From parade route to rebuild: New Marlins manager Clayton McCullough makes rare pivot

[Ely Sussman]

McCullough is electing to leave the World Series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers to lead a team that's coming off an 100-loss season. How far do we have to go back to find another major league coach who's done that?

You see it all the time from players who just contributed to a World Series title. Days after winning it all, a bunch of them get to test free agency, and oftentimes, the best contract offer they receive comes from a team that's substantially worse. The window is so tiny for them to make careers out of their athletic gifts. When it's a difference of many millions of dollars or an expanded role that positions the player to earn many millions of dollars the next offseason, they understandably prioritize that over running it back with the reigning champs.

Concluding a six-week managerial search, the Miami Marlins are hiring Clayton McCullough as we learned on Sunday night. Approaching his 45th birthday, McCullough is getting his first opportunity to manage at the major league level. He's joining a club that holds its spring training camp in Jupiter, Florida, which is where his family already makes their offseason home. Frugal as the Marlins are known to be, his new skipper's salary will certainly exceed whatever he made as Los Angeles Dodgers first base coach. Seems like a no-brainer.

And yet, I was surprised to find that McCullough's move has no precedent over the last couple decades.

Coming off a championship, it's typical for all of the key members of the MLB coaching staff to be retained. While they covet money and promotions just like players do, they have time on their side. Exceptional coaches are invited to interview for bigger jobs every offseason, and the qualities and experiences that make them exceptional are not at risk of suddenly vanishing. They don't have to act like mercenaries.

Shoutout to the BR Bullpen from Baseball-Reference for expediting this research. According to their encyclopedic entries, the last time a major league coach for a World Series-winning team left the following winter to manage a different team was Alex Cora. The bench coach for the 2017 Houston Astros, Cora was hired by the Boston Red Sox.

However, this comes with a couple key distinctions. Cora accepted the gig in between the end of the American League Championship Series and the start of the Fall Classic—he didn't know whether or not the Astros would win it all! Secondly, the Red Sox team he took over had won consecutive AL East titles and spent aggressively in the process. It turns out that in 2018, he'd be managing a roster with the highest payroll in baseball. He was hopping from one competitive situation to another.

Prior to Cora, the most recent example I see is old friend Ozzie Guillén. After serving as third base coach for the triumphant 2003 Florida Marlins, he left to manage the Chicago White Sox. As was the case with Cora's Red Sox, Guillén's new club was already positioned to contend and quickly won a championship themselves.

McCullough knows that he's taking a less glamorous job in Miami. The 2025 Marlins are not being assembled to maximize wins. They should improve upon this past season's 62-100 record, but finishing any higher than last place in the NL East would constitute an upset. All other coaches in recent memory have decided to be more patient/selective in pursuit of their managerial ambitions coming off a WS title.

A few examples:

• Dave Martinez—2016 Chicago Cubs coach, 2018 Washington Nationals manager
• Brandon Hyde—2016 Chicago Cubs coach, 2019 Baltimore Orioles manager
• Pedro Grifol—2015 Kansas City Royals coach, 2023 Chicago White Sox manager

It made sense for both McCullough and the Marlins to explore the possibility of a partnership, but ultimately, it's surprising that they wound up together considering the circumstances.

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[Slacker Mills]

The fact that the new manager already resides in Jupiter is plenty of reason to take the Marlins job, in and of itself.

[Slacker Mills]

I wonder if the new manager will take a cut in pay moving from LA first base coach to Marlins Manager? Wouldn't surprise me.

[Slacker Mills]

Does anyone know how much Peter Bendix is being paid? I'm guessing it's damn little.

[Ely Sussman]

1 hour ago, Slacker Mills said:

The fact that the new manager already resides in Jupiter is plenty of reason to take the Marlins job, in and of itself.

Convenient for spring training! I find it hard to believe that he'll live there during the regular season. Need to be efficient with your time to succeed in this job. Not doable if you're driving 3 hours roundtrip for each home game .

[Slacker Mills]

My official guess at Bendix' salary is $135,000.

[THOMAS JOSEPH]

I found myself nodding as I read. Makes sense and certainly follows the questions I thought when his name came up. For McCollough and everyone in baseball, nothing is guaranteed, i.e., repeat titles or even jobs, and the 30-man exclusive club is quite the lure. At least, it would be to me. The slate is clean, and the upside is high in Miami. Even if we remove the obligatory "challenge" platitude, there are low expectations with (hopefully) a solid FO in place going all in for a strategy. I like the alignment and plan to stick around to see the comeback. As with any underdog that succeeds, it will be exceptionally sweet.