The Texas Rangers have hired former Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker as a senior advisor to president of baseball operations Chris Young, reports the Dallas Morning News. Luis Urueta, Schumaker’s bench coach with the Marlins, is also expected to join the Rangers as their bench coach. The team has not yet announced either hire.
Schumaker, the 2023 NL Manager of the Year, parted ways with the Marlins after the season. The 44-year-old requested that his club option for the 2025 season be torn up in spring training, paving the way for his exit. As our R.J. Anderson explained, the managerial market never really developed this offseason, opening up the possibility of Schumaker spending a year away from the dugout.
Joining Texas makes it possible that Schumaker will one day replace manager Bruce Bochy, whenever the future Hall of Fame decides to retire (again). Bochy, 69, just completed the second year of his three-year contract. Schumaker could step in as Rangers manager as soon as 2026, though that is only my speculation, to be clear.
The Marlins surprisingly went 84-78 in 2023 and reached the postseason as the third wild-card team. Their success was built on an unrepeatable 33-14 record in one-run games, however, and the Marlins slipped down to 62-100 in 2024. The team went 146-178 in two years under Schumaker, largely because the talent on the roster was lacking.
Schumaker is the latest change to the Rangers’ front office. Earlier this week the club promoted Ross Fenstermaker to general manager after three years in the assistant’s chair. The 2023 World Series champions went 78-84 and missed the postseason in 2024.
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