Passing on in-house former Manager of the Year may be Rangers’ top offseason failure

It's been five days since the Texas Rangers and Bruce Bochy announced a mutually parting of ways after the future Hall of Fame skipper fulfilled his three-year contract signed prior to the 2023 season.

Fans knew this was a possibility as Bochy, 70, came out of a three-year retirement to manage the Rangers at the request of President of Baseball Operations Chris Young. The only difference is that Texas was setting up Will Venable to be the heir apparent in Arlington.

However, Venable departed for the managerial opening with the Chicago White Sox and in came a former National League Manager of the Year as a senior advisor in the organization's front office.

Skip Schumaker is obvious candidate to replace Bochy in Texas

It was highly a coincidence when that four days after the White Sox hired Venable as the team's next manager that Young and the Rangers hired Skip Schumaker. They were planning ahead of time, for this day exactly.

Bochy was entering the final year of his contract and the former big leaguer and manager of the year was immediately seen as the next man up.

While the rest of the Rangers' offseason plans might be unclear, this one seems as obvious an any of them. It's time to transition Schumaker into the manager seat in the home dugout at Globe Life Field.

Respect is deserved as far as Young is concerned though. They are doing their due diligence and it is I rightfully deserved after a crazy week of managerial parting of ways/firings. The Rangers also might have their eye on other candidates, most notably Mark Derosa and recently fired Bob Melvin.

No time to waste or risk missing out on Schumaker

That does however open up the possibility that the highly-regarded Schumaker will garner interest and want to be snatched up by another big league organization. Right now, the Giants, Braves, Nationals Twins, Orioles and Angels are alongside Texas in the search for a new manager.

Atlanta's job opening might worry the Rangers front office a bit. Following Brian Snitker's retirement, the Braves job might be the most enticing. An opportunity to manage a talented group led by Ronald Acuna Jr. and Matt Olson has a lot of potential, despite their 76-86 finish.

San Francisco's President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey also confirmed this week that despite the history with Bochy, the team will not be looking for him to feel the vacancy. Therefore, list of names interested in Schumaker continues to increase.

The 45-year-old took the Miami Marlins to an 84-78 season back in 2023, despite losing to the Phillies in the National League Wild Card. Even though the following year they lost 98 games under Skip's leadership, the fact he made one playoff appearance with a doomed roster says a lot of his potential.

Young hired Schumaker and even if he didn't say it aloud to him at the time, he pretty much should've guaranteed the managerial job to him once Bochy and the Rangers decided to part ways. Sure, time will go on and if they don't hire him then, oh well. But it will still be a massive mistake to not see what Skip can do in charge or the team's big league roster.