After managing the Toronto Blue Jays' Triple-A farm team, the Syracuse Chiefs, Leyva spent 4½ seasons (July 1993 through 1997) as the third-base coach of the Blue Jays, his first term in the job. As a major league manager and coach, Leyva has worn #16 with every team he has been with, except for his first year in Toronto in 1993, during which he wore #45 as #16 was already taken. He later worked at multiple levels of the Chicago White Sox farm system before spending one season as third-base coach of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2007.