When he first started coaching in the Blue Jays system in 2008, John Schneider could only dream of big baseball things.
When he was managing the team that got two outs away from winning a World Series earlier this month, he had time to reflect on the journey.
The remarkable 2025 season, in which the Jays went from last place to first under Schneider’s watch earned him a finalist nod for AL manager of the year. On Tuesday night, the 45-year-old New Jersey native fell short in the ultimate recognition for his work when he finished second to Cleveland’s Stephen Vogt.
“It’s been fun, it’s been horrible at times,” Schneider said during the Jays magical playoff run. “I’ve got a grey beard, grey hair, but it’s exactly where I want to be.
“You have to go through it. I’m happy that people stuck with me — players, front office … happy I got a chance to learn in real time.”
Schneider had 10 first-place votes to Vogt’s 17 in voting by the Baseball Writers Association of America. The winner had 113 total points to Schneider’s 91. Seattle’s Dan Wilson was a distant third with 50.
“I probably wasn’t ready for it, whether it was interim or first year,” Schneider said of taking over for the fired Charlie Montoyo on July 13, 2022. “I think the guy right now is the guy everyone was waiting for, myself included. I don’t want to sound conceited, it’s just me being real.”
That authenticity resonated with the Jays on their way to a 94-win season to set up the spirited post-season run.
Did Schneider deserve to win?
Take a team from last to first in any division in any sport and you’re automatically a front-runner for such an honour.
Doing it in the American League East with a roster in flux only adds to those credentials.
But in his third full season on the job, Schneider evolved in his ability to not only manage in-game, but to deal with the personalities both in his clubhouse and with the Jays front office. That evolution was recognized by voters and certainly was evident during the post-season (which unfolded after voting closed.)
A meeting with several veteran players last winter helped set the tone and the new mindset was ingrained during spring training. Winning helps, of course, but the tight-knit group that Schneider led throughout 2025 thrived on the concept of team and nearly helped him join Bobby Cox (1985) as the only Jays managers to win the ward.
Schneider’s runner-up finish was the highest for a Jays manager since Cito Gaston was second in 1989.
RECOMMENDED VIDEOHow does the voting work?
The Baseball Writers Association of America conducts voting with two writers from each American League city getting a ballot for each of the MVP, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and Manager of the Year categories in the league.
Voting is conducted prior to the first pitch of the post-season so in the case of Schneider, the Jays captivating run to the World Series was not a factor.
(Full disclosure: I was one of the two members of the Toronto chapter of the BBWAA to vote in this category and I made Schneider my No. 1 choice. See below.)
Full voting appears on the organization’s website: bbwaa.com.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., left, and manager John Schneider of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrate after clinching a playoff berth at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.
Why I voted for Schneider?
For me, the biggest challenge of voting in this category was finding a reason not to vote for Schneider.
Sound odd? The last thing you want is to fall into the trap of a “homer” vote and the potential criticism that goes with it. But the deeper I analyzed the top candidates, the more it was clear to me that Schneider deserved top billing for the reasons noted above.
Vogt, who won the award in 2024, deserves credit for the Guardians late-season surge to first place in the Central, overcoming a 15 1/2-game deficit in the division at one point, a gap that was as high as 11 games in early September.
That’s a remarkable turnaround, though the Guardians were certainly beneficiaries of the epic collapse from the Detroit Tigers.
How did Schneider get here?
Schneider is as Blue Jay through and through as one could be. Selected in the 13th round of the 2002 draft, Schneider the catcher played 311 games over six seasons for the organization, never advancing beyond Syracuse, then the Jays’ triple-A affiliate.
Acknowledging his limited upside as a player, Schneider shifted to coaching in 2008 and validated that career shift almost instantly after successful stops with Jays affiliates in Dunedin, Lansing, Vancouver and New Hampshire.
His progression since taking over from Montoyo has been clear and Schneider admits he’s grown personally and professionally on the job.
“Like with anything you do, the one thing I’ve learned is this job takes reps and it takes success and it takes failure and it takes hard conversations,” Schneider said in an interview with the Toronto Sun in July when he moved into fourth in all-time wins by a Toronto manager. “It takes losing. It takes winning. It takes me being scrutinized publicly — all that kind of stuff — to arrive at a point to where you feel really good about being your authentic self every single day.”
Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider looks on from the dugout during a game against the Colorado Rockies.
What 2025 meant to Schneider
A Jays lifer, Schneider recognized the significance of his path from a minor-league catcher to a minor-league manager to the winningest skipper in the AL.
Not winning the year-end honour shouldn’t diminish those accomplishments.
“I tried to take me out of it, but it’s really special,” Schneider said during the World Series. “Managing the rookie ball Gulf Coast League team and playing 10:30 games on a Saturday at the (Dunedin training complex) is a far cry from this, right?
“But you think about the work that you’ve done, the people you’ve met, adjustments you’ve made, this was always the end goal with this organization. Did I think that it would happen? “Probably not because of how this game works and how there’s a lot of movement to this job.”
Schneider grew up in that job and alongside some of his players.
“I’m just as excited for the guys that I’ve known for a long time — for Bo (Bichette) and Vlad (Guerrero Jr.), for guys that have been here for numerous years. It’s really just cool for the organization and I’m thankful and humbled that I’m the one doing it.”