It’s been a tumultuous week in the world of the Texas Rangers, with manager Chris Woodward getting fired on Monday and president of baseball operations Jon Daniels following him out the door on Wednesday. With the departure of Daniels, general manager Chris Young took over as the chief baseball decision maker in Texas. However, Young apparently didn’t see this changed role coming, with the club’s managing partner Ray Davis telling Kennedi Landry of MLB.com that Young was “shocked” by the dismissal of Daniels.
It’s certainly been an unusual journey for Young in recent years. The 43-year-old former big league hurler pitched through the 2017 season and even signed a minor league deal with the Padres for 2018. He was eventually released and was hired by MLB in May of that year to be a vice president of on-field operations. Just over two years later, December of 2020, he was hired to be the Rangers’ general manager. In the tweet above, Landry relays that he and Daniels had been working pretty much side-by-side since then. Given his less than two years of experience working for the front office of a major league baseball team, it seems fair to assume that he learned a lot from Daniels, who was hired to be the Rangers’ general manager 17 years ago. Given that difference in their respective résumés, it’s hardly surprising that Young was taken off-guard by the news, suddenly finding himself atop the decision making pyramid after such a short time on the job.
Young spoke to Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News about his hectic week. “I was trying to make sure that collectively, everybody, especially the longest-tenured employees, had a show of support in terms of just knowing the emotions they are going through,” Young said. “But I want to keep everybody focused on the task at hand. We have great things happening.”
Young was also asked about the future plans for the front office, perhaps hiring a new president of baseball operations or maybe a new general manager with Young getting promoted to the POBO role. “We’ll assess our needs as we go,” Young said on that topic. “It’s a natural part of the seasonal cycle. We will see what our needs are, what it looks like moving forward. We’ll probably lose some good employees to other organizations. That is just part of the hiring process. The first steps are making sure we get all our ducks lined up. But it will be part of the discussion.” With the offseason now just over two months away, Young will have to act quickly to align those ducks.
Other notes out of Texas…
- A promotion of prospect Josh Jung doesn’t appear to be close, with interim manager Tony Beasley saying as much to Jeff Wilson of Rangerstoday.com. This past winter, the young third baseman seemed like a candidate to crack the club’s Opening Day roster or at least make his major league debut shortly after. However, he required shoulder surgery in February, which was expected to keep him out of action for six months and thereby kick his debut down the road. He began a rehab assignment at the end of July and has been tearing the cover off the ball ever since. In eight games in the Complex League, he hit .240/.345/.600, followed by seven Triple-A games with a line of .414/.485/1.034. That’s an incredible showing in that small sample, but the club considers this to be Jung’s Spring Training, which means they’re focused on getting his body re-acclimated to regular playing time. That news might be disappointing to fans of the club who are looking forward to seeing Jung tackle big league pitching before the offseason begins. However, it’s worth pointing out that these things can change quickly. Just a few days ago, the Mets insisted they weren’t promoting their own young third baseman, Brett Baty, before announcing the very next day that he was indeed getting called up. Jung isn’t yet on the 40-man roster but will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft in a few months, meaning the Rangers will need to add him soon either way.
- With Woodward’s firing, the club will have to think about who they want to be in the manager’s chair next year. Jon Heyman of the New York Post tweets that Red Sox bench coach Will Venable is one potential candidate. The 39-year-old played nine seasons in the majors, mostly with the Padres, before transitioning into other roles. In 2017, he joined the Cubs, first as a special assistant to president Theo Epstein, then spending some time as first base coach and third base coach. He became the Red Sox bench coach prior to the 2021 season and has been in that job since. This wouldn’t be the first time his name has been floated in managerial rumors, as he was connected to the Cubs, Giants and Astros prior to 2020, the Tigers and Red Sox prior to 2021 and the A’s prior to 2022. Given that repeated interest, it seems he has a strong reputation around the league and could get consideration for vacancies again this winter. In addition to the Rangers, the Blue Jays, Phillies and Angels have fired their managers and hired interim replacements this year.
I don’t see another 1st time manager being who they go with. Beasley is a good option in house with already having managed in the minors before with success. Either way they will interviewing a variety of managers.
I think Venable is a great call, actually. 1st time or not, he was teammates with CY for years and they both were Princeton allumni. good basis for a strong, established working relationship
Where did they play together at?
Also, I agree that Venable deserves a chance. When he played he came across as a student of the game and very intelligent.
For the Padres lol
I don’t disagree he would be a great option but I’m really not sure they want another rookie manager. That would be their 4th in a row I believe. Wash, Bannister and Woodward.
Rangers mind Aswell keep jung down for some contract manipulation. Start fresh next year. Really need to balance the lineup and get pitching. Best case I see them make it as a wc team next season
The will receive a comp pick next year if they hold off.
You can have Venable. I saw him manage a game when Cora had Covid, and Venable might be the only person worse at BP management than Cora. Plus, the sooner we get rid of him the faster Varitek can become manager.
Great sample size, one game..
First time manager maybe Jeff Mathis. Established managers Maybe Tommy Shildt?
I hear great things about Tommy Shildt
Yeah, i realized too late that its “Mike” Mike Shildt. Even looking at it it seemed wrong…
Gotta wonder if Maddon is a candidate here at some point, but I wouldn’t love the fit. I think he gets back into managing sooner than later, but I think he is best served to work with a team full of young talent. Veterans don’t seem to appreciate his shenanigans as much, but his little quirks can bring a team of youngsters together.
Doubtful. Maddon’s schtik wears off quicker and quicker on each new team. At the rate he’s going he would lose the clubhouse by the second week of spring training
Jung is up next week. Late August is going to be the new Mid April – lots of excuses to not bring a guy up ahead of a cutoff (un this case rookie eligibility for the next year)
Congrats to Baty on his first homerun. It was a bloop homerun like most Mets hits, but it is a homerun nonetheless. Regardless, he has been solid so far. Once again, congrats to Grissom.
Darrah, wrong Chris Young link. The one you posted takes us to the hitter that went from the Mets to the Yankees to the Sox to the Angels…
You can say that again
Darrah, the article has the wrong Chris Young link. The one you posted takes us to the hitter that went from the Mets to the Yankees to the Sox to the Angels…
I like that this one specifies that it’s the article that has the wrong Chris Young link.
Is it supposed to be the tall white Chris Young, the former pitcher?
Yes, the Rangers GM is the former MLB pitcher.
The longest-tenured employees, specifically Kip Fagg and Josh Boyd, also need to be fired. They are no different than Daniels. They haven’t helped the team the past 6 seasons.
Also, no more first time managers. The fans have seen enough of that. Bring in a Manager who has had success at the MLB level. A Professional who knows how to win. Try something different. Make Changes.
Like Joe Maddon or Joe Girardi?
Way better than Chris Woodward or Jeff Banister.
Y’all need to get it together with these player links. Chris Young the CF is not the GM of the rangers. Did the same thing with Bubba Thompson two weeks ago. It’s not that hard to proof an article before you post it. My god.
An even easier thing easier than whining is to simply type the name into Baseball Reference page once you’re already there.
Quit crying, you should already know which Chris Young works for the Rangers when clicking on this article
Why should we know which Chris Young works in the Texas front office?
Vegas, maybe because the article gives a good amount of background on him, including the fact that he pitched for SD.
Quit crying you should already know which Chris Young is president of baseball ops for Texas
No mention of Young and Venable both being Princeton grads, though not teammates, but Young, 2000 draft (class of 2001) might’ve chaperoned the 2004 grad during his visit. (And not sure if Young ever did graduate but odds are he did get his diploma).
You can say that again!
No mention in the article of both Young and Venable being Princeton grads though the 2000 drafted Young (class of 2001) and the 2004 drafted Venable (class of 2004) never were teammates though Young might’ve chaperoned Venable during his visit.
Yes, Ivy League grads are what’s needed to run MLB organizations.
Jon Daniels went to Cornell.
Here’s a novel thought – how about finding a FO head that worked his way up by learning the ropes in the minor leagues, scouting, maybe even playing – as opposed to interning in a MLB FO. In fact, does anyone ever work their way up in America anymore other than to start their own business?
Hopefully being a Princeton man isn’t a requirement; otherwise, you might end up with Mike Ford as your 1B’man.
No mention that you double posted the same thing
Jung should be up soon. Inject some excitement into a disappointing season for the Rangers.
Josh Jung looks promising. But Carl was a better analyst.
I don’t believe Chris Young was shocked or even surprised at how the Rangers last week evolved. He’s ashamed of the truth.
Right ! Some important emails must have landed in his spam folder lolz
Gary;
Does it matter?
Ray Davis ran energy companies and investment firms for 40 years before he bought into the Rangers. Even then he was a behind the scenes guy for years, letting Nolan Ryan and others run the operation.
MLB franchises are billion dollar bureaucracies. Some of the small market franchises can still be run as a sort of small business, Dallas is not a small market.
Bureaucracies don’t suddenly turn on a dime. People are hired behind people – sometimes to support them, sometimes with the idea that in time they’ll take over, and sometimes they wash out. Employees are given opportunities, and when circumstances change they may be given more or less responsibilities.
From what I’ve seen Chris Young was brought in to work with Jon Daniels. With Daniels gone, Young seems to be heading up Baseball Ops. But he hasn’t been given that title. On fact, he’s sort of an interim head. If Mr. Davis sees Baseball Ops going in a positive direction, he may give Mr. Young the title and allow him to hire an assistant or two. If he finds that things aren’t getting better, then he’ll look elsewhere for a key baseball guy.
Anyone running a competitive business has the same 2 basic rules as a negotiator has (which in fact is what they are: 1) Leave your options open; 2) Be flexible.
In short, Chris Young did not bamboozle Ray Davis. The Daniels thing was very probably a concern for years.
Garry, what would he be ashamed of?
I can remember reading calls for firing Daniels as far back as 2016, maybe even as far back as 2013. This didn’t come out of the blue and the Rangers offseason spending spree was probably a last ditch effort by Daniels to save his job, instead it only prolonged the inevitable. Nothing for Young or anyone else to be ashamed of.
Methinks it’s only a matter of before Will Venable gets a managing gig. But idk with who.
matter of time*
1) Leave your options open; 2) Be flexible.
========================
3) Do what you do best, and let others do what they do best. I’d like to think that is what Henry did best. For the most part, I think he attended to things that increased revenue, while allowing his minions to improve the team.
Fellow Ranger fans, who are the top three targets in the off-season. For a 50 year Ranger fan mine are Rodon, Syndergaard, and Bell. With an Honorable mention of Gallo and Clevinger.
Trade market: Lopez from Marlins, Plesac or Civale from Guardians.
If we can get Rodon and at least 1 of other seven names mentioned we will be much improved in 23.
I agree on Rodon and Syndergaard. Would love to have Gallo back
I’d like to see the Rangers go off the grid. Hire a successful college coach ( Tony Vitello ) and get the hitting coach from Arkansas.