The Miami Marlins announced Clayton McCullough as the 17th manager in club history on Monday. McCullough, who will soon turn 45, joins after serving nearly a decade in various roles with the Los Angeles Dodgers, most recently as first base coach.
Much like his predecessor Skip Schumaker, McCullough will be making his big league managing debut after a few seasons as a popular name on the short lists of managerial vacancies. That includes interviewing for the Marlins position back in 2022 under the previous administration.
The club McCullough interviewed for and the one he takes charge of now has undergone a Ship of Theseus-level restructuring. The entire front office has been reconstituted since Present of Baseball Operations Peter Bendix took over last offseason. The scouting and player development operations have also had significant turnover, and with Schumaker’s departure, the coaching staff was dismissed.
That includes pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. widely regarded as one of the top minds at that position in the league and responsible for the development of Sandy Alcantara, Tanner Scott and Pablo Lopez among others.
It is worth noting that the Marlins job was not attractive to prospective candidates. In addition to McCullough, Will Venable and Craig Albernaz were viewed as finalists for the job. Albernaz chose to withdraw from consideration and remain as bench coach of the Cleveland Guardians while Venable accepted the Chicago White Sox manager’s position. The White Sox just finished 41-121, the worst record in modern baseball history.
So, the Marlins are left with McCullough, who is widely viewed as a player development expert. Bendix lauded this quality in his statement after the announcement was made.
“His character, care for people and culture, passion for player development, and desire to win stood out and make him a perfect fit for our organization,” Bendix said, “He has an impressive track record of success … It’s clear that Clayton’s values and vision align perfectly with ours.”
In theory, the hire sets the Marlins’ rebuild on the right course. Bendix finally has his manager and has had a chance to build the organization from top to bottom in his image. The team loaded up on prospect talent by trading away its stars and still has a plethora of young, controllable starting pitching.
But theory and practice are two entirely different things, and no fan base in the sport is more aware of that difference.
Outside of Alcantara and the recently traded Jazz Chisholm Jr., none of the prospects the team acquired in the rebuild that sent away Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Marcel Ozuna and JT Realmuto hit their mark. None of the top draft picks that the team acquired from having losing records have panned out. All the franchise has to show for its recent rebuilding efforts are an increasingly dispassionate fanbase, a media market that doesn’t care, and a COVID-19-season playoff series win.
Marlins fans will have to trust Bendix and McCullough moving forward because they have no choice. The team will not spend, and will continue to insist it is building a model that has worked for small market teams to compete on smaller payrolls, like Bendix’s former club, the Tampa Bay Rays.
But in a way, accepting that fact is already admitting defeat. Miami is the single largest untapped MLB market in the United States. International baseball events continue to draw tremendous crowds in Miami. The fanbase has long deserved an organization willing to offer a product that matches that energy.
But for now, it will be McCullough rearranging the deck chairs on this particular rebuild. If it fails, they’ll start all over again.
