Shapiro says Ross Atkins, John Schneider extensions give Blue Jays leadership stability

Toronto Blue Jays President Mark Shapiro smiles as he watches live batting practice at Spring Training in Dunedin, Fla., on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

It might seem that the Toronto Blue Jays’ decision to extend the contracts of general manager Ross Atkins and manager John Schneider on Monday was a reward for guiding the Major League Baseball club to the World Series last year.

But team president Mark Shapiro said in a wide-ranging Q-and-A with reporters on Wednesday that the renewed deals are part of his commitment to building a culture focused on consistency.

“I really do believe that’s a competitive advantage, not just for the sheer sake of stability and continuity, but for the ability to make adjustments and the ability to truly get better and improve and develop and grow,” said Shapiro in a board room in the Blue Jays offices at Rogers Centre. “The greatest reflection of those two is we finished last year and they took our major league staff, sat down and said ‘OK, we’re all kind of basking in the glow. What happened last year? What is repeatable? What is not? And how are we going to improve off of last year?’

“I think that defines both of those two guys.”

Toronto (94-68) won the American League East title in Game 162 of the season, narrowly topping the New York Yankees. The Blue Jays advanced through the American League Division and Championship Series, eventually losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series.

Atkins’s five-year deal runs through 2031, while Schneider’s three-year contract covers 2028.

Schneider, 46, has a 303-257 record since taking over as Blue Jays manager in July 2022 and was runner-up for AL manager of the year last season. He’s entering his fourth full season as skipper after Toronto picked up his 2026 option last year.

Shapiro said that Schneider, who has managed at every level of the Blue Jays organization, has gotten better every year and is adept at processing information from multiple sources.

“Some of that information is his own set of experiences and managing a thousand games as a minor-league manager, and playing games as a catcher, as a leader on the field,” said Shapiro. “He is able to distil information at an elite level.

“(Schneider) takes everything in, he wants all the information, and then it’s always a process of weighting and balancing it and having the strength to make your own decision within a game which moves very fast, which is extremely high pressure, in which you will be criticized for what doesn’t work and not really applauded for what does work.”

Atkins, 52, was hired in December 2015 and is the second-longest tenured general manager in franchise history. He succeeded Tony LaCava in the position. LaCava held the GM role on an interim basis after the departure of Montreal’s Alex Anthopoulos in the fall of 2015.

The Blue Jays have reached the post-season five times under Atkins’s leadership, but won playoff games only in 2016 before last year’s run. Toronto struggled through a rebuild that bottomed out in 2018 and 2019 before returning to contention during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Atkins and Shapiro have known each other for decades, when the former was a pitcher in Cleveland’s minor-league system and the latter was a member of that team’s front office. Shapiro was made Cleveland’s general manager in 2001 and Atkins was named assistant director of player development for that club the same year.

Shapiro said that, even as a double-A pitcher, Atkins was always asking questions and taking an interest in the development process.

“What’s happened in his growth and development as a general manager has been an evolution of that curiosity and that desire to continue to learn,” said Shapiro. “(That curiosity) fuels an entire group, a Major League organization, baseball operations staff, to identify talent, to acquire, to develop it, and then to deploy it on a major league team better each season.

“He’s built an incredible front office that he relies on and is incredibly collaborative with and humble in the way he leads them.”

Shapiro said that stability and continuity within Toronto’s leadership means that all the front office staff can feel secure in taking chances.

“That’s the beauty of this business, the beauty of this game, is that you can think you have all the best information in the world, and you’re never going to be able to spit out the right decisions,” said Shapiro. “But when your process is really rigorous and strong and good, you can make an adjustment. You can learn from the mistakes, and you can make an adjustment the next time, make better decisions the next time.

“I think as a collective baseball operation, we’re making better decisions more frequently.”

Toronto opens the 2026 season on Friday when it hosts the Athletics at Rogers Centre.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2026.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press