Former Toronto Blue Jays player Gregg Zaun ripped manager John Schneider, calling him “Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s caddy.”
The Blue Jays are 77-80 and are almost assuredly going to miss the playoffs this season, just one year removed from making it all the way to Game 7 of the 2025 World Series.
One of the biggest issues the team has faced this year has been a steep decline from Guerrero, the Blue Jays’ star first baseman, who only has 9 home runs this year and an OPS of .695 despite being the highest-paid 1B in MLB at $40.2 million this season.
Despite Guerrero’s terrible year, Schneider has refused all season long to bat him lower than third in the order, as he said that “pissing off” his star won’t do any good.
But that hasn’t helped the Blue Jays, who have struggled to score runs this year, with Guerrero a big part of the blame.
Gregg Zaun Rips John Schneider for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Decision
Speaking on “The Raw Mike Richards Show,” Zaun — the former Blue Jays catcher-turned-analyst — ripped Schneider for not having the guts to move Guerrero down the batting order despite his terrible season at the plate.
“You also have to have a guy at the helm that has some street cred, not just living on the fact that he’s been Vladdy Jr.’s caddy since the minor leagues. He said it himself, ‘Oh, we don’t want to piss Vladdy off. We don’t want to upset him.’ Really? Why? How do you not have the ability and the relationship with your star player, having managed him all the way through the minor leagues, to walk into a room in a closed-door meeting with your star player and have those tough conversations?” Zaun said.
Gregg Zaun Trashes Blue Jays’ Culture
In addition to ripping Schneider, Zaun trashed the Blue Jays’ culture as a whole this season.
“I look at the Jays as a whole. I look at the culture of the Jays. They’re more worried about home run jackets than they are about getting a guy over, getting a guy in, hitting the cutoff man. Calling the right pitches when it matters most. There’s been no conversation about any of those key things,” Zaun said.
Although some Blue Jays fans don’t like Zaun due to his polarizing personality, he does make some fair points about the club this year as far as both Schneider’s treatment of Guerrero and the team’s culture as a whole go.
Just one year after nearly winning the third World Series in franchise history, this year’s Blue Jays team has been a massive disappointment, especially given they have one of the top-five payrolls in all of Major League Baseball. Yet, despite that, they are not going to the playoffs this season.
A lot of heavy lifting needs to be done this offseason to address things and make sure a season from hell doesn’t happen again, and it all starts with Guerrero getting his bat right next season; otherwise, the same thing may happen.
Gregg Zaun Rips John Schneider: ‘Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s Caddy’