A version of this story first appeared in the Blue Jays¡¯ Playball Official Program
After a particularly bad losing streak, the 2016 Lansing Lugnuts arrived at their modest clubhouse to find their couches and pingpong table were gone.
The Blue Jays¡¯ Single-A affiliate at the time, the Lugnuts didn¡¯t have the most consistent start to their season. After a delayed Opening Day and amid the grind of the Minor League season, the squad found flashes of dominance early on, but those moments were peppered amongst a couple of extended skids. The talent was there, but the young team -- headlined by future Major Leaguers Jordan Romano and Cavan Biggio -- looked a few truncated steps away from unlocking its true potential.
All manager John Schneider did was speed up that process.
Then the Lugnuts¡¯ manager, Schneider was behind the disappearing furniture. His message was clear, and tailor-made for a bunch of 20-something-year-old ballplayers: focus and effort are a responsibility. Leisure is a privilege.
¡°It worked,¡± Romano said from Rogers Centre seven years later, staring at the Blue Jays¡¯ bullpen with a longing smile.
Romano is one of several Toronto players who came up through the Minor League system with Schneider as their manager.
As guys like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk, Santiago Espinal, Tim Mayza and Biggio rose through the ranks, so did their skipper. When several of them made their big league debuts in 2019, Schneider was there, too, first as a player development coach and later as a bench coach.
Schneider became the Blue Jays¡¯ interim manager in July 2022 and was officially hired for the job that October, ensuring at least three more years of work with the core he helped bring up.
The rarity of being reunited in the Majors isn¡¯t lost on anyone.
¡°It¡¯s really unique,¡± Romano said. ¡°There¡¯s years of trust that you build off. Now, he¡¯s a big league manager. So, I respect my relationship with him as a friend, and I respect my relationship with him as a manager.¡±
Schneider hasn¡¯t simply led this group before, though. He¡¯s won with it. A year before joining the big league coaching staff, Schneider led the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats to an Eastern League championship, in a season highlighted by the brimming potential of youngsters like Guerrero and Bichette.
Becoming a Major League manager was a long-awaited objective, but getting to do it with these guys made it even more meaningful.
¡°To see them come in as young players in the Minors and then to be here in 2019 when they transitioned to the big leagues, that was really cool,¡± Schneider said from the manager¡¯s office at Rogers Centre in April. ¡°To continue to grow with them as a coach at this level, and then to be the manager, it's unique.¡±
Individual and collective growth have always been his impetus.
Now 43, Schneider transitioned from player to coach in 2008, joining the Rookie-level GCL Blue Jays as a catching instructor. Two years later, he became the youngest manager in the history of the Vancouver Canadians (Toronto¡¯s Single-A affiliate at the time) at 30.
The road from that point was as long and winding as a 12-hour bus ride in the middle of the Minor League season, but Schneider never lost sight of the finish line.
¡°I remember telling my wife [Jessy], ¡¯I think that I am going to be one of 30 one day,¡¯¡± he recalled. ¡°'I am going to continue to work my [butt] off in so many different ways until that either becomes a reality, or I realize that it's not going to be a reality.¡¯¡±
He had time and opportunity to do so.
A New Jersey native, Schneider returned to the GCL Blue Jays in 2013, then he managed the Canadians in 2014-15 before joining the Lugnuts the following year and boldly taking away his players¡¯ pingpong table. The 2017 season was marked by the then-Class A Dunedin Blue Jays¡¯ first Florida State League championship, with Schneider at the helm.
A quick stop in New Hampshire and another championship later, he officially joined the Major League staff in 2019.
¡°I just remember trying to evolve as much as I could,¡± Schneider said. ¡°Meeting people along the way and being open-minded to try to do things differently ¡ as the game went more toward analytics and numbers, and being able to understand those without losing sight of the fact that human beings still play the game.¡±
That balance between strategy and humanity isn¡¯t easy or linear, but it¡¯s given Schneider a distinctive voice as a coach.
¡°I was a starting pitcher at the time, and he kind of knew what made me click,¡± said Romano of his Minor League days. ¡°He¡¯d come out there and sometimes really get into me. He knew that's what was best for me. I didn't really like it at the time, but looking back, he knew how to get me to be the player that I should be.¡±
Schneider¡¯s groundwork with the Blue Jays¡¯ young core had been laid out for years, but since making the big league coaching staff, he made it a mission to learn the habits and mentality of veteran players as well. Observing Justin Smoak, Freddy Galvis and Marcus Stroman ultimately made it easier to manage players like George Springer, Matt Chapman and Kevin Gausman.
So, when the Blue Jays dismissed Charlie Montoyo in June of 2022 and Schneider was asked to lead the team as interim manager, he¡¯d long secured the trust of the clubhouse, delivering a 46-28 record en route to an AL Wild Card Series berth.
That saga ended in well-documented heartbreak, as the Blue Jays blew an 8-1 lead in Game 2 against Seattle, taking a 10-9 loss to wrap up their season.
Despite the painful end, Schneider was officially hired as skipper a couple of weeks after that.
¡°[My wife] was the first one I called,¡± Schneider said of when he got the offer. ¡°We kind of shared a moment.
¡°She's been with me since I was a Rookie-ball manager. She¡¯s seen me at my best and seen me at my worst, and the fact that she was there when I hit that high point of what I wanted to do, it was really, really special.¡±
It¡¯s common during the summer to see Jessy and their sons, 7-year-old Gunner and 5-year-old Grayson, around the ballpark. The family¡¯s home in Toronto is five minutes away from Rogers Centre, and as soon as the school year is done, the four of them converge north of the border to spend their free time together.
And though the concept of free time has gotten more elusive since Schneider became manager, he¡¯s putting his passion for learning to good use.
¡°Other than trying to win baseball games, my sole focus in life is being a good husband and father, and that¡¯s hard to do sometimes,¡± he said. ¡°But I think the more you do it, you kind of learn the ins and outs, you learn the cadence of each day. ¡ And you¡¯ve got to just be consistent with what you're doing. It's fun to go through it. I'm extremely lucky that I have an understanding wife and two boys that love the game.¡±
Schneider tries not to go over a month without seeing his wife and kids. The family splits its time between Toronto and Clearwater, Fla., and that goal proves easier in some points of the year than others.
This year, he decided to forgo some of his free time at the All-Star break, heading to Seattle to serve as Guerrero¡¯s BP thrower in the slugger's triumphant Home Run Derby. When Vladdy participated in 2019, Schneider was the pitcher, too -- though he was then still years away from managing the young first baseman in the Majors.
How to manage his time -- and the demands from all corners for it -- emerged as an unexpected challenge when Schneider took the helm.
¡°I drive myself crazy sometimes trying to make sure that I'm there for everybody, staff included,¡± said Schneider. ¡°It takes some getting used to, but understanding that whatever I have going on, whether it's personal or professional stress, there's always someone that needs me. And I think you have to keep a very level head, you have to to find balance away from the field. And you have to be really, really prepared.¡±
The skipper prides himself on that last part, making it a point to listen to the baseball minds around him, but also showing a human interest in everyone with whom he¡¯s in contact -- players in particular.
¡°Players are at the forefront of everything that we're doing, I learned that very early in my Minor League career as a coach and manager,¡± said Schneider. ¡°If you keep the player in the forefront, it usually works out in the long run. Not only for him, but for the team. I try to never, ever lose sight of that.¡±
Schneider isn¡¯t taking away clubhouse couches at the Major League level -- call it ¡°evolving,¡± if you will. But as a talented Blue Jays group works to find its stride, his decisions as a manager become more difficult.
Keeping the players at the center is certainly a benefit, but having a strong voice means he won¡¯t please everyone all the time. And this is where the work Schneider has put in for 15 years shows up.
¡°At this point, it's like, I know how bad he wants to win,¡± said Romano. ¡°So any decision he's making, I know, it's at least coming from a good place, and I can respect that decision.¡±
So far, so good.
Schneider managed his 100th Major League game on April 28, a 3-2 home win over the Mariners that was part of a six-game win streak. The month of May brought more growing pains, as Toronto posted an 11-17 record. In June, Schneider had to manage a four-man rotation, as Alek Manoah figured out mental and physical aspects of his game in the Minors and returned with authority before the break.
There will be many more humbling moments ahead, but that¡¯s what makes it worth it. Schneider wouldn¡¯t have it any other way.
¡°If you¡¯re not evolving, you¡¯re falling behind,¡± said Schneider. ¡°Trying to do things a tick better than we have done is something I'll never stop doing.¡±