That's if Bloom decides to move on from Marmol, of course.
Why no Skip?
Because the Rangers have parted ways with Bruce Bochy:
Among the potential replacements for Bochy in Texas is former Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, who joined the Rangers last November as a senior adviser for baseball operations.
The 45-year-old Schumaker was the 2023 NL Manager of the Year after the Marlins went 84-78 and made the playoffs. They slipped to 62-100 in 2024 with a roster decimated by trades and injuries before the team and Schumaker agreed that he would not return for this season. He was previously a bench coach for St. Louis, where he had played for the Cardinals during their 2011 World Series championship over Texas.
[President of baseball operations Chris] Young said Schumaker would be a candidate, but that there had not yet been conversations within the organization about the search process.
On the other hand, per MLBTR, Young is talking about serious salary cuts with the Rangers, and maybe, if opportunity comes elsewhere, he doesn't want to be part of that.
EDIT: Per commenter, I see Woo's story that Bloom has tagged Marmol. That said? That went up WHILE I was writing this original (after posting about Bochy on r/mlb.) Timing is everything, eh? And, besides, Marmol could still be fired midseason, and if so, then Skip is presumably still out of the running as a mid-year or 2027 replacement.
As for post-2026? Buster Posey gave Bob Melvin one courtesy year, even picking up his 2026 option in the middle of this season, then canned him yesterday.
16 comments
Oli is our manager
Marmol isn’t getting fired. There’s zero reason for the Cardinals to fire Oli when they’re not going to be good for the next 3-4 years
Never cross anyone of the list until they sign a contract.
Given Bloom’s the new POBO, I wouldn’t be shocked if the next manager has ties to Boston or Tampa Bay.
But Oli ain’t going anywhere this year. There’s enough to clean up before we start looking at the manager.
Oli’s teams have higher wins than the expected wins from their stats he shouldn’t be going anywhere. There’s a lot of luck involved ofc but it certainly suggests he’s not done a bad job.
I’d love to have skip back in the fold. Please, please, please move on from Marmol. We just need a reset.
I’m okay with that. Skip had 1 good season and a disastrous season in Miami. I want someone with experience winning and developing young players.
Let Oli ride until they find the guy they’re looking for. Being an ex Cardinal should not be a requirement for the job.
Marmol was not given much to work with this year. A bunch of interchangeable .230 hitters, a half dozen catchers, and a bad starting lineup.
I beg it’s fun for posey as a former player to fire a manager
I want Oli gone, but there’s no reason to part ways with him unless a stud becomes available. I like Skip, but I don’t think he’s the second coming of Tony La Russa. Stay as is for a year or two as you build the team.
Anyone who thought Schumaker was going to be the manager needs studied
I don’t think he’d take the St. Louis job because it’s really just being held by Marmol until Pujols or Yadi is ready for it the way i figure.
Whether that’s sometime next season, or 2027 once Marmol’s contract is out, I feel like things are set for one of them to make the leap. Pujols has been outspoken about his desire to manage a Major League team and is doing the WBC, Yadi did the last one for Puerto Rico with decent success.
I’d personally like to figure out what it’ll take to get Yadi in the dugout for the next decade over Pujols, but it all depends on whether or not the Cardinals will make the move before someone else does for either or both of them. I don’t suspect that either of them will patiently wait in a minor league job or a winter league for much longer, as there are much worse former players that have been given major league managerial jobs with less managerial experience.
I know that the decision today is “we’re sticking with Oli” but all that could change with a bad start to the season if not a bad spring or anything.
You can probably pencil Marmol in as the manager until the restructure is complete and the ships been turned the new way. This has been pretty standard in the industry lately.
Skip succeeding Bochy was pretty much assumed for the past two years
Hate Oli’s personality that he gives off but it’s undeniable that this team won more games than it should have this year with the milquetoast lineup and rotation it has. Morever this team is not going to contend seriously for at least 2 more seasons so there is no reason at all to spend money on a big name manager right now.
I’ll be counting down the days until he is no longer the manager. Dude sucks and has 0 intensity to him. I do not feel any type of motivation when he speaks.