Speaker 1: All right, we are pleased to be joined now by
Speaker 1: new Rangers manager and the pride of UC Santa Barbara,
Speaker 1: Skip Schumacher, Skip, thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 1: You are now in your first off season as a
Speaker 1: Rangers manager. Got to ask, how's it been so far?
Speaker 2: Hey, guys, it's been great. The pride of Santa Barbara.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure. I mean, you got Michael Young, you
Speaker 2: got Jim Rome, I mean, you got some dudes over there,
Speaker 2: but a part of Santa Barbara culture. I'll take that.
Speaker 2: But so far, so good. You know, it's first week
Speaker 2: or so, first month or so. Was kind of drinking
Speaker 2: out of a fire hose as you see an actual
Speaker 2: hose behind me. But but yeah, it was a lot
Speaker 2: early on. But with all the zoom calls and meeting people,
Speaker 2: even though I was there for a year and getting
Speaker 2: to know the organization, there was still a lot to do.
Speaker 2: And but you know, grateful for it.
Speaker 3: Skip.
Speaker 4: Hold up, pride to Santa Barbara. You got TCU gearon.
Speaker 4: You're not in the Cardinals anymore with Matt Carpenter. You
Speaker 4: don't have to suck up to him anymore.
Speaker 2: Okay, no, no, no, it's National Signing Day. It's National Signing
Speaker 2: Day today. My son signed, yeah to TCU. So yeah,
Speaker 2: so we were just at his high school, all the
Speaker 2: family there celebrating my son, Brody, and so that's why
Speaker 2: I'm all decked out. I'm usually not like this, I promise,
Speaker 2: but that's that's why I'm all tcu'ed out.
Speaker 4: Okay, Well, congratulations to you Anderson.
Speaker 3: Well, I mean thank you to interrupt AJ here and
Speaker 3: I'm gonna have to bring on a pick that you
Speaker 3: sent me say congratulations since he signed today. But what
Speaker 3: is this? What is this? And then we'll get into
Speaker 3: your big league crap, because this is the important stuff
Speaker 3: this picture. What does this picture mean? Besides the fact
Speaker 3: that I let get to look at your caves all
Speaker 3: the time on my phone, I get to check him out.
Speaker 3: What does this picture mean for you? Because when guys
Speaker 3: become managers, this is the stuff that you give up.
Speaker 3: This is a picture of you and your son in
Speaker 3: Japan after he the final out.
Speaker 2: Am I right, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 3: Okay, What what does it mean? What does it mean?
Speaker 3: Because managers lose a lot. Any coaches in the big
Speaker 3: leagues lose a lot. They lose opportunities to go and
Speaker 3: be with their kids like that. So one, what did
Speaker 3: that mean to watch your son win that? And what
Speaker 3: does it mean to take on the responsibility? And now
Speaker 3: you don't get to see very many of his games
Speaker 3: at the horn purple Frogs or whatever they're called.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I horn Frogs, yes, but I I didn't get
Speaker 2: to see one high school baseball game the first couple
Speaker 2: of years. And that as you know, you guys all
Speaker 2: have kids. You want to feel like you're present with
Speaker 2: your family and your kids. And missing out on some
Speaker 2: really special moments, you know, it takes a toll on you.
Speaker 2: It's the kids aren't affected as much as you think,
Speaker 2: but I definitely wore that. You know, I'm every single game,
Speaker 2: you know, when you're facetiming my wife taking up bats
Speaker 2: and it's just not the same as being, you know,
Speaker 2: in real life watching these at bats or ground balls
Speaker 2: or whatever it is. So when Brody made the USA team,
Speaker 2: there was no way I was missing out on it.
Speaker 2: You know, when you a couple of years ago, when
Speaker 2: I was no longer the manager with the Marlins, and
Speaker 2: see why and and Ross gave me the opportunity to
Speaker 2: be the special advisor with the Texas Rangers. You know,
Speaker 2: they allowed me to play catch up with my family.
Speaker 2: I got. I didn't miss any soccer games with my daughter,
Speaker 2: I didn't miss any baseball games with my son. And
Speaker 2: fast forward, you know, come July and August, all of
Speaker 2: a sudden, he makes this USA team and you know
Speaker 2: we're in Okinawa as a family watching Brody play for
Speaker 2: Team USA. It was a moment I will never forget
Speaker 2: an experience. I'm so grateful that the Texas Rangers allowed
Speaker 2: me to have with my son, and it just filled
Speaker 2: my cup. I'll be honest with you, I just it
Speaker 2: made it all worth it. All the stuff that it's
Speaker 2: happened in the last couple of years worth it. And
Speaker 2: uh now I'm ready to rock and get back into
Speaker 2: the one sixty two grind and very very grateful for
Speaker 2: all this that happened.
Speaker 1: Skip, You're inheriting a team that was the best offense
Speaker 1: in baseball in twenty twenty three and that carried them
Speaker 1: to a World Series championship, the first in Rangers franchise history.
Speaker 1: The last two years, the offense has regressed a little bit.
Speaker 1: Now there is a lot of young talent. You have
Speaker 1: Evan Carter, you have Wya at Langford. You also have
Speaker 1: great veterans like Corey Seeger and Marcus Simeon coming into
Speaker 1: this year. You've talked a little bit about wanting this
Speaker 1: team to find its real offensive identity. What are your
Speaker 1: overall thoughts about this team's offense and where you think
Speaker 1: there can be some growth.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we need to find ways where we're not just
Speaker 2: so predictable and easy to get out, you know, one
Speaker 2: through nine. I think you know, you need to have
Speaker 2: power in your lineup. You need to be able to
Speaker 2: have guys that have contacts, you need to have guys
Speaker 2: that you know have speed, and you know, up and down.
Speaker 2: I just don't think you should be one way, and
Speaker 2: you have to be creative in scoring runs. It's hard
Speaker 2: to score runs in this league. And I do believe
Speaker 2: in the value of the ball put in play, but
Speaker 2: I also love a three run home run. So I
Speaker 2: just we just have to find ways to win today
Speaker 2: and whatever that means. So I just don't think we
Speaker 2: should be one way up and down the lineup. We
Speaker 2: do have a lot of slug We have some really
Speaker 2: good hitters. We had some guys that honestly just had
Speaker 2: some really tough years that if they were just you
Speaker 2: know who they were the last year. I think, you know,
Speaker 2: you'd see a much different offense and and I think
Speaker 2: that's what we're looking forward is having a number of
Speaker 2: guys having some bounce back years. Skip.
Speaker 4: Well, then that leads me to this, what did you
Speaker 4: learn last year while you were there? You've managed before
Speaker 4: and now you just got to sit back and watch Boach?
Speaker 4: Did you help Boach? Were you in the meetings with
Speaker 4: the organization? Because what did you learn while sitting back?
Speaker 4: And then everyone kind of it said, oh, Skip Schumacher,
Speaker 4: he's the manager in waiting.
Speaker 3: Well, boom, here you are.
Speaker 4: Boachie retires, goes back to the Giants, and Skip Schumacher
Speaker 4: is now the manager of the Rangers.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I definitely wasn't helping Boach. I don't think he
Speaker 2: was looking to me for any help, that's for sure.
Speaker 2: Although I will tell you that Boach was very open
Speaker 2: wanted me, you know, around as much as I wanted
Speaker 2: to be around, and I'm very grateful for that. You know,
Speaker 2: I've been around a lot of rookie managers in my career,
Speaker 2: either playing for or definitely on the coaching side as
Speaker 2: a bench coach. So I had you know, Andy Green
Speaker 2: was a rookie manager, Ollie Marmol was a rookie manager.
Speaker 2: Jase Tingler was a rookie manager. So I got to
Speaker 2: learn from a lot of rookie managers and they're all great,
Speaker 2: but you know, I never got a Bruce Bochie to
Speaker 2: sit back and learn from. It also afforded me to
Speaker 2: learn the system in a way a lot of you know,
Speaker 2: managers don't get to do. You know, when you're in
Speaker 2: an interview process for a week or ten days of
Speaker 2: an interview process, you're getting the best version of a
Speaker 2: lot of these guys in the room, in front office
Speaker 2: and scouts and that kind of deal. But what I
Speaker 2: got is I got to learn how the front office
Speaker 2: reacts in wins and losses. I got to understand what
Speaker 2: the coaching staff, how they reacted wins and losses, how
Speaker 2: they developed. I got to learn the farm system. I
Speaker 2: got to learn, you know, who the farm director was.
Speaker 2: So all of that was huge for me to get
Speaker 2: a head start in this thing, which you know, a
Speaker 2: lot of guys you know, don't get the opportunity to do.
Speaker 2: And not in no way did I think I was,
Speaker 2: you know, just next in line by any means I
Speaker 2: was just trying to be still relevant in the game,
Speaker 2: just in case I got a chance to, you know,
Speaker 2: interview for another team, you know, in the next season.
Speaker 3: From an outsider's view here on the show, we talked
Speaker 3: about it before Kevin Palar even came on, talked about
Speaker 3: just looks like they're little rangers, just kind of waiting
Speaker 3: for something to happen. You were inside there, You were
Speaker 3: inside the organization. When you hear something like what Kevin
Speaker 3: Polar said, it just seems like, you know what, we
Speaker 3: showed up. Some guys didn't show up till you know,
Speaker 3: we were on the line stretching before the game. When
Speaker 3: you hear that, going into it as a manager and
Speaker 3: what you saw, can you change that environment? Do you
Speaker 3: have to talk to certain guys and say if that
Speaker 3: was the case, do you have to go to certain
Speaker 3: guys and be like, hey, I need you to be
Speaker 3: more energetic, because I think Corey siegeruld be like, well,
Speaker 3: I'll just go and diet homers and I'll just do
Speaker 3: what I do. Can you change that as a manager,
Speaker 3: because if you look at your last job with the Marlins,
Speaker 3: you got a lot out of not that much, and
Speaker 3: I think that can happen with the Rangers too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you know, whatever it was said, you know,
Speaker 2: by Polar and a couple guys, I wasn't in there
Speaker 2: for one sixty two I will, so that's not for
Speaker 2: me to tell you exactly, you know, what went on.
Speaker 2: I don't think that's fair for me. I think if
Speaker 2: you ask, you know, somebody on the coaching st after
Speaker 2: the front office, I think they would have a different
Speaker 2: viewpoint of exactly what was happening inside that clubhouse. I
Speaker 2: do think that you have some really good players in
Speaker 2: that clubhouse that were frustrated on how their season was going.
Speaker 2: And you know, a number of guys would react differently
Speaker 2: on on you know, you know Kratzi and aj you
Speaker 2: guys have been in clubhouses and you know, when it's
Speaker 2: not going well, you know, you you do a little
Speaker 2: bit stuff differently than you're used to try to get
Speaker 2: back on track, and probably aren't the nicest person all
Speaker 2: the time to be around. And I think, you know,
Speaker 2: a lot of this is it's a lot of individualized
Speaker 2: stuff is happening in today's game of you know, trying
Speaker 2: to get yourself ready for today's game, whatever that means
Speaker 2: you don't see a ton of guys taking VP a
Speaker 2: lot anymore, you know, very rarely did you see, you know,
Speaker 2: some of the best players in the game taking batting
Speaker 2: practice at five o'clock. It just doesn't happen. It's more
Speaker 2: of a ramp up to today's game. There are guys
Speaker 2: that need to be out there every single day to
Speaker 2: keep getting better. And the last thing, So I don't
Speaker 2: think it's a Texas Rangers thing. I think it's a
Speaker 2: lot of what the game is nowadays. If guys are
Speaker 2: trying to figure out how they can be the best
Speaker 2: version of themselves tonight and whatever it means for them
Speaker 2: to get ready. I will tell you that the best
Speaker 2: players never think that they have arrived. They are still
Speaker 2: trying to adapt and get better. Our best players are
Speaker 2: still trying to figure out how to get better, whatever
Speaker 2: that means to them stay healthy and to get better.
Speaker 2: And the young guys, you know, I don't think you
Speaker 2: can let them just you know, run, you know, let
Speaker 2: the prisoners run the asylum. I think they still have
Speaker 2: to develop and still work. So I think it's a
Speaker 2: combination of things. And you know, when I get into
Speaker 2: spring training, I think we'll figure out all the dynamic out.
Speaker 2: But part of my last week or last month, i
Speaker 2: should say, is getting in front of all these players
Speaker 2: and talking with them and get one on one time
Speaker 2: and figure out exactly what happened and what way wrong
Speaker 2: and try to get it right next year.
Speaker 1: Skip back in twenty twenty three, Evan Carter came up
Speaker 1: and took the worldwide storm. Seems to starting outfield spot
Speaker 1: was hitting either third or cleanup in every game of
Speaker 1: the World Series. Looked like he was going to be
Speaker 1: the runaway winner for American League Work of the Year
Speaker 1: in twenty four and be a cornerstone of the Rangers
Speaker 1: moving forward. It hasn't worked out that way twenty twenty
Speaker 1: four and especially last year he struggled with injuries. The
Speaker 1: production has not been as hoped. When you have a
Speaker 1: young player like this again he's still only twenty three
Speaker 1: years old, who has been at the top, and then
Speaker 1: also have the struggles he's had, how do you approach
Speaker 1: working with him to get back to ultimately what he
Speaker 1: showed he could be when he first came up.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you hit it. The nail on the
Speaker 2: head is he's been hurt and when he's healthy he
Speaker 2: is a really really good player. You see what he
Speaker 2: can do in the outfield. His defense is as good
Speaker 2: as anybody's in center field and in the corners. He
Speaker 2: can really run the bases. He's a left handed bat
Speaker 2: that not only can hit for power, but hits for average,
Speaker 2: and we really missed his bat the last couple of years.
Speaker 2: If we get him, you know, just to be okay
Speaker 2: against lefties and still be really really good against righty's,
Speaker 2: you have an all star player. And I think everybody
Speaker 2: in our organization feels like Evan is an All Star
Speaker 2: type caliber player that is going to help us win
Speaker 2: another World Series one day, and trying to figure out
Speaker 2: how to get him on the field. You know, one
Speaker 2: hundred and fifty games plus is going to be the goal.
Speaker 2: He's still young, he's still developing. You know, he only
Speaker 2: had a handful of bats in the minor leagues before
Speaker 2: he got called up in that World Series run, So
Speaker 2: he is not a finished product. He knows that it's
Speaker 2: a big offseason for him to make sure he gets
Speaker 2: his body right and be ready to play. You know,
Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty plus games.
Speaker 4: All right, So I gotta ask Skip, how do you
Speaker 4: handle this as a manager in a new organization, right,
Speaker 4: you have some guys that I've told this story Robin
Speaker 4: Ventura when he came to the White Sox, he didn't
Speaker 4: call one person. He went to spring training with a
Speaker 4: fresh leag Didn't you have guys like Alex Korra right
Speaker 4: to try to control every little thing that happens, and
Speaker 4: they fly around the country and they fly around the
Speaker 4: world just because they want frequent flyer miles out. Okay,
Speaker 4: but how do you handle this? Do you call the veterans?
Speaker 4: I mean, you were around last year, so you call
Speaker 4: the veterans. You go around? Because I know other managers
Speaker 4: that fly around and meet with their guys in the offseason.
Speaker 4: Are you that kind of manager or are you a
Speaker 4: hands off until we get the spring training thing?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've already met with a handful of guys one
Speaker 2: on one where there's lunch at their house, dinner, coffee.
Speaker 2: I just had lunch yesterday with the at the younger
Speaker 2: guy on our pitching staff that lives close to me
Speaker 2: here in Orange County, California. So yeah, I've met with
Speaker 2: the majority of the guys already one on one, and
Speaker 2: the guys that I haven't met with yet, I plan
Speaker 2: to meet with. But I have called just about everybody
Speaker 2: trying to knock out the forty man roster of just
Speaker 2: the phone call and just check in and kind of
Speaker 2: player plans this offseason and see what they're they're doing.
Speaker 2: But I have to start building this really these relationships,
Speaker 2: AJ like I I can't start it in spring training
Speaker 2: and try to figure out who these guys are and
Speaker 2: what they've been doing and just hope that you know
Speaker 2: our relationship, you know, some somehow forms in spring training
Speaker 2: a couple hours a day. I just don't think that
Speaker 2: is what the players want nowadays. It's I think players
Speaker 2: want to know where they stand and where I'm what
Speaker 2: I'm thinking, and kind of meeting some of the new
Speaker 2: staff members I think is important. So I am definitely
Speaker 2: the I'm not traveling around the world, but I'm definitely
Speaker 2: trying to get some one on one time, whether it's
Speaker 2: just a couple hours or you know, over a dinner,
Speaker 2: whatever it is, I am trying to get some FaceTime.
Speaker 3: AJ badly wants to be a manager, so he needs
Speaker 3: to know what the process is because we hear there's like.
Speaker 4: I don't want to be a manager. Take your hat off.
Speaker 4: Look at all this there and it's not great. Take
Speaker 4: your hat off.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's gone quickly, exactly.
Speaker 3: It doesn't matter. But the process, the interview process, like
Speaker 3: we hear there's sometimes eight nine hour days. Like do
Speaker 3: they give you like a bathroom break because, like, I mean,
Speaker 3: you got to get snacks. Do they like are they
Speaker 3: evaluating you as you're eating? Because like your eye candy.
Speaker 3: But nobody can look at somebody for eight hours, Like
Speaker 3: that's just that's too much. Like what does that process
Speaker 3: look like?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you know, even I was, you know,
Speaker 2: with the organization in the last seven eight months, and
Speaker 2: even my interview process was lengthy. And I think that's
Speaker 2: what every organization is trying to do, is trying to
Speaker 2: figure you out. The R and D has an hour
Speaker 2: or so with you, The training staff has an hour
Speaker 2: or so with you. You have the front office, you have
Speaker 2: the coaching staff, you have you know, ownership, whatever it is.
Speaker 2: You have these hour or so pockets that you are
Speaker 2: you know, getting questioned on. And I think it's such
Speaker 2: a co laborative type of position that they have to
Speaker 2: make sure that that you are the guy ready to
Speaker 2: you know, to take on a lot of different responsibilities
Speaker 2: in the organization. Yes, there's bathroom breaks and dinners and
Speaker 2: lunches and all that stuff mixed in, and you have
Speaker 2: some fun too. And I think that the healthiest ones
Speaker 2: are the most organic ones that you can interviews, you
Speaker 2: can have. I think the ones that are just rifling
Speaker 2: off question after question, that's when it's like, you know,
Speaker 2: you feel like your your head is spinning, you don't
Speaker 2: know which way to turn, and you're forgetting people's names
Speaker 2: and it's a disaster. But I think, you know, I
Speaker 2: think every single department gets an hour or so with
Speaker 2: you to see, you know, how well versed you are,
Speaker 2: what you need to learn more about the organization and
Speaker 2: if you're you know, honestly willing to work with others.
Speaker 4: Okay, I got to ask because you brought it up.
Speaker 4: You said, the trainers get an hour with you. I
Speaker 4: played in Texas what is Lucky and Jamie Reid asking
Speaker 4: you for an hour?
Speaker 3: Because I mean, what are they raoul?
Speaker 4: Like the massage guy, what you're saying, Hey, do you
Speaker 4: like next massages? Or like what are they are.
Speaker 1: You going to handle injury reports?
Speaker 3: Like, I mean, what are they doing?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: So I don't it's not the entire training staff so
Speaker 2: you know the massage there, this is not in there.
Speaker 2: That's pretty funny. That would be amazing if that happened.
Speaker 2: But I uh, but I do think the you know,
Speaker 2: trying to figure out how the S and C staff
Speaker 2: you know, works with the training staff works with the
Speaker 2: hitters and the pitchers, and you know, just trying to
Speaker 2: figure out how this whole thing works, right, because the
Speaker 2: last thing you want to do is have guys, you know,
Speaker 2: getting stuff from you know, some really good places. Tread
Speaker 2: is a great place, drive line is a great place,
Speaker 2: and you know, we want to you know, make sure
Speaker 2: that you know, we have relationships with you know, those
Speaker 2: types of facilities as well and guys that are working
Speaker 2: there as well. But we also want to have a
Speaker 2: lot of stuff in house for the players and you know,
Speaker 2: as you know, biomechanics is is real in our world,
Speaker 2: and making sure that we're all on the same page
Speaker 2: if they go to the trainer or the S and
Speaker 2: C staff that you know they're aligned with you know,
Speaker 2: the pitching in our in our hitting side.
Speaker 3: All right, you're making the lineup? Is that part of
Speaker 3: the negotiations. Are you guys talking about that? Like how
Speaker 3: does that go down? Is that went, Hey, Skip, do
Speaker 3: you have any questions for us?
Speaker 2: I'm pretty confident that I'm making the lineup, that's for sure.
Speaker 2: That's not to say I'm not gonna ask the hitting
Speaker 2: coach what they've been seeing, but I feel like it's
Speaker 2: definitely a staff conversation after the games and if guys
Speaker 2: need a blow and you know how that works, cratsy,
Speaker 2: like sometimes I don't see everything, and if guys are
Speaker 2: grinding in the cage and there's stuff going on at
Speaker 2: home or whatever and they need a day, then they
Speaker 2: need a day. But you know, I'm very grateful that
Speaker 2: See why is you know the president too. I mean he's,
Speaker 2: you know, an All Star World Series champion pitcher, so
Speaker 2: he has some feel and I'm grateful that he, you know,
Speaker 2: gives me, you know, full reign of you know what
Speaker 2: I what I think the lineup should be and how
Speaker 2: it should be constructed. Am I gonna take some projections?
Speaker 2: Of course? I mean it's data, and you want to
Speaker 2: see some recency. You want to see, you know, guys
Speaker 2: what they've done against another guy you know before as
Speaker 2: far as like you know, there are bats against another picture.
Speaker 2: All of that is real. But if you know Corey
Speaker 2: Seeger doesn't have good numbers against a pitcher. There's a
Speaker 2: good chance I'm probably gonna put him in the lineup still,
Speaker 2: so I think there's some feel to this, to this
Speaker 2: thing as well.
Speaker 1: Skip, thank you so much for joining us. We really
Speaker 1: really appreciate it, and best of luck your first full
Speaker 1: season as the Rangers manager.
Speaker 2: All Right, big fan of big fan of your show. Guys,
Speaker 2: thanks for having me on