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Thursday, July 18, 2013

With a Departure, Rangers' Front-Office Drama Re-appears

   Rick George is gone.
   But the drama in the Texas Rangers' front office remains.
   With George's resignation as the organization's President of Business Operations yesterday to take the post as Colorado's Athletic Director, the cracks in the Rangers' foundation are re-surfacing. It was just four months ago - on a surreal spring training day in Surprise - that George was promoted, general manager Jon Daniels added a title of President of Baseball Operations and iconic legend Nolan Ryan was unceremoniously stripped of power by ownership.
   In the wake of those moves Ryan pondered leaving the club, but decided to swallow his pride and stay. Now, with George gone, the Rangers' hiring in that hole could determine Ryan's long-term future in Arlington. If the Rangers promote from within, a satiated Ryan will likely remain invested in the team. But if the Rangers turn to a Daniels guy or even consider a national search, Big Tex might just become Big Ex.
   None of this, of course, has any effect on the Rangers as they prepare for the post-All-Star schedule Friday night against the Baltimore Orioles. But it might change the face of the franchise.
   And, again, I remain steadfast in my belief that Daniels - not Ryan - is the more significant player in the Rangers' front office.
   Why?


5 comments:

  1. You explained Daniels worth to the Rangers, all I see Nolan as, and I'm a late 30's guy, is a figure head. Yes I remember him being an Astro and then a Ranger, I'll never forget the spider monkeys, but I want Daniels with the Rangers more than Nolan. There aren't many front office guys in MLB that get as much exposure as Nolan does, but what's more important? That or actual roster decisions? You can't tell me that Nolan knows more about the Rangers system than Daniels does.

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  2. I dont think it was Daniels who changed the mindset of the pitching staff. Before Nolan came, they were satified with a starter going 4 innings.

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    1. Nolan talked about non-sissying the pitchers and it sounded good to the fans, but was it really ever implemented? You can't teach that at the MLB level, these guys have been conditioned to go ~6 or so innings and at 100 pitches. The only way to do it is at the low levels of the minor leagues so they can withstand more pitches at a young age and hopefully keep up that stamina as they get older. And the Rangers haven't done that.

      There hasn't been a culture change with pitch counts, outside of maybe Yu Darvish, and that's because he was signed to be a workhorse. But we're seeing now that even with Yu too many pitches can have an effect on their health.

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  3. I love Nolan, and appreciate what he meant to The Rangers in the 90's. That said, I want him to go away. I don't want his anti-moneyball mentality. Sabermetrics, statistics, and good money management have gotten The Rangers really freaking close to being Champions, and helped St. Louis get their 11th.

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  4. I am so sick of people treating Daniels like a fucking genius. Everything that he has done right can be traced back to that one Tex trade to Atlanta. EVERY GM in baseball would have made that trade. Atlanta was dumb enough to think he would sign long term so they traded their whole farm system to get him. It wasn't a shrewd business move by Daniels. He was on the lucky side of a very dumb deal. What else exactly has the guy done that's so great? Hamilton for Volquez. A problem for a problem. He traded away Chris Davis and Tommy Hunter for Uehara and they couldn't keep him. Or Mike Adams. Or Cliff Lee. Napoli is a Red Sock for 5 million per year. The best things he has done was a gift from Atlanta and being around for the money to be available to sign Beltre.

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