BRADENTON, Fla. -- The Blue Jays announced Friday that manager Charlie Montoyo has been signed to a contract extension through the 2023 season.

Montoyo is entering his fourth season as the Blue Jays’ manager after coming over from the Rays' organization, and he led the club to a 91-71 record in 2021, falling just short of the postseason as they called Dunedin, Fla., Buffalo, N.Y., and Toronto home during one of the most unique seasons in history.

“I love Toronto,” Montoyo said. “I love the Blue Jays and I love the fans. Toronto was one of my favorite places to go to before I got this job. Now, to see the excitement we have this year with this team, it’s awesome to be here.”

Montoyo was named manager in 2019, just as the Blue Jays were pivoting away from their veteran roster and committing fully to the young core led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. That was a difficult season, with a 67-95 record, but it was always expected to be the beginning of something larger.

“It’s been great, because then it’s more satisfying when you do well,” Montoyo said. “This team has done great. The coaching staff is the same coaching staff that I had before, which makes me feel even better because we’re the same group. Thanks to Ross [Atkins], we’ve done retreats and everything to get better as a coaching staff. I think we’re really good right now as a staff.”

Montoyo began his Minor League coaching career in 1997 and coached at every level of the organization with the Rays during his time there, finishing with eight seasons as the manager of the Triple-A Durham Bulls. Montoyo moved to the MLB staff in 2015 as Tampa Bay's third-base coach and served as its bench coach for one season in ’18 before taking Toronto's job.

It’s been a long road for Montoyo, now 56, but his experience working in player development was one of the main draws for the Blue Jays when he was hired. Now that Toronto boasts one of baseball’s most talented rosters, the expectations have changed dramatically, but Montoyo’s goal is to always be steady.

“I’m still the same guy, it’s just that our players are doing better,” Montoyo said. “It’s a better team, but I’m the same way. The one thing I always do is that, after the season is over, I look in the mirror and say, ‘Did I do everything I needed to do?’ If I say yes, then I’m good with whatever happened.”

Montoyo will enter the regular season with a 190-194 career record as a manager, putting him one win behind Carlos Tosca for fifth in club history and 91 wins behind Jimy Williams for fourth.