Toronto Blue Jays Manager John Schneider Should not be Fired

What a difference a week can make. Just over eight days ago the Toronto Blue Jays were coming off an impressive sweep of the AL East-leading Atlanta Braves. The good vibes crashed and burned quickly, as Toronto hosted and lost both their series to the Yankees and Orioles, going 1-6 in the process.

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Poor performances against important opponents and some odd decisions have led to speculation about manager John Schneider’s job security. Could he be fired soon?

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John Schneider Should Not be Fired

It had to be discussed, given the discomforting atmosphere surrounding the ball club in recent weeks. Co-host David Bastl asks the question straight up: how long is the leash on Jays manager John Schneider?

“It should be real long. I’m not giving up on John (Schneider). He was guiding the ship last year when he took over and they went to the playoffs.”

The vote of confidence is commendable, coming from a man who knows a thing or two about coaching not just any baseball team, but the Blue Jays in particular. However, “Gibby” acknowledges that the squad has not met expectations recently.

Don Mattingly as the Answer?

Bastl brings up another interesting point. Don Mattingly joined the organization during the offseason as its bench coach and some may think he could be the next manager.

Gibbons believes that, should the Jays opt to cut ties with Schneider, then Mattingly would be the most likely candidate. On the flip side, he offers some wisdom about how teams are run in the era of analytics.

“You gotta remember that in this analytics-driven world, a lot of the directives are coming from the front office. When you (general manager) start making changes like this, you’re pointing fingers at yourself too!”

The former Blue Jays coach reiterates that while Mattingly is a prime candidate it’s far too early to pull the plug on the John Schneider regime.

Schneider’s Coaching Error vs Orioles

A strange incident, and perhaps one that feeds into the rumour of John Schneider being let go, came last Saturday at home to the Baltimore Orioles, a game the Jays lost in extra innings.

Alek Manoah was on the mound for the Blue Jays and received a visit from Schneider in the sixth inning. The only problem was that, since it was the second such trip to chat with Manoah, the pitcher had to be pulled, as per the MLB rulebook. It was a bizarre occurrence that Gibbons tries to put into context, even though it never happened to him.

“When I was there I had the same pitching coach, Pete Walker. What we would do, if something had to be said to the pitcher, sometimes you send out the pitching coach(…). When the manager goes out, sometimes it’s a kick in the -ss.”

An interesting perspective. The notion is that different messages are potentially sent to the player on the mound depending on who, the manager or pitching coach, plays them a visit.

“The only thing I can think of that happened was that Schneider went out there to take him (Manoah) out and changed his mind, backed out of it after talking to Alek.”

Unfortunately for both Manoah and Schneider, it didn’t really matter who forgot what. Rules are rules.