Texas Rangers managerial search focused on former NL manager Skip Schumaker

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Texas Rangers' search for Bruce Bochy's replacement is centered on Skip Schumaker, a former NL Manager of the Year who has worked in their organization for the past year.

“We have a lead candidate internally that we’re focused on,” Chris Young, the team's president of baseball operations, said Friday.

Young acknowledged that he had begun what he would consider a formal interview process, and that there were not yet any external candidates.

“At this point, we haven’t focused there yet,” he said. “Our hope is that we don’t have to."

Schumaker, a special advisor for the Rangers, was the 2023 NL Manager of the Year when Miami went 84-78 and made the fourth postseason appearance in club history. That was the same year Texas, with Bochy in his debut there, won its first World Series championship.

The Rangers and the 70-year-old Bochy, a four-time World Series champion who was baseball’s winningest active manager, mutually agreed Monday to end his managerial stint. That was the day after Texas finished 81-81 for its second non-winning record since its championship. Bochy was at the end of his three-year contract.

The Marlins slipped to 62-100 in 2024 after changes in the front office and a roster decimated by trades and injuries. Schumaker and the team mutually agreed that he wouldn't return for this season.

Texas hired Schumaker last November, a move viewed by many as making him the heir apparent for Bochy. Schumaker remains under contract with the organization through the end of October.

There are seven other MLB teams also looking for new managers. Young wouldn't say if any other teams had requested permission to speak with the 45-year-old Shumaker about their openings.

When asked if there was worry about Schumaker in relation to those other openings, Young said: “I'm not overly concerned at this point."

Before going to Miami, Schumaker was a bench coach for St. Louis, where he played for the Cardinals during their 2011 World Series win over Texas. He played 11 big league seasons with St. Louis (2005-12), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2013) and Cincinnati (2014-15).

Rangers general manager Ross Fenstermaker said while Schumaker lives on the West Coast, he has been very involved with the team in his advisory role.

“He'd spend time with us and many different folks in the front office, add his perspective, his wisdom. He was around and available a lot,” Fenstermaker said. “We probably talked to him every few days, if not daily, throughout the course of the year and bounce ideas off him and get his perspective.”

Bochy has been offered an advisory role in the Rangers front office. He also could be in line for such a position with the San Francisco Giants, though he isn't a candidate for the managerial opening of the team he led to three World Series titles from 2010-14.

With 2,252 wins, Bochy is sixth among all managers, with the five ahead of him all in the Hall of Fame.

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