Three best things to happen to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2022

2.) Charlie Montoyo out, John Schneider in

Things just never seemed to fully work out for Montoyo as the skipper of the Jays. The upper management of the Jays did all they could to fill in roster holes and give him all of the tools he needed to succeed.

Four years into his tenure, his record was right at .500 and he had next to nothing to show for all of the talent he was given. All along he seemed to have troubles adjusting to leading a club in the thick of contention rather than one that needs to be built from the ground up into a winner.

After a few players-only meetings during the 2022 season, the writing seemed to be on the wall. After Montoyo was let go, Bo Bichette came out and openly said that he "does not disagree" with Montoyo's being fired.

Enter John Schneider, who had been the club's bench coach for the first half of the season and then became the club's interim manager.

Schneider, 42, has already been in the Jays' organization for decades as a player, minor league coach, major league coach and now, major league manager. In the last 74 games of the 2022 season, he led the club to a 46-28 record, a mark that impressed upper management enough to name him the full-time manager and sign him to a three-year contract extension.

Ross Atkins said the organization trusts Schneider and former Jays pitcher Ross Stripling said that he's a good leader but also is capable of "just being one of the guys", while also having what it takes to hold his team accountable. Schneider himself said that he had to learn what it was to lead people, not just players and became a more versatile communicator and mentor in the process.

1.) Alek Manoah establishes himself as one of the game's best

There is little for me to say about Alek Manoah that has not already been said before.

Just recently named one of the top breakout stars in the game last year by MLB.com, the 24-year-old built off of an impressive rookie season in 2021 and became one of the best starters in the game in 2022.

In what was his first full season of starts in the bigs, Manoah went 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA and 174 ERA+. With 100 being league average in regards to ERA+, his mark of 174 means that he was a whopping 74 percent better than average.

He also made his first (and definitely not last) All-Star Game and finished third in the AL Cy Young voting, even earning a few AL MVP votes along the way, finishing 17th.

But wait, there's more. Manoah's Baseball-Savant page is lit up with red, indicating that he was at or near the top of the league in most advanced pitching statistics.

Manoah uses a deadly pitching repertoire to dominate the opposition. He mainly relies on three pitches including his mid-90s fourseam fastball, low-80s slider and mid-90s sinker. Additionally, he throws a mid-80s changeup that throws batters off efficiently when they're sitting fastball.

During the current offseason, the Jays have done everything they can to fill out the rest of the rotation surrounding Manoah. Kevin Gausman is set to return as the rotation's co-ace as well as José Berríos who is in search of a rebound season.

Then there's Chris Bassitt, the newest Blue Jays pitcher. He joined the club on a three-year, $63M contract and is undoubtedly going to be the best No. 4 pitcher in the league.

The five hole in the rotation is going to consist of one of Yusei Kikuchi or Mitch White, who both are in need of bounceback seasons in 2023. Kikuchi has shown flashes of promise in the past but may be better suited in a relief role. White's ghastly 7.00+ ERA for the Jays last season has turned many fans off but his FIP suggests that there may have been some unlucky results in there for him. He lacks the pitch repertoire to be a dominant starter but maybe there's hope for him in 2023.