The Rangers announced the hiring of Skip Schumaker as their new manager. The 2023 NL Manager of the Year signed a four-year contract. Texas parted ways with Bruce Bochy earlier this week and almost immediately settled on his expected replacement.
“We are thrilled to announce this promotion and have Skip leading this club in the dugout,” president of baseball operations Chris Young said in a press release. “Over his past year as a senior advisor to our baseball operations group, Skip has proven to be driven, passionate and thorough in everything he does. He has a winning spirit and energy, and we are fortunate that someone so highly regarded in the industry has agreed to become our manager.”
The team also released a brief statement from Schumaker himself. “I am honored and excited for this opportunity to manage the Rangers,” he said. “While I attained a good understanding of the organization through my front office role this past season, the conversations with Chris Young, (general manager) Ross Fenstermaker, and others this week have only intensified my interest in this opportunity. I can’t wait to begin the work for 2026.”
This move has been telegraphed for almost a year. As mentioned in the club’s announcement, Schumaker joined the Texas organization last November as a senior advisor in the front office. That came a few weeks after he stepped down as manager of the Marlins after two seasons. It immediately raised speculation that Schumaker would be the successor whenever the 70-year-old Bochy decided to go in a different direction.
The rapidity of the hiring confirms this was the preferred outcome. Young told reporters this morning the club was not speaking with any candidates outside the organization (relayed by Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News). It was only a matter of days for the team to finalize a contract that gets Schumaker back in the dugout.
A utility infielder during his playing career, Schumaker was a longtime role player for the Cardinals. He began his coaching days in San Diego, then returned to St. Louis as Oli Marmol’s bench coach for the 2022 season. Schumaker got his first managerial opportunity with the Marlins one year later. He signed a two-year deal with a club option for the ’25 campaign to lead what was expected to be a rebuilding Miami club.
The Fish outperformed expectations in 2023, winning 84 games and snagging a Wild Card spot. Schumaker won the Manager of the Year award in his first season. Unsatisfied with the team’s player development pipeline, owner Bruce Sherman made a change atop the front office after the season. Peter Bendix was brought in as president of baseball operations. Former general manager Kim Ng stepped down rather than work as the #2 executive after leading the front office for the preceding three seasons.
Bendix was unconvinced that Miami’s 84-win season really opened a contention window. They’d gotten to the playoffs despite being outscored by 57 runs during the regular season. The Phillies comfortably swept them out of the first round. Miami ownership certainly wasn’t going to approve significant free agent spending. As Bendix geared up for the team’s latest rebuild, the Marlins agreed to void their option on Schumaker’s contract. He managed out a 100-loss season in 2024 and confirmed the long apparent news that he would not be back for a third season in South Florida.
More to come.
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