No MLB team cycles through managers like the Marlins

[Ely Sussman]

Throughout the franchise's history, Marlins skippers have been constantly scapegoated and put in unreasonable situations.

The Miami Marlins will likely be making another managerial change following the 2024 season. You've seen the news by now that the club voided the 2025 option in Skip Schumaker's contract. Craig Mish and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald put out a new report Tuesday morning clarifying how this happened:

"Schumaker was upset about the departure of general manager Kim Ng, who left the team last October after owner Bruce Sherman informed her she would report to a new president of baseball operations. Ng was unhappy about being stripped of her power.

"Schumaker, who had a good relationship with Ng, expressed his concerns in a conversation with Sherman before Sherman hired Peter Bendix as the team’s new top baseball executive.

"As a show of good faith, Sherman agreed to void the 2025 team option on the manager’s contract. This allows Schumaker to seek another job, if he wishes, next winter."

The Herald notes that the Marlins still have interest in keeping Schumaker, but there is zero reason to believe that interest is mutual. Miami's major league payroll remained flat despite Sherman boasting about the franchise's 2023 success on and off the field. After deftly guiding them to a postseason berth, Schumaker was saddled with a mediocre, ill-fitting roster entering the 2024 season, made worse by Peter Bendix's Opening Day eve decision to trade utility man Jon Berti for young prospects.

There is also the question of Skip's compensation. This past offseason, Craig Counsell reset the market for managerial contracts, receiving a five-year, $40M deal from the Chicago Cubs as a free agent. It isn't known what Schumaker's current salary is, but for context, his Marlins predecessor, Don Mattingly, was making around $2M per year at the end of his tenure. Counsell's previous team, the mid-market Milwaukee Brewers, balked at his price tag, and the small-market Marlins would certainly do the same if Schumaker receives comparable offers.

Schumaker understandably wants to win now, whereas Marlins ownership and the revamped front office are prioritizing the long term. They are not aligned. This relationship will not go on.

Which brings me to this pattern that has traversed the history of the Marlins. Mattingly was an anomaly, lasting seven total seasons with two different ownership groups, largely because of his willingness to wait out a rebuild. Aside from him, no other Marlins manager has completed four consecutive seasons on the job.

Here in Year 32 of the Marlins' existence, Schumaker is the 14th manager to hold the position for at least half of a full-length regular season (81 games). That's the highest total among MLB franchises—most others are in the single digits during that span.

Expect Year 33 to be led by a 15th. The table below omits Cookie Rojas (1996) and Brandon Hyde (2011), who had one-game stints as interim managers.

Some of these previous managers unequivocally underperformed and deserved to be replaced. Schumaker obviously does not belong in that group. Rather, I see parallels between him and the likes of Jim Leyland and Joe Girardi, who would have stayed with the Fish much longer if not for ownership repelling them.

Who is seriously going to want this job next?

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[Raul Garay]

It boggles me how any sports franchise doesn't understand the value of front office or managerial consistency and job security. It's not THE ingredient for success, but absolutely AN ingredient for sustained success.