John Schneider offers hilarious clapback to MLB insider’s cheap shot at Blue Jays

After the Toronto Blue Jays locked up the series sweep over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, the vibes were quite a bit different than four days earlier at the end of the previous series finale. If you recall, the Blue Jays wrapped up their series with the New York Mets by letting Bowden Francis’ gem of an almost no-hitter slip away into a disastrous 6-2 loss.

Someone who hasn’t forgotten is Blue Jays manager John Schneider. At least, he hasn’t forgotten the scathing critique that was lobbed his, and his team’s, way by a certain MLB insider.

If you missed it, following the end of the much-publicized collapse against the Mets, Jon Heyman of the New York Post, for some reason, offered his thoughts on the Blue Jays.

“The Blue Jays don’t play the game right, or well,” Heyman posted on X on Sept. 11.

John Schneider claps back at MLB insider

On Sunday, Richard Griffin shared Schneider's response to entertaining unsolicited comments from the likes of Heyman, who notably hasn't been in Schneider's position.

"There’s a lot of people think they can be a [manager], think they can be a GM,” Schneider said, as relayed by Griffin. “If they’ve done it, I will listen to those comments. If they haven’t done it, I’ve got enough other sh*t to deal with.”

Say what you will about Schneider; whether you're a supporter or not, you have to respect him for this. The Blue Jays skipper made it clear that he suffers no fools, which is exactly what he insinuated Heyman is with this comment. What's the over/under on how many Blue Jays games Heyman has watched this season? Maybe when they've played the New York teams?

As fans, who hasn’t spent summer evenings and weekend afternoons armchair managing, second-guessing the moves made by those in the dugout? Most of us are guilty. The difference is that most of us don’t post it on social media. If we do, we don’t have the eyeballs that someone like Heyman does, and it won't get brought to the team's attention.

As poorly as the season has gone, and as bad as the bullpen has been — and it looked bad against the Mets — it’s by no means a reflection of how the currently assembled team plays on a daily basis. That's something of which Heyman is unaware, which he made painfully apparent with his misguided comment. You’d be hard-pressed to find a Blue Jays fan who has watched how this young, baseball-hungry group plays the game and come away with anything but anticipation and optimism for the future.

Gee, that sure looks like the right way to play the game.

Yes, there are growing pains, and there will continue to be hiccups — you can't outhustle a lousy bullpen. As much as the fanbase might distrust the front office, Heyman’s ill-targeted cheap shot seems like an insult better concentrated toward the hapless Chicago White Sox and their historically bad 35-115 season. And do we really need to bring up "Arson Judge to the Giants"?