Skip Schumaker was one of the most attractive managerial candidates after he stepped down from his post with the Miami Marlins last month. He’s joining a front office instead.
The Texas Rangers have hired Schumaker as a senior advisor to president of baseball operations Chris Young, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The team is also reportedly hiring his former Marlins bench coach, Luis Urueta, for its coaching staff.
Schumaker spent two years as manager of the Marlins, amassing a record of 146-178 with a surprise playoff berth in 2023. His second season was less successful after the team cut payroll and lost general manager Kim Ng, and he ended it by telling his players he wasn’t coming back for 2025.
It was assumed that Schumaker would be quickly picked up in this year’s coaching cycle, but he is apparently going a different route.
He wouldn’t be the first person to jump from coaching to a less intense front-office advisory job, though he could still have an eye on managing. The Rangers won the 2023 World Series with manager Bruce Bochy, but Bochy is also 69 years old and could retire again in the next few years.
There were only three manager openings this offseason: the Marlins, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox. The Reds surprised everyone by coaxing Terry Francona out of retirement, and the White Sox brought in Will Venable to take over the worst team in MLB. The Marlins job is the only one still vacant, and Schumaker obviously wasn’t going there.