On Friday night, the Texas Rangers announced Skip Schumaker as their next manager. Schumaker, who managed the Miami Marlins for two years (2023-24), has agreed to a four-year contract with the Rangers, replacing Bruce Bochy. Schumaker spent this past season as a senior advisor for the team.
Sources tell Fish On First that Schumaker is expected to retain some members of Bochy’s coaching staff who were already signed through 2026, including Luis “Pipe” Urueta. Urueta was Schumaker’s bench coach in Miami and held the same position with the Rangers in 2025.
The Marlins conducted a thorough managerial search following the 2022 season, and their decision-makers could not reach a consensus on which finalist to pick. Buoyed by the support of then-general manager Kim Ng, Schumaker got the job. A major league player from 2005-2015, Schumaker had never managed at the professional level before. He had served as bench coach of the St. Louis Cardinals in ’22.
In Schumaker’s first year on the job, he became one of only four skippers in Marlins history to lead the team to a postseason berth (joining Jim Leyland, Jack McKeon and Don Mattingly) and one of only four to be voted National League Manager of the Year (joining McKeon, Mattingly and Joe Girardi). The 2023 Marlins went 84-78 despite a minus-57 run differential to earn the NL’s second Wild Card spot. That team was fantastic in one-run games (33-14 record), which was influenced by some good luck, but Schumaker undoubtedly deserved credit for deftly utilizing his personnel in high-leverage situations. It was the first time since 2003 that the Marlins had reached the playoffs in a full-length season.
Less than two weeks after the Marlins were swept in the NL Wild Card Series, Ng left. Schumaker and new president of baseball operations Peter Bendix were not as well-aligned on the franchise’s future. The 2024 season began with a nine-game losing streak, and it was clear that a lack of starting pitching depth and plate discipline would hold the Fish back from being competitive. By that point, there were already rumors swirling about Schumaker’s inevitable departure. Bendix traded away most of the veteran players he inherited and Miami finished at 62-100. Schumaker’s father passed away during the final road trip of the season and he returned to California to console his family while the Marlins played out the string.
“We have mutually agreed to part ways,” Marlins chairman and principal owner Bruce Sherman announced immediately after the regular season ended. During the Skip era, the Marlins posted a 146-178 record overall (.451 W-L%).
Clayton McCullough was hired as Schumaker’s successor. Saddled with a very inexperienced roster and coaching staff, McCullough went 79-83 in 2025. Bendix has confirmed that he’ll continue as manager in 2026.
The Marlins and Rangers will meet at loanDepot park next season for a three-games series from June 22-24.