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.

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.

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.