What to know about the Texas Rangers organization changes and who makes them

The Texas Rangers fired their manager on Monday, then fired their president of baseball operations on Wednesday. With so much front office movement, here’s what you should know about the organization.

Who was fired this week?

On Monday, the Rangers fired manager Chris Woodward. He managed four seasons with the team. He posted four consecutive losing seasons, a 211-287 record.

On Wednesday, the Rangers fired Jon Daniels, the Rangers’ longtime vice president of baseball operations. He had been with the Rangers for 20 seasons.

So who is in charge now?

General manager Chris Young. Yep, the former major league pitcher is now making the day-to-day decisions.

From the team’s press release: Executive Vice President & General Manager Chris Young will assume oversight of all aspects of the Rangers’ baseball operations department. Young was hired in December 2020 to work with Daniels and has been involved in all areas of the department since that time.

And who is managing the Rangers?

Long-time third base coach Tony Beasley will manage the team the rest of the season. A search has begun for the full-time coach, but don’t expect it to come until after there is clarification if Daniels’ old job will be filled from outside the organization.

Does that mean former manager Ron Washington and/or former pitcher and executive Nolan Ryan will return?

While the fans would love to see either or both return to Arlington, don’t count on it. Ryan is 75 and has health issues; Washington would likely consider a return, but he’s enjoying life as the third base coach with the Atlanta Braves. Yeah, those Braves that won the World Series last year.

And who is ultimately making all of these decisions?

Rangers Managing Partner & Majority Owner Ray Davis must sign off on all of these major decisions. He gave the approval for Daniels and Young to fire Woodward; he’s the one who showed Daniels the door.

Is that team really that bad?

Yes. Entering Wednesday’s game, the Rangers were 52-64, 22 games behind the Houston Astros in the American League’s West Division.

But weren’t they supposed to be good this season?

The pundits definitely thought they’d be better than this. Signing Corey Seager and Marcus Siemen were supposed to provide a major lift to a struggling franchise. However, the $500 million contracts did not translate into a pennant contender.

Is there help on the way?

The Rangers need more offense and more pitching. They have two highly touted first-round draft picks in their minor league system. Both former Vanderbilt standouts, Jack Leiter (first-round pick in 2021) and Kumar Rocker (2022) are expected to arrive to Globe Life Stadium within the next two years to hopefully provide a lift.

But what about this season? How much is left?

The Rangers have 46 more games remaining in their 162-game schedule. The season concludes on Oct. 5 against the New York Yankees. By that time, we will be fully into the college and pro football seasons.