Headlines

  • Angels Acquire LaMonte Wade Jr.
  • Braves Designate Craig Kimbrel For Assignment
  • Corbin Burnes To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Braves Select Craig Kimbrel
  • Jerry Reinsdorf, Justin Ishbia Reach Agreement For Ishbia To Obtain Future Majority Stake In White Sox
  • White Sox To Promote Kyle Teel
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2024-25 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2025
    • Free Agent Contest Leaderboard
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

GM Initiation: Jon Daniels

By Tim Dierkes | April 13, 2010 at 4:51pm CDT

Jon Daniels was announced as the new general manager of the Rangers on October 4th, 2005.  At 28, he was the youngest GM in Major League history. 

In mid-November of '05, Daniels struck his first deal.  He and Cubs GM Jim Hendry agreed on a trade that would send righty Jon Leicester to Texas for a player to be named later.  Minor league pitcher Clint Brannon was sent to the Cubs as the PTBNL in March.  Daniels was kind enough to answer a few questions about his first trade.

MLB Trade Rumors: How long did you have your eye on Leicester before making the deal?  He was coming off a rough year in Iowa; what did you see in him?  As one of the Cubs' better prospects heading prior to the '05 season, were you surprised they'd part with him for a player to be named later or cash?

Jon Daniels: He was an out of options reliever – a guy we'd had good reports on in the past, had recently gotten over an injury I believe.  We looked at him as a nice buy low opportunity, with a chance to pay dividends if it clicked.  The Cubs didn’t have a spot for him – some clubs hold their out of options guys as long as possible – others recognize he's not part of their plans and move quicker, that's what happened here.

MLBTR: The Cubs ended up getting Brannon in March to complete the deal, but got only 7.3 A ball innings out of him.  Did any of the other choices on the Cubs' list of possibilities end up playing in the Majors?

Daniels: I don't think there were other names, actually.  Brannon was the only guy we discussed.  He'd had some low level success the year before – might have actually set the Northwest League ERA record if I recall – but didn't do well in Chicago.  That's OK – Leicester hurt himself in some odd off-field deal and didn't really pan out here – no one made out in this one.

MLBTR: Does the Leicester trade hold significance for you as your first deal, or was it overshadowed by the bigger trades that soon followed?

Daniels: Not a lot of significance other than the fact I get to say I traded for Jon "Lester" before people realize it’s the one spelled "Leicester."

MLBTR: What kind of relationship did you have with Jim Hendry prior to the Leicester trade?

Daniels: I knew Jim some from his dealings with John Hart when I worked for John.  We'd spent some time together at GM and Winter Meetings before, but we didn't have a lot of history together.  We've worked together a couple of times since.

MLBTR: At just 28 years old, what kind of reception did you get from other GMs after you got the job?

Daniels: Respectful and positive for the most part.  My age was a novelty for the first while, but more with media and fans than with counterparts around the league, at least outwardly. 

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Chicago Cubs Texas Rangers GM Initiation Jon Daniels

Nationals Plan To Draft Bryce Harper?
Main
Fred Lewis Decision Coming Soon
View Comments (2)
Post a Comment

2 Comments

  1. East Coast Bias

    15 years ago

    I’m 28! I think I would make a great GM… my fantasy teams always rock!!

    Reply
  2. TwinsVet

    15 years ago

    It’s amazing to think that Tim has gone from a boutique website hobbyist, to a guy who can interview MLB GM’s.

    Very much enjoying the new series.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Angels Acquire LaMonte Wade Jr.

    Braves Designate Craig Kimbrel For Assignment

    Corbin Burnes To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Braves Select Craig Kimbrel

    Jerry Reinsdorf, Justin Ishbia Reach Agreement For Ishbia To Obtain Future Majority Stake In White Sox

    White Sox To Promote Kyle Teel

    Sign Up For Trade Rumors Front Office Now And Lock In Savings!

    Pablo Lopez To Miss Multiple Months With Teres Major Strain

    MLB To Propose Automatic Ball-Strike Challenge System For 2026

    Giants Designate LaMonte Wade Jr., Sign Dominic Smith

    Reds Sign Wade Miley, Place Hunter Greene On Injured List

    Padres Interested In Jarren Duran

    Royals Promote Jac Caglianone

    Mariners Promote Cole Young, Activate Bryce Miller

    2025-26 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings: May Edition

    Evan Phillips To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    AJ Smith-Shawver Diagnosed With Torn UCL

    Reds Trade Alexis Díaz To Dodgers

    Rockies Sign Orlando Arcia

    Ronel Blanco To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Recent

    Angels Acquire LaMonte Wade Jr.

    Blue Jays Notes: Scherzer, Varsho, Francis

    Pirates Reportedly Receiving Interest In Isiah Kiner-Falefa

    Angels Sign Ben Gamel To Minor League Deal

    Blue Jays Recall Spencer Turnbull For Season Debut

    Orioles Notes: Westburg, Mullins, O’Neill

    Tigers Notes: Vierling, Olson, Urquidy, Boyd

    Twins Place Zebby Matthews On 15-Day IL, Reinstate Danny Coulombe

    Yankees Claim CJ Alexander

    Phillies Claim Ryan Cusick, Designate Kyle Tyler

    ad: 300x250_5_side_mlb

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • 2024-25 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • Nolan Arenado Rumors
    • Dylan Cease Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Marcus Stroman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2024-25 Offseason Outlook Series
    • 2025 Arbitration Projections
    • 2024-25 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version