Skip the Skipper? A Saturday Open Thread

Word broke on Friday evening that Skip Schumaker, the Cardinals’ bench coach, has interviewed for the Miami Marlins’ open managerial position and is a leading candidate for the job.

Here’s the info from Jon Morosi:

Here’s my response:

First, it doesn’t surprise me at all that Skip is up for manager positions. The Marlins’ position won’t be the last one that he interviews for. It’s really just a matter of time before he finds himself in the big chair.

As a desirable commodity, however, he should strongly consider not taking the first position that comes along. The Marlins have some interesting young talent. They also have a tiny payroll and not much hope of that growing any time soon. There’s just not much margin for error there, regardless of how good of a coach he is.

The Braves have a sizable payroll and talent locked up for quite a while.

The Mets are perfectly content to spend their way to contention.

The Phillies are making a run this season and have show a willingness to at least push consistently to the edge of contention.

The Nationals are lagging behind at the moment, but they have the capacity to spend in the future.

With that kind of divisional competition, what chance does Skip really have to turn it around and push into the playoffs over the next 3-4 years — the likely lifespan that he would have as a manager of a rebuilding team?

Skip should stay with St. Louis and wait for an opening with a team that has a faster route to playoff contention and the budget potential to stay there.

That’s just my opinion. This is an ... OOOPPPPPEEENNNN THHHREEEEAAADDDDD!

So, argue that if you would like. Or anything else you want to talk about.

Happy Saturday, Viva El Birdos!