DUNEDIN, Fla. — Back in 2021, the last time the Toronto Blue Jays went through a cycle of leadership extensions, president and CEO Mark Shapiro described sports franchises that make directional decisions season-to-season as “perpetually spinning.”
Stability and continuity allow executives and coaches to adjust and adapt as needed without forcing widescale organizational turnover, allowing for more structured decision-making, per Shapiro.
“That’s a very difficult model to maintain in professional sports, where emotion and momentum factors into so many decisions,” Shapiro added then. “But if you have the strength to do it, it usually is a benefit.”
Over the past few years, the Blue Jays offer some proof of concept for that argument, which is why general manager Ross Atkins and manager John Schneider each received contract extensions Monday.
The organization could easily have reacted to a dismal 2024 season, on the heels of a frustrating wild-card series loss in 2023, by making leadership changes that would have totally reset the team’s approach. Instead, the Blue Jays stayed the course, and allowed the leaders in place to learn from what had gone wrong and apply those lessons.
It resulted in an AL East title and a trip to the World Series.
Shapiro, who had been on an expiring contract, received a five-year extension that runs through 2030 in December, while Monday’s deals tack on another five years for Atkins, now signed through 2031, and two years for Schneider, under contract through 2028.
Both Atkins and Schneider had been on contracts that expired after this year.
“It makes it a lot easier when you have guys that have been here, players and now myself and Ross and Mark that are pulling in the same direction,” Schneider said. “I feel like we took a big step forward in that last year and really excited to continue to do that. And everyone understands where we are and what we’re trying to do and who we’re trying to do it with. Similar to locking up Vladimir (Guerrero Jr.) or (Alejandro) Kirk, you know what you’re going to be dealing with every day and for years to come. Just really excited to continue to work with those guys.”
Atkins, hired in December 2015 about a month after Shapiro became president and CEO, is already the second-longest tenured GM in franchise history with 10 seasons under his belt. If he completes this contract, he’ll be within striking distance of Pat Gillick’s brilliant 17-year run that launched him toward the Hall of Fame.
Shapiro, meanwhile, is in the midst of the longest uninterrupted stretch for a Blue Jays president and CEO, second in total years only to Paul Beeston.
The franchise’s back-to-back World Series victories in 1992 and 1993 occurred under their watch and as the Blue Jays celebrate their 50th season in 2026, Shapiro and Atkins are seeking a title to punctuate their own era.
Schneider, heading into his fourth full season as Blue Jays manager after taking over on interim basis for the fired Charlie Montoyo in July 2022, is currently fourth among Blue Jays managers at 560 games, behind only giants Bobby Cox (647), John Gibbons (1,582) and Cito Gaston (1,764).
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A 12th-round pick in 2002 who topped out at triple-A during a six-year playing career interrupted by concussions, Schneider is a Blue Jays lifer who’s touched nearly every level in the system.
Last spring, after the 2024 mess, the Blue Jays quietly exercised his 2025 option, a sign of faith in his work that was rewarded throughout the year. Schneider said the extension talks this spring led to “a couple of sleepless nights,” but added that extending with the organization “is really cool, something I don’t take for granted.”
“The conversations that we have, I don’t want to say daily, but pretty regularly, were pretty forthcoming and telling that they value stability, they value what I do and how I do it here,” Schneider said.
“Ultimately, negotiations are different than conversations. I don’t want to say I expected us to arrive here, but I feel like we’re all pulling in the same direction and allowed last year to be a little bit more free, if you will. Excited to get that done last year and just really excited to get it done for the next couple years.”
The team identity he and the coaching staff helped the players build last season was pivotal. Now, they’re looking to carry it into 2026.
Centre fielder Daulton Varsho noted how the Blue Jays really bought into a mindset in 2025, a byproduct of Schneider’s growth over the past three years they’ve been together.
“It was interesting to see him starting to understand guys, how to interact with people, knowing when he needs to put an arm around a guy saying, ‘Hey, it’s OK, we’ll get you through this,’ and when to jump somebody and say, ‘You’ve got to start moving here,’” said Varsho.
“Obviously he’s had great players come in here to try to help him out when he needs to do that, but happy for him and his family.”
None of that happens if the Blue Jays don’t stay the course with their leadership group during the dire days of 2024. Given the chance to recover and rally, they did just that, earning themselves the opportunity to keep doing it moving forward.
