DUNEDIN, Fla. — Having already locked in president and CEO Mark Shapiro, the Toronto Blue Jays further secured their leadership group by extending GM Ross Atkins through the 2031 season and manager John Schneider through 2028.

Atkins gets another five years while Schneider gets an extra two. Both had deals due to expire at the end of this season.

The announcements Monday morning, as the team prepared to break from camp in Dunedin, were expected, especially once Shapiro’s own extension through 2030 was completed in December.

Both Atkins and Schneider were central to the Blue Jays' turnaround to the AL pennant last season after finishing last in the AL East the year prior.

In the regular season, a 20-win turnaround saw the Blue Jays take the division at 94-78 while leading MLB with 49 comeback victories.

The Blue Jays then beat the New York Yankees in the ALDS in four games and the Seattle Mariners in the ALCS in seven, before falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series despite taking a lead into the ninth inning of Game 7.

Shapiro believes stability in leadership is an essential to successful sports franchises, as organizations "that react year-to-year, season-to-season on fast cycles … are kind of perpetually spinning," he said in a 2021 interview.

"The ones that have the strength and resilience to stick with some stability and continuity, even........

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