The Toronto Blue Jays will keep their skipper around for at least another season beyond 2022.
The MLB club announced Friday morning that it has signed manager Charlie Montoyo to a contract extension, keeping him filling out the lineup cards for the Jays through at least 2023. The contract also allows the Jays to hold the option of keeping Montoyo for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
Montoyo has been Toronto's manager since 2019 and is entering the final year of his contract. The Jays exercised his option for 2022 last year.
The extension is perceived as a reward for guiding the Blue Jays through a rough stretch of their history. During the last two seasons, COVID-19 related travel restrictions from the Canadian government forced the team to play most of its home games at either its winter home in Dunedin, Florida, or the home of its Triple-A club in Buffalo.
The Puerto Rican-born Montoyo, 56, played part of one year in the majors as a second baseman in 1993 for the Montreal Expos. After joining the Tampa Bay Rays farm system as a coach in 1997, he worked his way up to being the Rays' bench coach.
Since becoming the Blue Jays' manager, Montoyo has compiled a 190-194 record, including a 91-win season last year that ended when the Jays missed the playoffs by one game.
The regular season begins Thursday, April 7.