The Miami Marlins have a new manager, selecting former Los Angeles Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough to replace Skip Schumaker.
This will be McCullough’s first managing job at the Major League level, while he will also be the team’s third manager since the start of the 2022 season, following Schumaker and Don Mattingly.
McCullough brings a lot of credibility to an organization that badly needs it just based on his connection to the Dodgers organization. McCullough has worked for the Dodgers since the 2015 season in a variety of roles, including minor league field coordinator and an assistant to Gabe Kapler (now the Marlins assistant general manager) when he worked in the Dodgers’ front office.
He was promoted to the Dodgers’ major league coaching staff in 2021 and has served as their first base coach since then.
Along with some credibility for the Marlins, it is also a big opportunity for McCullough to get his first managing job at the highest level.
That is the good news.
The bad news is that McCullough might simply be set up to fail because he is about to quickly learn that going from a big-market powerhouse that has an unlimited budget in building a team, to a small-market team that is one of the most frugal and cheapest teams in the league is a very different environment.
The Marlins were 62-100 this season just one year after earning a wild-card spot in 2023 with 84 wins.
The Marlins’ pitching staff was decimated by injuries this season, and there is a chance getting some of them back will help. Still, this is an organization short on talent, short on money, short on spending and playing in a division with three powerhouse teams in the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves. McCullough has his work cut out for him to make this team even remotely competitive.
