Who an MLB insider believes will be John Schneider’s replacement is bad news for Blue Jays fans.
Regardless of credentials, the candidate proposed by Bob Nightengale would not be an ideal replacement for Schneider.
Over the last week, we’ve looked in depth at potential solid candidates to replace John Schneider as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays if he’s fired. However, in a recent article written by MLB insider Bob Nightengale, he mentioned another intriguing candidate if Schneider ultimately becomes the scapegoat in a struggling Jays season. Nightengale stated that Don Mattingly, the bench coach, was his expected replacement.
If Mattingly is “expected” to be the solution to the team’s problems, this could be bad news for both the Jays and their fans. Not to take away from Mattingly’s accomplishments; after all, he has over 12 years of experience as a manager for both the Dodgers and the Marlins. Furthermore, he won the National League Manager of the Year award with the Marlins in 2020, so it all has to be worth something, right?
When Mattingly took over the Dodgers in the early 2010s, he led the team to strong regular-season records. However, they fell short in the playoffs, losing twice in the first round and once in the second.
When Mattingly took over the Marlins from 2016 to 2022, his teams had a losing record in six of seven years, including a 105-loss season in 2019. The Marlins finished 31-29 in his only season with a winning record in 2020, when he was named Manager of the Year. They did make the postseason that year as a result of the COVID-shortened schedule, but they were eliminated in the first round, as expected. Kind of sounds familiar, right?
With a career managerial record of 889-950 and a losing postseason record of 10-14, Mattingly’s credentials pale in comparison to some of the previous successful candidates we mentioned.
Furthermore, while serving as the Jays’ bench coach beginning in 2023, he was given the additional title of “offensive coordinator” during the 2023 offseason, allowing him to oversee the work of the Jays’ hitting coaches and have a say in transforming the team’s offensive potential. Mattingly was a master of hitting during his active career, with a career.307 batting average, over 2000 hits, 222 home runs, and 1099 RBI, so it stands to reason that he would know a thing or two about becoming an effective hitter and run producer.
However, the Jays’ offense in 2024 has fared worse than in previous years. Yes, it has.
year, regardless of hitting or run production. So whatever methods and strategies Mattingly has implemented for the team haven’t been effective. So having him potentially take over as the primary manager of the entire team may not be the best possible solution if the Jays want to address their current serious offense-generating problem. As a result, Mattingly’s endorsement should be viewed as more of a suggestion than something that has already been established. Otherwise, the Jays may be in for even more trouble than anticipated.
