The Rangers have officially named Skip Schumaker their new manager. The 2023 NL Manager of the Year signed a four-year contract to become the 21st full-time skipper in franchise history. Schumaker’s hiring comes just four days after the team announced that future Hall of Famer Bruce Bochy would not be back for a fourth season.
“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. 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 viewed as a rebuilding Miami team.
The Fish outperformed expectations in 2023, winning 84 games and snagging a Wild Card spot. Unsatisfied with the team’s player development pipeline, owner Bruce Sherman made a change atop the front office at year’s end. Peter Bendix was brought in as president of baseball operations. 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 winning season really opened a contention window. They’d gotten to the playoffs despite being outscored by 57 runs. The Phillies comfortably swept them out of the first round. 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 year in South Florida as soon as the season ended.
The sour finish has not detracted from Schumaker’s reputation as one of the sport’s top young managers. It doesn’t appear as though he seriously pursued a position last offseason. He was loosely tied to the White Sox vacancy that eventually went to Will Venable — ironically, the previous presumed successor to Bochy in Arlington — but decided to spend a season in the Texas front office while keeping his options open for 2026.
Schumaker steps into a dugout that might be in the midst of its own youth movement. The Rangers have disappointed in each of the past two seasons after winning the World Series during Bochy’s first year. The franchise has dealt with revenue losses related to the collapse of its local broadcast contract, leading to what is expected to be a reduced payroll. In announcing Bochy’s departure, Young told reporters the club was dealing with financial uncertainty and would place more emphasis on development of young players.
A roster shakeup was necessary anyhow. Their veteran lineup simply hasn’t been good enough over the past two seasons. It’d be a surprise if at least one or two of Adolis García, Jonah Heim, Josh Jung and Jake Burger weren’t traded or non-tendered. Texas still has four huge contracts on the books for Jacob deGrom, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Nathan Eovaldi. They’ll be saddled with Joc Pederson’s $18.5MM salary when he inevitably exercises his player option.
Trading any of deGrom, Eovaldi or Seager would signify a greater teardown than seems likely. They’d need to eat a lot of the remaining three years and $72MM on Semien’s contract to find any interest, and Pederson stands a better chance of being released than traded. There’s a good chance all five of those players are back, but there should be significant turnover among their group of arbitration-eligible hitters.
A 1-2 punch of deGrom and Eovaldi may alone be enough to keep them in the playoff hunt next year if both aces can stay healthy. They’ll need more foundational lineup pieces around Seager, Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter and eventually top prospect Sebastian Walcott if they’re to have consistent success throughout the Schumaker era.
There are now seven open or uncertain managerial positions around the game. The Giants and Twins fired Bob Melvin and Rocco Baldelli, respectively, at season’s end. The Angels announced they were not exercising Ron Washington’s club option for 2026, nor would they bring back interim skipper Ray Montgomery. Brian Snitker retired after leading the Braves for nine and a half seasons. The Nationals (Miguel Cairo), Rockies (Warren Schaeffer) and Orioles (Tony Mansolino) ended the year with interim managers after midseason firings. None of those teams have announced whether their interim candidates will get the position on a full-time basis.
Image courtesy of Orlando Ramirez, USA Today Sports.
