Miami Marlins void 2025 club option for Skip Schumaker

[Kevin Barral]

On the same day Schumaker's Marlins clinched their first win of the 2024 season, news surfaced that the reigning NL Manager of the Year is a pending free agent.

Skip Schumaker did everything that the Miami Marlins could've dreamed of in his first season as the team's manager, leading them to 84 regular season wins and a playoff berth. But Schumaker's second season in Miami could prove to be his last. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported on Sunday that the Marlins have voided the 2025 club option in his contract, allowing him to leave the organization after the 2024 season if they don't negotiate an extension by then. SportsGrid's Craig Mish would later confirm the news.

Schumaker was hired by former GM Kim Ng during the 2022-23 offseason. He arrived with a decade of MLB playing experience and some coaching experience, but had never held a managerial job before.

The Marlins improved by 15 wins from 2022 to 2023, reaching the playoffs for the first time in a full-length season since 2003. Schumaker joined Jim Leyland and Jack McKeon as the third manager in Marlins franchise history to secure a winning season in their first year managing the team. He was voted National League Manager of the Year, the first Marlins skipper to win the award in a full season since Joe Girardi (2006).

Kim Ng parted ways with the club last October when she and principal owner Bruce Sherman could not agree on a multi-year extension. That paved the way for Sherman to hire Tampa Bay Rays general manager Peter Bendix as the franchise's new president of baseball operations. Schumaker's tenure in Miami all of a sudden became a bit murky given the change in front office leadership.

According to Nightengale's report, Schumaker's contract was voided during the winter, meaning this had been done for a while now. However, the news only got out to the public on Sunday, with the Marlins entering the day owning MLB's worst record at 0-9.

There is still the possibility that the Marlins and Schumaker can come to an agreement on an extension. Bendix and Schumaker have spoken highly of each other through public comments. However, if they were fully committed to working together long term, then these negotiations likely would've been completed before the 2024 season started.

If the Marlins and Schumaker do go their separate ways, Peter Bendix will be tasked with looking for the franchise's 17th manager, a shockingly high number considering that the Marlins have only been around since 1993.

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[Leo Armbrister]

I am a Marlins fan but this franchise is totally dysfunctional. We will not extend our All Star caliber players. Now we are going to not extend the manager of the year. Who wants to come to Miami with this management team. 

[Ely Sussman]

11 hours ago, Leo Armbrister said:

I am a Marlins fan but this franchise is totally dysfunctional. We will not extend our All Star caliber players. Now we are going to not extend the manager of the year. Who wants to come to Miami with this management team. 

Throughout the franchise's entire history, they have not valued continuity whatsoever. Could've forged their own identity by retaining Ng. Instead, Sherman is chasing the fantasy of mimicking the Rays, and even if he "succeeds" in that, the roster churn will be aggravating.