Hot Seat Watch: Has John Schneider earned a longer leash?

Earlier in the season, the Toronto Blue Jays struggles were quite pronounced as they tried to stay afloat in the playoff race. Their starting rotation was underachieving, their offense was underperforming, and their bullpen was hampered by injuries and ineffectiveness. As a result, many had Jays’ manager John Schneider pegged in the hot seat as his days seemed numbered with nothing going right.

Somehow, Schneider managed to survive all of that and made it past the trade deadline. At that point, the Jays practically accepted the fact that it was a lost season. Therefore, the final two months of 2024 was meant to serve as potential auditions for spots on the 2025 roster. In doing so, there have been many surprises, both good and bad, in the past few weeks.

Has John Schneider bought himself more time?

Taking into consideration of the Jays’ recent showing, has Schneider done enough to buy himself some more time in the organization? You bet he has. Why is that?

With the mass exodus of everyday players for the Jays at the trade deadline, Schneider was met with a corresponding influx of players that he had to incorporate onto his team. Whether they were rookies, young players or veteran journeymen, he was tasked to quickly find a way to get them on board. Trying to get the new faces on the same page as everyone else in a short amount of time was sure a tall order. Added to the fact that there was no longer a playoff spot to play for, Schneider also had to provide the adequate motivation to those that have stayed to effectively play out the season in a positive manner.

With all those challenges, it appears as though Schneider had been successful to some extent in meeting them thus far. Since the turn of the month in August, the Jays have actually put together a 10-9 winning record. Not only were they playing above .500 baseball, the players actually look engaged, along with enjoying the game and having fun like it should be. Even those that were struggling mightily earlier in the season were hitting now, like Alejandro Kirk. And the young guns, Spencer Horwitz, Leo Jiménez, Ernie Clement, and even Will Wagner have been all making the most of their opportunities. Each and every one of them have been working hard and doing the best they can in pursuit of a role for the upcoming season.

Not only that, the starting trio of Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and José Berríos all looked to have stabilized their game in recent weeks. On top of that, there’s Bowden Francis, who is currently pitching like he is the new ace of the Jays’ pitching staff. As for the bullpen, let’s just say that’s a completely different story. But given that Chad Green is perhaps the only reliable arm left in their whole relief corps, Schneider had been forced to strategically pick and choose how to deploy them. The fact that it had still resulted in the team producing more wins than losses in their recent stretch meant he was at least doing something right.

As a result, we should all be patient and see how Schneider leads this Jays team to the finish line in 2024. If what we have witnessed since the trade deadline is the product of Schneider’s fine work under the harsh circumstances that he has been put in, then for once, we should actually commend him for a job well done. He deserves a longer leash, for now.