Ricky Romero had kind words for his minor league teammate, who recently signed a contract extension
The Toronto Blue Jays will enter this season with more expectations than the organization has had in a generation. The reason for that is the best postseason run Toronto has seen in over 30 years.
The Blue Jays won their first American League pennant since 1993 last season. They took down the Seattle Mariners in a classic seven-game American League Championship Series and had an equally-eventful seven-game World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Toronto ultimately fell by one run in extra innings in Game 7.
The Blue Jays fell just short of the third World Series championship in franchise history but several integral members of the team's run were rewarded for it, such as the skipper.
Toronto manager John Schneider signed a two-year contract extension that will keep him in the Great North through the 2028 season.
The extension is a near full-circle moment for Schenider. He was initially brought in as the interim manager in 2022 after the Blue Jays fired then-skipper Charlie Montoyo.
Schneider helped lead the Blue Jays to a 48-26 record in the team's final 74 games of '22. Toronto brought Schneider on in a full-time capacity under a three-year deal with an option for a fourth season, which was last year.
Schneider has garnered a reputation in his three-and-a-half years as a player's manager and has been complimented over the years by the players and front office alike.
According to one of Schneider's former teammates, it's not a shock to see the former Delaware Blue Hen succeed as a manager.
One-time Blue Jays All-Star and former starting pitcher Ricky Romero went on a recent episode of the Blue Bird Territory podcast and took time to sing the praises of Schneider.
"This is a guy that started as my Single-A catcher," Romero said on the podcast. "That's how long I've known him. In 2005, I'll never forget getting called up to Single-A Dunedin and him coming from Double-A back down. He was my mentor, pretty much. ... Even at the big league level, the times I went into his office — just the growth of him as a manager, as a person. He was never content in just being a good manager. He wanted to relate to those players. ... I think one of the things that's struck me the most is the relationship that he's built between him and (Vladimir Guerrero Jr.). ... When you have managers like that that you can talk to as friends, not necessarily just as coworkers but as friends ... it goes a long way for players."
Schneider has a 303-257 overall record in his three-and-a-half years as the team's skipper and has led Toronto to the playoffs in three of those four seasons. Last year marked the first American League East championship in Schneider's tenure.
Now that the Schneider-led Blue Jays have a pennant and division championship under their belt, the next step is clear: win the World Series. And they'll have to get through a competitive American League and the two-time defending champion Dodgers to do it.
Toronto will take the first steps towards that goal in its season opener against the Athletics at 7:07 p.m. ET on March 27 at Rogers Centre in Toronto.
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