The Dodgers’ World Series-winning coaching staff won’t remain entirely intact next season.
On Sunday, the Miami Marlins hired Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough to be their new manager, as ESPN first reported, creating the first opening on the Dodgers’ coaching staff in two seasons.
A 44-year-old former minor-league catcher, McCullough had spent the last 10 years in the Dodgers organization. He’d been first base coach since 2021. He was minor league field coordinator before that.
The target of several job openings around MLB in recent offseasons, McCullough finally landed his first managerial gig with the Marlins, who are replacing 2023 National League manager of the year Skip Schumaker after his contract expired at the end of a 100-loss season in 2024.
In addition to his duties as first base coach, McCullough was the Dodgers’ lead outfield coach and responsible for much of their base-stealing strategy. He and Mookie Betts had a good relationship, with Betts calling McCullough “the best coach I’ve ever had” after selecting McCullough to pitch to him in the 2023 home run derby. This year, McCullough was key in Shohei Ohtani’s career-high 59-steal season, going over scouting reports of opposing pitchers’ pickoff tendencies with the $700-million star on a season-long basis.
Before becoming the Dodgers’ first base coach in 2021, McCullough played a key role in the club’s player development system during Gabe Kapler’s tenure as farm director. Kapler is now an assistant general manager in Miami, which made sweeping front office, coaching staff and roster changes this year under new general manager Peter Bendix, who is a former front office lieutenant of Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman in Tampa Bay.
It’s unlikely the Dodgers will have any other coaching staff changes this offseason. At last week’s MLB general manager meetings in San Antonio, Brandon Gomes said the staff — with McCullough’s candidacy for the Marlins job, aside — would “probably” be back.
Manager Dave Roberts will also be returning for his 10th season, and is expected to negotiate an extension with the club this offseason with his current deal set to expire at the end of 2025.
