Bruce Bochy has been frequently mentioned as a possible candidate to be the Rangers’ next manager, and some possible progress in that direction may have taken place yesterday, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link) reports that Bochy met with Rangers GM Chris Young. The meeting took place in Bochy’s hometown of Nashville, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports that Young was seen on a flight to Nashville on Wednesday.
It is perhaps incorrect to consider the meeting as a proper interview, in the sense of how most managerial candidates are usually conducted. “It is not clear if Bochy is interested in officially interviewing for the job with the Rangers’ search committee,” Grant writes, but it’s safe to assume Bochy and Young discussed the possibility of the World Series-winning skipper taking over in the dugout. In fact, such a meeting might be indicative of Bochy’s standing, with Grant noting that Bochy “is widely considered the frontrunner for the job.”
Interim manager Tony Beasley is the only candidate known to have interviewed thus far, and while any number of popular coaches or ex-managers could yet emerge in the search, hiring a manager with the 67-year-old Bochy’s track record might be a preferred direction for a Rangers organization that is eager to start winning. Last offseason’s spending splurge promised at least some improvement, yet as Texas struggled to a 68-94 record this season, longtime president of baseball operations Jon Daniels and former manager Chris Woodward were both fired in August. Daniels’ departure put Young in charge of baseball operations, and faced his first managerial hire, it makes sense that Young might turn to a familiar face — Bochy managed Young when the former right-hander pitched for the Padres in 2006.
Over 25 seasons as manager of the Padres and Giants, Bochy had his share of lean years, as evidenced by a 2003-2029 career record that dips under the .500 mark. However, the peaks were as high as could be, as Bochy led San Francisco to World Series titles in 2010, 2012, and 2014, making Bochy one of only 10 managers in history with at least three Series championships.
Bochy semi-retired following the 2019 season, as while he has consistently remained open to the idea of a potential return, Bochy wanted to take at least the 2020 season off before deciding his next move. That retirement has now lasted for three seasons, though he has also acted as a special adviser to the Giants during that time.
I think Brandon Belt will go to the Rangers if Bochy becomes manager
Wouldn’t be a bad DH
Wouldn’t be bad anywhere if he stays off the IL.
Bad, no. Healthy, doubt it. Brandon Belt is one of those hitters that just plain isn’t worth the money because he can’t stay on the field. He might hit 20 homets but he just doesn’t strike anything special.
if they ban infield shifts Belt would get a major boost
There’s some selective thinking about Belt and Longo. The knock on Belt being his injury history. But since Longo came to SF 5 years ago, he’s missed more games than Belt. Granted, it’s not by much; Belt has played in nearly 70% of the possible games, where Longo has played in just over 67% of the possible games.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want Belt coming back, but neither do I want Longo back either. But it seems like a lot fans don’t want Belt back, but seem okay with Longo coming back.
Difference is Belt has been injured his whole big league career. He’s eclipsed 500 at bats in a single season only twice in his career.
If I were the Rangers, I wouldn’t want either.
@tad – I think there’s probably some recency bias mixed in there. While Longo has been on-again off-again the IL more than a dysfunctional couple, he at least produced when he was healthy fairly consistently over the past few years. Belt, meanwhile, looked pretty roughed up last year even when he was “healthy”.
Not to mention, Belt’s injury will nag him the rest of his career, whereas Longo tends to be able to bounce back from his. I’m not as familiar with Longo’s injury history, but I do seem to recall a HBP sidelining him at one point, so more on-off in nature.
If? It’s already been decided ,No shift in 2023.
Longo hasn’t had 500 ABs since 2017.
Over the last 3 seasons Belt has a 140 OPS+ with 46 HRs in 226 games, Longo, a 113 OPS+ with 34 HRs in 223 games.
Over the last 2 seasons, Belt has a 131 OPS+ with 37 HRs in 175 games, while Longo has a 119 OPS+ and 27 HRs in 175 games.
Only in 2022 did Longo outperform Belt. Belt: 92 OPS+, 8 HRs in 78 games. Longo: 114 OPS+ with 14 HRs, in 89 games. So there’s definitely recency bias.
Longo’s injuries this season are more troubling than the finger from the HBP. He had a problem most of the season with a chronic hamstring. He also had oblique, groin and shoulder issues. And also had shoulder and hamstring problems last season.
Edit: I missed a typo. Longo played 170 games over the last 2 seasons, not 175.
@tad – I will say part of why Belt’s numbers are going to be higher are his monster 2021. That said, his 2022 was very uncharacteristic, so it’s hard to gauge which player is better going forward based on the past two years.
Overall though, that is a high quality response with good analytics. I love those convos.
68 win teams probably shouldn’t be looking for older, defensively limited players, right? Then again, this is the franchise that signed Kole Calhoun – so who knows.
Well for as much as I don’t want to see him manage in the AL West because he’s heads and shoulders above most managers, the Rangers are likely the best vacancy open for him if he wants to return to the dugout.
Is he though? Heads and shoulders better than most? Career losing record. His teams have won 90+ games only 4 times. in 25 seasons.
Won lost records don’t tell the story. Casey Stengel had a record of 1905-1842 and he’s considered one of the best managers of all time.
So then what makes a manager great? Having Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner for a playoff series? Get a lead and then hand the ball to Javier Lopez and Brian Wilson? Not trying to troll.
Bruin:
Admittedly I don’t know, and neither do other fans, though many won’t admit it. One of the most common erroneous comments here is when people post that manager X made mistakes, when they can’t possibly know that.
But when it comes to Bochy, I do know that those more knowledgeable than me praised him for his handling of the bullpen. I buy this based on those WS wins. I don’t think a manger wins in the PS if he can’t efficiently manage the pen throughout the long season, and have it be productive in the biggest games.
Manager wins over a career are too dependent on the roster he’s been given. IMO it’s hard to not be impressed with a manager, when given a roster with some, but not necessarily the best talent, can achieve what Bochy did.
Thank you for the great post.
I didn’t intend to imply that Bochy wasn’t a good manager. I think he would be great for a turn key team that is ready for the next level.
I just don’t necessarily think he is a good choice in this situation with the Rangers. .
Sparky Anderson said his idea of becoming a great manager was “giving the ball to Tom Seaver “
I agree. He might actually better with the WSox, who, at this point anyway, are closer to winning than the Rangers are.
And, I took your post as a legitimate query. I didn’t assume you were impugning Bochy.
if this isn’t a troll, then yikes
Ask the Cardinals and Blue Jays front offices how they believed their young managers handled their playoff experiences?
Bruin got fastest mute in history of this site. Just 2 posts.
Doesn’t Bochy have his own healthy problems?
Didn’t Young play for Bochy in San Diego?
In ’06, yes! It’s always lovely when the dynamics of personnel change like that.
My personal favorite was when Girardi went from Posada’s backup to his coach. Like, I can conceptualize that Girardi earned his job due to his high baseball IQ. But that doesn’t stoop me from imagining the similarities of the backup outfielder who was afraid of the ball on my little league team becoming my high school coach or college, or something.
Yes. In 2006. Bochy’s final year in SD.
Yeah, why didn’t the article include that?
I’m sure Bochy would love an excuse to sell his San Diego area house and get out of Commiefornia. Tennessee is a lot closer to Texas… So the Rangers have that going for them.
Hey. If he wants back in, hire him. You don’t last 25 years unless players like playing for ya. Plus, look what Buck, a players coach, did in Queens this year. IE. off since 2018. Make it happen CY, make it happen.
Not always true. look at Larussa in Chi town this year. players didn’t get along with him
He had also been out of a dugout for nearly a decade though.
I’m not saying Bochy is the right choice but players love him
I met Bruce Bochy once. We had some beers. Talked about Better Call Saul
God is great, beer is good.
…and people are crazy
I met Saul Goodman once. We drank tequila and compared obscure information from Baseball Reference on our phones. Closed the place down.
This means the Rangers are planning to spend big this off-season.
..because that worked out great for them last offseason?
They started building their foundation last year. It was only year one of many.
…because teams that build their foundations off of high priced older free agents and ridiculous pitching staffs have a lengthy history of success? That explains the Rangers and Rockies rich history of successes.
I met Bruce Bochy once. We had some beers. Talked about Dawson’s Creek
I met Jim Morrison once. He told me his favorite TV show was “Julia” and he loved Oreos.
You can only fish so much. Love you Boch!
Please hire him Rangers so the White Sox do not.
2003-2029. How are you writing from the future? This tells me that the Rangers tenure gonna be bad!!!
No Frenchies please!
I had some red wine with Bruce. We talked about Punky Brewster.
I met Bruce Bochy once. We had some beers. Talked about The Cosby Show.
I met Bruce Bochy once. We had beer and talked about Melrose Place.
If the Rangers are interviewing Bochy then he is the guy they want. Certain managers don’t get interviewed if its not they’re job to say “no” to
Rsox;
I believe that Mr. Bochy has had a number of interviews for managers jobs the past few years, and the teams said “no”.
Like other teams that run in circles – the Rangers go from adding experienced mangers to young up-and-coming ones the way they go from getting hitting to pitching and promoting young players to signing veterans.
The Rangers have hired an experienced MLB manager since 2003 with Buck Showalter. Every manager since has either been a first timer or interim.
A new GM could do a lot worse than Bochy. They’re some key pieces short, but there’s a good amount of talent on that roster and a veteran manager with championships under his belt might know how to make it all work on the field.
Oops. The Rangers “haven’t” hired an experienced manager since Buck.
Would they interview a guy they didn’t want?
I never met Bruce Bochy. I’m also not old enough to drink and probably don’t like any of the shows he likes.
I couldn’t find any James “Jim” Morrison on Baseball Reference. Maybe he was the bat boy?
Ignorant- He played for White Sox in the 70 ‘s.
I met him once. We watched Boy Meets World re-runs and played leap frog.
Gladiator movies
Can’t see Bochy coming back for a bad team. Or at all really.
Don’t go Bruce. It won’t turn out well for you.
I met Bochy once. We sipped bourbon and sang Hank Williams karaoke.
Bruce do not pull a LaRussa, especially since he and Yost probably won the last WS based on their gut/common sense instead of maths.
No Bruce don’t do it! Not even you can fix this trainwreck that’s still in the process of wrecking!
The ’23 Rangers would do to Bochy what the ’72 Rangers did to Ted Williams.
Young meets Old
Boch is a great guy. Fun and funny. Life of the party when in that frame of mind.
Very large, still strong and scary when mad which takes some doing. Players love him, respect him, and are afraid of him all at the same time. He’s just one of those guys you like and want to please.
Hanging out in Poway all summer isn’t the worst thing in the world, so the Texas job must be appealing (to the missus as well) if he’s giving it serious thought. Which, to be honest, is a little surprising.
His health is fine. He’s got a good 2-3 more years to cap off his career. I hope he picks the right situation.
It’s getting that way… Crime is getting worse North and East of Camino Del Norte… Just count the broken SUV windows.
Worse than the epidemic of broken windows out there is everyone’s catalytic converter being cut out for the metals. Maybe he heard they don’t do that in Dallas? Does he like way lower gas prices?
Nah. He can afford any of that endlessly, and wouldn’t leave just for the cash since he can’t possibly spend what he already has (no matter how hard she tries…).
The Dodgers may have an opening shortly, after last night. Maybe he should think about that for a couple of days???
Could Bochy sway Kershaw? there is mutual respect there as bochy came across him several times especially during all-star breaks
Bochy wears the largest cap size in MLB history giving credence to the phrase:
Check out the big brain on Bruce!
Actually it’s Brad
You mean all this time we’ve been calling Brad Bochy “Bruce”?
I dont know what you’ve been calling him. “Look at the Big Brain on Brad” is a movie quote. $100.00 you don’t know which movies it is.
Pulp Fiction
And i was being sarcastic. Sadly humor doesn’t translate in type apparently…
Bumgarner to the Rangers in 3…2….1
He is now a 5.00 ERA pitcher, so he’d fit in perfect in Texas.
C’mon Rick Hahn, at least request an interview!
I met Bruce once at LAX. We had beers at the Cockpit while waiting for our flights. We talked about our favorite TV Show Gilligans Island. I liked Ginger. He liked Mary Ann. He told if he got another Managers job, he would make the Professor his 3rd base Coach.
The Professor coaching 3rd? Nah. Bench coach focusing on in game analytics. Maybe the Skipper, since he couldn’t be the Skipper, at 3rd?
Oh, Mary Ann.
Ahhhhhhh because he’s no longer employed by them?
He told me anybody who keep a transistor radio going for 3 years without changing batteries had it going on,
How come this story isn’t linked to the Giants section?
Curious timing considering the passing of Bruce Sutter.
Texas Rangers haven’t been to the playoffs in 6 years. Are we sure this is the best spot for Bochy?
He should just wait out the situation one more year with the Angels. It’s a better baseball city, much better ability to spend and has some semblance of usable, contributing, young pitching.