MLB Network showing love for Blue Jays' John Schneider in AL manager of the year talks.
Photo credit: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/
American League manager of the year talks are heating up and Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider is at the top of MLB Network's list.
Do you think Blue Jays manager John Schneider deserves to be considered for American League manager of the year? The MLB Network thinks so.
Bobby Cox is the only Blue Jays manager to bag the prize, claiming it in 1985, when he led the club to its first American League East title.
Cito Gaston finished an unjust second in 1989, when he took over after a 12-24 start and led the team to its second division crown, overtaking the Baltimore Orioles managed by award winner Frank Robinson third in 1991 and '93, and fourth in '92.
John Gibbons was fourth in 2015, when the Blue Jays ended a 21-year post-season drought, while Charlie Montoyo finished third in 2020, when the club played at Buffalo's Sahlen Field due to the Canadian government's pandemic restrictions.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider should be in the conversation for American League manager of the year according to MLB Network
MLB Network has three managers at the top of their list, one being Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson for winning their first division tile since 2001.
The other is Cleveland Guardians manager Steven Voght for bringing the Gaurds back from the dead when they were twelve games back on September 4th.
And last but not least is Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider.
Bolstering Schneider's case for the award is the way the Blue Jays regrouped after a dreadful 2024 season in a division poised to send three teams to the playoffs, overcoming key injuries to prized free-agent addition Anthony Santander, Max Scherzer, Andres Gimenez, Yimi Garcia and Bowden Francis, among others, while utilizing the entirety of the roster to build a winning club.
"Who would have thought the Blue Jays would be a number one team, possibly division champions? The Jays are a 91 win team coming off a 74 win season in 2024, John Schneider a year ago was in the hotseat, and all of a sudden he can be a division winner. He was in the hotseat at the beginning of the year.
"The one thing I've noticed about the Toronto Blue Jays is, the way they're able to play at home. They've literally used home field advantage to their advantage. That crowd is real, the team feeds off of it, when you have a whole country behind you, it tells you what type of team this teams got. The depth of this roster is so big, that I think the Toronto Blue Jays are very dangerous team in the postseason."
"John Schneider and that whole staff, Mark Budzinski, Don Mattingly, Pete Walker, David Popkins, all those guys do a great job of game planning. Their one of the best staffs as far as prepararion goes, and it shows in the way the Blue Jays have played this year."
If the Blue Jays can continue on their present path deep into the postseason, it will be a difficult temptation for some season-ending voters to resist.
TRENDING NOW
