Marlins hire Cardinals fan favorite as manager: Was it the right move?

Miami Marlins to hire Skip Schumaker as new manager. Was it the right move for their long-term future?

Jared Michael “Skip” Schumaker already comes with a nickname that was born to manage a Major League Baseball team. The 11-year MLB utilityman officially retired from the game in 2016 and landed his first coaching job with the Padres in 2018.

After the Cardinals let go of Mike Shildt last year, Oli Marmol was promoted and Schumaker returned to the organization where he played the first eight seasons of his big league career, this time as a bench coach.

Enter the Miami Marlins, who recently announced that Don Mattingly was going to be parting ways with the organization at year’s end. The four final candidates for his replacement were Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro, Astros bench coach Joe Espada, Yankees third base coach Luis Rojas and Schumaker.

Per multiple reports, including one from Craig Mish of the Miami Herald, the Marlins are filling their managerial vacancy with Schumaker, who is now a manager for the first time in his post-playing-days career.

Marlins: Skip Schumaker is the new skipper. Is this the right move?

The short answer is, yes, and not just because Skip is the skipper.

Schumaker’s ability to fill multiple roles in the Padres front office speaks volumes about his talent as a coach. He has been able to competently fill roles in the baseball operations, player development, associate manager and bench coach sides of things in recent years.

This is all without mentioning that he brings a toolset of a recent MLB player to the table who is well-versed in the Stacast era, instead of a member of the older generation of players.

Matt Holliday, a former teammate of Schumaker’s on the Cardinals, loves the move, saying that the Marlins’ newest leader demands excellence and knows how to have fun.

Before Schumaker even began his tenure as the bench coach of the Cardinals, manager Oli Marmol brought some high praise to the table for the former World Series champ:

"“He’s the absolute perfect fit. He brings a high level of credibility, just from playing in the organization and playing in the big leagues for a long time. He’s a teacher, he understands and appreciates the fundamentals of the game, which we value here. The guy is super detailed, very organized, which in that role you have to be."

Of course, bringing a young manager aboard (Schumaker is 43) comes with both positives and negatives. Some positives have been mentioned above. Should he succeed in this role, his young age would lead to a longer tenure than an older manager would, a gamble Kim Ng and company is clearly willing to take.

The negatives? Well, there aren’t many. His lack of true managerial experience could be of concern to some. Other than that, there is more optimism to be felt here than anything else, because he does have experience on the game’s biggest stage, as evidenced by his two World Series rings.

Bottom line, Schumaker will be inheriting one heck of a ballclub to lead. The Marlins are loaded with talent on offense and on the pitching side of things as well as in the farm system.

Miami’s newest leader is already getting some votes of approvals from players on Twitter, continuing the overall positive reaction around the industry surrounding Miami’s newest skipper.

Welcome to South Beach, Skip.