It’s been a turbulent week in the managerial world of the Texas Rangers Chris Woodward was fired Monday and baseball operations president Jon Daniels followed him out the door on Wednesday. With the departure of Daniels, General Manager Chris Young took over as the chief decision maker in baseball in Texas. However, Young apparently didn’t see that changed role coming, according to the club’s managing partner, Ray Davis Kennedi Landry of MLB.com that Young was “shocked” by Daniels’ firing.
It’s certainly been an unusual journey for Young in recent years. The 43-year-old former big league hurler threw himself through the 2017 season and even signed a minor league contract with the Padres for 2018. He was eventually released and released from MLB in May of that year as the vice president of on-field operations. A little over two years later, in December 2020, he was hired as Rangers’ general manager. In the tweet above, Landry shares that he and Daniels have worked pretty much side-by-side since then. With less than two years of experience in the front office of a major league baseball team, it’s safe to say he learned a lot from Daniels, who joined Rangers as general manager 17 years ago. Given the disparity in their respective resumes, it’s little wonder that Young was caught off guard by the news and suddenly found himself at the top of the decision-making pyramid after such a short tenure on the job.
Young spoke to the Dallas Morning News’ Evan Grant about his hectic week. “I’ve tried to make sure everyone, especially the longest-serving employees, is a collective show of support just by knowing what emotions they’re going through,” Young said. “But I want everyone to focus on the task at hand. Great things are happening here.”
Young was also asked about future plans for the front office, perhaps hiring a new president of baseball operations or perhaps a new general manager, with Young being promoted to the POBO role. “We will assess our needs over time,” Young said on the matter. “It’s a natural part of the seasonal cycle. We’ll see what our needs are as we move forward. We’ll probably lose some good people to other organizations. This is only part of the hiring process. The first few steps make sure we line up all of our ducks. But it will be part of the discussion.” With the offseason now a little over two months away, Young must act quickly to host these ducks.
Other notes from Texas…
- A promotion of prospect Josh Jung doesn’t seem to be around, and interim manager Tony Beasley says so too Jeff Wilson of Rangertoday.com. Last winter, the young third baseman looked like a candidate to crack the club’s opening-day roster or at least make his major league debut shortly thereafter. However, he required shoulder surgery in February, which would likely keep him out of action for six months and thus see his debut on the road. He entered rehab in late July and has been ripping the cover off the ball ever since. In eight Complex League games, he hit .240/.345/.600, followed by seven Triple-A games with a .414/.485/1.034 line. It’s an incredible achievement in this small sample but the club see this as the boys’ spring training, meaning they are focused on getting his body used to regular playing time again. This news could come as disappointment to fans of the club, who are looking forward to Jung tackling pitching in the big league ahead of the start of the off-season. However, it should be noted that these things can change quickly. Just a few days ago, the Mets were adamant they wouldn’t promote their own young third baseman, Brett Baty, before announcing the next day that he was actually drafted. Jung isn’t on the 40-man list yet but will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft in a couple of months, meaning Rangers will have to add him soon enough.
- With Woodward sacked, the club will have to reconsider who they want in the managerial chair next year. Jon Heyman of the New York Post tweeted the Red Sox bench coach Will Venable is a possible candidate. The 39-year-old played nine seasons in the majors, mostly with the Padres, before moving into other roles. He joined the Cubs in 2017, first as a special assistant to President Theo Epstein, then spent time as a first base coach and third base coach. He became the bench coach of the Red Sox prior to the 2021 season and has been in the job ever since. This wouldn’t be the first time his name has appeared in managerial rumors, as he was linked with the Cubs, Giants and Astros before 2020, the Tigers and Red Sox before 2021, and the A’s before 2022. With interest repeated, it seems he has a solid reputation in the league and could be considered for vacancies again this winter. In addition to the Rangers, the Blue Jays, Phillies and Angels all fired their managers and hired temporary backups this year.