4 dream Blue Jays manager candidates to replace John Schneider if he is fired

Terry Francona

Terry Francona has the distinction of being among the top 15 winningest managers in MLB history with a grand total of 1905 victories. On top of that, his career .539 winning percentage ranks him within the top 100 managers all-time for those registering a minimum of three years at the helm.

In his 23 seasons in the league as manager, Francona has actually done for only three teams in total. His least successful stint was with the Philadelphia Phillies back between 1997-2000. With the Phillies, they never managed to finish higher than third in the NL East in each of the four seasons. But his legacy would be built shortly after that as he brought tremendous success to both the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians (now the Guardians) for the next couple of decades. In total, Francona-led teams have captured five pennants, and have never finished below third in the division since 2004. Moreover, his career playoff record stands at a stellar 44-34 for a .564 winning percentage, having made the postseason in 11 of his 19 seasons with the Red Sox and Indians combined. So he knows how to get the job done at the biggest stage.

With just 95 wins away from the exclusive 2000-win milestone, Francona would be highly motivated to have the opportunity to lead an MLB team to success once again, especially for any one that has struggled over many years to win a championship. After all, he somehow worked his magic to help the Red Sox finally break the hex to win it all back in 2004 after an 86-year drought. So if Francona managed to accomplish the improbable, then just about anything is possible with him leading the way. The only thing that may stand in the way is the fact that he had some medical issues in recent years. So it’ll likely be dependent on his health, but rumor has it that he is looking to step back into the shoes once again.

Joe Maddon

While Francona is one of the best ever, Joe Maddon isn’t too shabby either. Initially just seeing cameo appearances as interim manager twice for the Angels in the late 1990s, Maddon didn’t secure a full-time gig in the role until finally signing on with the Tampa Bay Rays back in 2006. It was then when his managerial career began to take off in the subsequent seasons. His best work came within the timespan of nine years with the Rays, followed by five more years with the Chicago Cubs shortly after.

During those 14 seasons, his teams finished first in the division four times, along with reaching the postseason on eight separate occasions. Maddon’s crown moment came in 2016 when he finally broke through with the Cubs to capture his one and only World Series championship. More importantly, he challenged Francona’s record-breaking accomplishment above by guiding the Cubs to secure their first title in over 108 years, topping the Red Sox one by another 22 years.

Since then, Maddon has had less success in his recent tenure with the Los Angeles Angels between 2020-2022. Despite having Mike Trout as his disposal, the Angels failed to finish with a record above .500 in each of his first two seasons with the club. He was eventually fired in-season in 2022 after a 27-29 record to start the year. In the meantime since then, Maddon has made appearances on various baseball shows, including MLB Now and MLB Tonight on the MLB Network. However, he had previously expressed interest in managing again if he gets the call. Nevertheless, with his proven track record of close to 1400 victories during the regular season and a career .532 winning percentage, along with another 32 victories during the postseason, Maddon definitely knows what it takes to win and breed success for a team. So if handing him a Jays team with their abundance of talent, he should be able to get the most out of all the players as a result.

Matt Hague

How about some love for an internal candidate who's been quietly rising through the ranks over the past few years? We are talking about the Blue Jays’ current assistant hitting coach Matt Hague. He may be considered a surprising candidate to most people, but within the Jays organization, his excellence has been well-received already.

After being hired by the Jays’ organization back in 2020 to be the hitting coach for their Single-A affiliate Dunedin Blue Jays, he has since moved rapidly up the system over the past three years. Subsequently, Hague was promoted to Double-A New Hampshire in 2021 and then to Triple-A Buffalo in 2023, all in the capacity as a hitting coach. 

More importantly, Hague has played a huge part over that time in helping the development of key young prospects such as Gabriel Moreno, Otto Lopez, Spencer Horwitz, Jordan Groshans, Orelvis Martinez, Addison Barger and Davis Schneider. They had made significant enough advancements in their growth to the point that they had raised their value and ended up being either traded to other teams, promoted to the big leagues already, or are knocking on the door to enter the majors pretty soon. Just seeing how Moreno has become the Arizona Diamondbacks everyday catcher, how Schneider exploded onto the MLB scene last year, and the drastic improvement of Martinez’s hitting highlight some of Hague’s masterpieces at their very best. Moreover, as a beloved Buffalo Bisons’ coach last season, he helped lead many of their players to impressive breakout seasons as well, with Cam Eden, Ernie Clement, Nathan Lukes and Rafael Lantigua to name a few.

This season, Hague has once again moved up one more rung, now with the Jays’ big league club for the 2024 season. Given his great work in getting the best out of his players, along with the great rapport he has built up with them, he would be an ideal internal candidate for the Jays to consider, even despite no prior managerial experience. Especially when the Jays are in desperate need of someone that can optimize the team’s overall offensive potential, Hague would fit the bill perfectly.