No one can argue that a team reaching the playoffs three times in four years isn’t successful. The Blue Jays haven’t played a regular-season game while eliminated from playoff contention since 2019.
However, they have been difficult to watch for over a year. Last season was tough, marked by great pitching and defense but barely enough hitting to edge out the Mariners by one game, only to be swept by Minnesota in the playoffs, scoring just once. It was the least enjoyable playoff season in franchise history.
Club president Mark Shapiro acknowledged this, stating, “This season was a grind. It was never easy. It was extremely frustrating and challenging. I’m not sure why; we still won 89 games … I can’t remember a season that felt more like an effort.”
Over the winter, general manager Ross Atkins aimed to add up to four bats, but after failing to acquire Shohei Ohtani, he focused on pitching and defense. Nearly one-third into the new season, this strategy appears to have backfired, as evidenced by Saturday’s 2-1 loss to the Tigers, the 20th game in 51 where the Jays scored no more than two runs. They sit at 23-28, three games worse than at this point in the frustrating 2023 season, during which they were never more than one game below .500.
What’s the solution?
Many fans suggest a drastic approach: fire everyone, trade those who can’t be fired, keep Davis Schneider and Danny Jansen, and start a rebuild. While this may be an overreaction, the dominant sentiment is that Atkins and manager John Schneider must go. However, there is a significant contradiction in this frustration.
While Atkins might have poorly assembled the team and Schneider might be managing it poorly, one thing indicates these can’t both be true: Schneider has the highest winning percentage of any manager in Jays history at .551. Either Atkins assembled a team that should win 60% of the time, and Schneider is failing, or Atkins put together a mediocre team, and Schneider is getting the most out of it. To claim the team is poorly assembled and poorly managed is inconsistent with their record under Schneider. Though Schneider hasn’t yet led the team to a playoff win (they’re 0-4 in the postseason since he took over), it’s important to note that Cito Gaston’s teams started 2-9 in the postseason before winning back-to-back World Series in 1992 and 1993.
The Jays’ offensive struggles aren’t Schneider’s fault; he can’t bat for the players. He can only position them to succeed, and he’s done that well enough to have a higher winning percentage than any other Jays manager. Closer Jordan Romano, who has been managed by Schneider at four minor-league stops as well as in Toronto, firmly stated that the coaching staff isn’t to blame:
“Zero,” he said. “They’re not out there playing for us. They’re there to support us, make the right decisions, and I feel like they’re doing all the right things. It’s up to the players. We’re the ones playing the game… and we’ve just got to do a little better.”
Maybe more than a little better, but the point stands. Schneider’s success contradicts many fans’ issues with him. Atkins, the GM who transformed a 95-loss team into a perennial playoff contender, deserves some credit, even if the team isn’t as good as expected. Logic dictates that you can’t blame both equally.
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