to improve his standing this year,” Perry added. “Absent a turnaround in the standings, he’s probably in serious danger.”
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Even after the Pirates let Shelton go, Schneider should have some time to turn things around in Toronto. But this might be his last chance to show the front office that he’s the guy to make good on their talent investments.
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