Rangers hire Schumaker as new manager
ARLINGTON -- The Rangers didn’t need to go far to find their next manager.
On Friday, the Rangers announced that they hired Skip Schumaker to become the 21st full-time manager in franchise history. It's a four-year deal through the 2029 season.
Externally, Schumaker has been seen as the heir apparent since joining the club’s front office as a senior adviser to president of baseball operations Chris Young last November.
“I am honored and excited for this opportunity to manage the Rangers,” said Schumaker in a press release. “While I attained a good understanding of the organization through my front office role this past season, the conversations with Chris Young, Ross Fenstermaker and others this week have only intensified my interest in this opportunity. I can’t wait to begin the work for 2026.”
Young said at Friday’s end-of-year presser that Schumaker has been involved in his front office role over the past year and has a good understanding of the organization from top to bottom.
“Obviously, he lives on the West Coast, but he comes in quite frequently and attends games with us,” Young said Friday. “He'd also visit some of our affiliates in the Minor Leagues and interact with different players and staff there -- having him around and spending time with us and many different folks in the front office.
“His perspective, his wisdom, he was around and available a lot. I think we probably talked to him every few days, if not daily, throughout the course of the year and bounced ideas off him and [got] his perspective.”
The move comes days after the club and manager Bruce Bochy opted to part ways after three seasons together on Monday. Young did not commit to a rebuild, but he did note the uncertainty concerning the short and long-term future of the organization after missing the postseason in back-to-back years that led the two sides to part ways.
That being said, Young did emphasize the need for a manager that could handle continued development of young players at the big league level.
Schumaker is the perfect guy for the job.
The 45-year-old, who is regarded as one of the best young managers in the game, led a youthful Marlins club from 2023-24, earning National League Manager of the Year honors in his first season after guiding Miami to an 84-78 record and a Wild Card Series appearance.
Prior to his two years in Miami, Schumaker was on Major League coaching staffs for St. Louis (2022 -- bench coach) and San Diego (2020-21 -- associate manager; 2018-19 -- first-base coach).
Additionally, Young said the club plans to decrease payroll, but he still believes that the young core and the foundational pieces can compete in the coming years.
“We are probably going to be a little bit of a younger team next year,” he said prior to Schumaker's selection. “There's no doubt about it. There is going to be player development that continues at the big league level, and I think those are going to be important aspects of whomever we select as our next manager.”
Young emphasized multiple times that what he wanted from a new manager -- in this case, Schumaker -- wasn’t criticism of how Bochy handled his time with the club.
Quite honestly, the Rangers are in a different position going into 2026 than they were when they hired Bochy back in November 2022. The club will likely require more of a hands-on manager, something that Schumaker has already succeeded at during his time with Miami.
“Development doesn’t stop at the big league level,” Young said “In fact, it’s probably the most critical part of development. A lot of players come up here and struggle initially, and it takes time to get them to the point where they can contribute. It’s going to be really important for the next manager to have experience with younger players in terms of finishing off that development.”