Charlie Montoyo Fired as Blue Jays Manager; John Schneider Named Interim

The Toronto Blue Jays fired manager Charlie Montoyo on Wednesday and named bench coach John Schneider as the interim manager.

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal first reported the news of Montoyo's dismissal.

The Blue Jays are fourth in the American League East at 46-42, 15.5 games back of the first-place New York Yankees. Still, Montoyo's ouster comes as a surprise with the team in possession of the third AL wild-card spot.

Toronto is looking to arrest its slide after dropping nine of 11 games, narrowing its lead on the Seattle Mariners for the final wild-card spot to half a game. The Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Guardians are only two games behind.

FanGraphs gives the Blue Jays an 82.5 percent chance of reaching the playoffs.

Wednesday's move may be partially because the franchise missed the postseason in 2021.

The Seattle Times' Ryan Divish also reported Blue Jays players seemed to have soured on Montoyo and "were done with him."

More than anything, Montoyo could have been a victim of the fact that a coaching change was the easiest lever for Toronto to pull. You can't transform the roster, so a different voice in the dugout might bring different results.

The Philadelphia Phillies went on a surge after firing Joe Girardi on June 3. They were 22-29 when he departed and now sit at 46-42.

The Blue Jays might have a similar bump with Schneider.

The Los Angeles Angels represent the opposite end of the spectrum. They jettisoned Joe Maddon when their fortunes turned downward dramatically but discovered things can get worse under a new manager.

Based on the timing, moving on from Montoyo will look like either a masterstroke or a case of midseason panic from the front office.