This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson's Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Now that the Blue Jays are officially postseason bound, their focus shifts to the race for home-field advantage over the final six games.

The Blue Jays still hold the No. 1 Wild Card spot in the American League, but with the Rays and Mariners both holding the tiebreaker against them, they’ll likely need to win outright to ensure their Wild Card Series will be played at Rogers Centre. It will be a challenging week, and it won’t get any easier when the postseason begins, but the Blue Jays are confident that they have the right man to lead this group into the postseason.

Speaking on Tuesday, GM Ross Atkins called interim manager John Schneider a “long-term fit” for the organization. Nothing has been made official just yet, but The Blue Jays have loved what they’ve seen so far from the 42-year-old.

Schneider is 41-27 since taking over in mid-July, and while he’s pressed a lot of the right buttons at the right times, so much of a manager’s value needs to be observed in smaller moments away from the field.

Young players in 2022 are entering the Majors with different needs than players did 10, 20 or 40 years ago. One player might be data-obsessed, needing numbers and projections to explain a potential change. Another player might need visual prompts, or to hear it from the manager directly. Another might respond better to a quiet conversation than confrontation. Schneider is, first and foremost, managing a diverse group of young men.

“Do they need a kick in the ass or a pat on the back?” Schneider said. “You have to spend time with them and get to know them, get to know what their ins and outs are, whether you can yell at them or whether you should put your arm around them. That takes time. That’s something I try to deliberately do every day, is learn about the people and not just the player.”

When Atkins addressed Schneider’s future earlier in the week, the word “accountability” came up over and over. In the simplest terms, Schneider doesn’t leave players guessing as to why something is happening.

“You want to have players understand why you’re doing what you’re doing,” Schneider said. “As long as there’s good reasoning behind it, I think they trust it. At the same time, there’s not a guy that they don’t trust. We’re just trying to pick our spots to give ourselves a better chance to win.”

A manager’s days are long. Beginning many hours before the day starts, there are advance meetings, one-on-one chats and time spent with the coaching staff. There are also media responsibilities -- which I’m confident are the highlight of each manager’s day -- and those increase by the day at this point in the season.

Over the course of 162 games, it’s mentally exhausting, but this is a job that Schneider has lived before in the Minor Leagues, climbing through the ranks and winning championships with members of this young core like Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He understands the gig, and that comes with an incredible amount of planning.

“If he’s awake, he’s focused on that,” Atkins said. “He’s probably been thinking about it a lot in his sleep, as well, because he’s been exceptionally prepared. It’s one thing to talk about being consistent and always being prepared and positive, but then you get punched in the mouth. That has not affected him as we’ve had a couple of tough stretches under his leadership. He’s handled it very well.”

How does this all play out, then?

Nothing will happen until the offseason, likely in the early days that follow the end of the Blue Jays’ run, wherever that leads. The Blue Jays won’t publicly commit to anything until an announcement is made, but every arrow is pointing towards Schneider losing that pesky “interim” tag and taking over this club permanently. I’d expect him to be leading the Blue Jays for a long time, too.

One of Schneider’s most refreshing traits is his honesty. Whether he’s evaluating a performance or updating news, Schneider is direct when he’s able to be, and shared that he’s given thought to this, too. Of course he has.

“Absolutely. Not too much, because there’s a job to do and a task at hand,” Schneider said, “but over the last couple of months, I’ve learned to embrace the good and the bad part of the job. I’ve come to realize that I absolutely love it. I couldn’t think of a better place to be and I couldn’t think of a better group to be with.”