MLB Rumors: Rangers Comfortable with Bruce Bochy as Manager Beyond 2025 Season

Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy's contract is set to expire next winter, but the club would "enthusiastically welcome" his return in 2026, according to ESPN's Buster Olney.

"If (Bochy) wants to manage beyond 2025, (the Rangers) are good with that," a source described as "highly ranked" told Olney.

Bochy, 69, is heading into his 28th season as an MLB manager and third in Texas. He joined the Rangers in 2023 after 12 seasons with the San Diego Padres and 13 with the San Francisco Giants.

Olney's story comes the day after reports that the Rangers hired former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker to serve as "a senior adviser" to president of baseball ops Chris Young.

Will Venable, who served as associate manager to Bochy for two seasons, recently left to manage the Chicago White Sox. MLB.com's Kennedi Landry noted that Schumaker could now replace Venable as the "heir apparent" to Bochy.

Olney meanwhile reported that the Rangers see Schumaker, who was named the NL Manager of the Year after leading the Marlins to the postseason in 2023, as a "rising star in the managerial ranks."

Bochy and the Rangers just finished out a tough 78-84 season during which the Rangers stayed at .500 or below starting in May and the offensive stars that led the club to the 2023 title badly regressed.

Bochy said at the season's end that he was "still hungry to get back."

"Yeah, I'm disappointed, just like all of us. That's why I got back in the game," Bochy said in October. "That's what drives me. It's still there, and that's where I'm at right now."

Bochy concluded: "We're working to get this thing back to where we want to be, and that's getting back to the postseason and winning the championship."

When asked about his contract situation, Bochy answered, "It couldn't have worked out better. We've talked about my situation, believe me, and this is where I will end up."

Bochy retired after 13 seasons with the Giants in 2019 but returned to managing in 2022 after inking a three-year deal with the Rangers. He went on to lead Texas to the franchise's first World Series title in his first season with the team, and will now be tasked with getting the Rangers back into the postseason picture next fall.

Also having won a trio of championships with the Giants between 2010 and 2014, Bochy is one of four managers to claim at least four World Series titles. He leads all active managers with 2,171 regular season wins and is widely considered to be a candidate to become the 24th manager in the Baseball Hall of Fame.