New Marlins managerial candidate set for interview

The biggest task in the upcoming off-season for the Miami Marlins is to find a manager. There are already candidates for the job, but now we have yet another one ready and planned to be interviewed. It will be interesting to see who Peter Bendix will eventually hire to manage the team. Could it end up being Clayton McCullough?

Clayton McCullough might manage the Miami Marlins.

Let's start with the basics. Who exactly is Clayton McCullough? He's the first base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers. In fact, the Miami Marlins were already interested in him previously for the managerial opening before hiring Skip Schumaker. Peter Bendix wasn't in charge when Schumaker was hired and McCullough was interviewed. It turns out that Bendix is interested in him as well.

McCullough actually has a connection to The Fish. He worked with assistant GM Gabe Kapler when he was with the Dodgers years back. McCullough was then the Dodgers' minor league field coordinator, while Kapler was the director of player development. Kapler moved on to be the Philadelphia Phillies manager in 2017 and they were no longer on the same team. Last December, Bendix hired Kapler to the Marlins.

McCullough has actually been in demand. The Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Guardians, Kansas City Royals and the New York Mets. He was also a finalist for the Kansas City job, just barely losing out on being hired. McCullough had never managed at the Major League level, but did manage at the Minor League level for the Toronto Blue Jays. This might be important going forward.

The Miami Marlins will have to wait until McCullough is available for an interview however. It probably won't happen until the Dodgers finish playing in the World Series. I just want The Fish to have a good manager, and if McCullough is the best choice, then I'm satisfied with that. Time will of course tell if he's actually going to end up being hired. The high demand around the Majors is a great sign that he might know what he's doing and is valued.