Rangers fire baseball ops president Jon Daniels after 17 years on the job
The Texas Rangers are making major changes.
Two days after firing manager Chris Woodward, the Rangers fired Jon Daniels, their president of baseball operations, the team announced Wednesday. Executive vice president and general manager Chris Young, who joined the Rangers in 2020, will be taking over Daniels' job along with his own duties.
The Rangers today announced that Jon Daniels has been relieved of his duties as President of Baseball Operations, effective immediately. Executive Vice President & General Manager Chris Young will assume oversight of all aspects of the Rangers’ baseball operations department. pic.twitter.com/lc1ACfp1tZ
— Texas Rangers PR (@TXRangersPR) August 17, 2022
"Jon's accomplishments in his 17 years running our baseball operations department have been numerous," team owner Ray Davis said in a statement. "He and his staff put together the best teams in this franchise's history that resulted in five playoff appearances and two American League pennants between 2010 and 2016."
"But the bottom line is we have not had a winning record since 2016, and for much of that time, have not been competitive in the AL West Division. While I am certain we are heading in the right direction, I feel a change of leadership of the baseball operations department will be beneficial going forward."
Daniels has been with the Rangers since the early 2000s; when he was hired in 2002, it was his second job in MLB. He was elevated to GM in 2005, becoming the youngest GM in baseball at 28 years old. He was on the cutting edge of the game when he was hired, but now 17 years later the Rangers believe it's time to move in another direction.
What that direction might be isn't clear yet. The Rangers spent $500 million on their roster this offseason, splurging on major contracts for three players: Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Jon Gray. Those players didn't create the instant change they were looking for. The team is 51-63, and unless it goes on a major winning streak, this will be its fourth consecutive year with a losing record.
Spending so much money on decent players is a start, but to win — and win consistently — it takes more than that. They have the beginnings of a great roster, but the Rangers want a new president of baseball operations to fill out the rest, and they want a new manager to shepherd those players forward.
