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

With the Toronto Blue Jays off to a less-than-stellar start to the 2024 MLB season, there have been many rumblings that some major changes need to be made to get the team back in the right direction. Their offense had been sputtering, some of their pitchers have had unexpected underwhelming performances, and they have shown a lack of determination and fight at times during the course of the season. Whether it be potential moves at the player or management level, something needs to be done before the season spirals out of control.

Among them, one of the more possible scenarios that has arisen is having Jays manager John Schneider’s job on the line if things get any worse. If that indeed comes to fruition, who are the possible dream candidates that could replace him?

Here, we take a look at four managerial options that the Jays can pursue to get the team back to their winning ways if the Schneider guidance ends up failing.

Buck Showalter

For a veteran manager with over 22 years of managerial experience and a whopping 1727 wins under his belt, Buck Showalter would be an ideal candidate for the Blue Jays. More impressively, Showalter has produced 100-plus win seasons twice in his career, something the Jays have never accomplished in their 48 years of existence, with the 1985 season being the closest at 99-62.

Showalter most recently coached the New York Mets from 2022-2023. In 2022, he led the Mets to their first 100-win season since 1988 as they finished 101-61. However, despite the amazing feat, that was still not enough to win the NL East division title as the Atlanta Braves won the tiebreaker via their head-to-head record. As a result, the Mets had to play in the NL Wild Card Series and ended up losing to the San Diego Padres, ruining their outstanding season. Showalter was unable to replicate his success the following year as the Mets struggled to a 75-87 record, leading to his dismissal following the end of the 2023 season. Currently, he is working as an analyst for the MLB Network.

He has also previously managed the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles to varying degrees of success over the years. In total, Showalter helped capture three division titles, along with leading his squads to six postseason appearances. For the playoffs, he is most notably known for not bringing in star closer Zack Britton during the close match between the Orioles and Jays in the 2016 Wild Card game. Of course, as we all recall, the Jays ended up winning on Edwin Encarnación’s walk-off homer.

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.