Clayton McCullough reportedly hired as new Miami Marlins manager

The Miami Marlins have their new manager.

The Marlins struck a deal to hire Clayton McCullough as their next manager on Saturday, according to ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez. McCullough will replace Skip Schumaker in South Florida, who parted ways with the club at the end of the regular season.

McCullough was a candidate for the Chicago White Sox manager job, which ended up going to Will Venable. Craig Albernaz was considered a favorite to be hired by the Marlins, but the Cleveland Guardians bench coach withdrew from consideration.

The 44-year-old McCullough had served as the Los Angeles Dodgers first-base coach since 2021. He reportedly had spoken to the Marlins during their manager search and as the Dodgers made their way to an eighth World Series title.

McCullough interviewed for the Guardians manager job last offseason — a job that ended up going to Stephen Vogt. He also was part of managerial searches by the Marlins, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets over the past few offseasons.

Following a brief minor league playing career, McCullough became a manager in the Toronto Blue Jays‘ organization before joining the Dodgers as their minor league field coordinator in 2015. Marlins assistant general manager Gabe Kapler was with LA from 2014-2017 as director of player development and overlapped with McCullough in the organization.

The Marlins have not finished higher than third in the NL East since 2020 and have made the playoffs only twice since winning the World Series in 2003. The team won 62 games in 2024, its lowest total over a full 162-game season since 2019. Schumaker led the team for just two seasons, and compiled a 146-178 record.