Jeff PassanESPN Shut up ESPN MLB insider Author of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports”
The Texas Rangers fired manager Chris Woodward on Monday amid a dismal season despite investing more than half a billion guaranteed dollars in free agency this winter, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN. Shut up
ESPN MLB insider Author of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports”
The Rangers are in third place in the American League West with a 51-63 record. Woodward is expected to be replaced by an interim manager after his fourth straight losing season. The additions of Corey Seager — with whom Woodward has been close since his days as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers — Marcus Semien and Jon Gray this winter raised expectations after a 60-102 season in 2021. While The Rangers have played much better this year, with a run differential close to even, their 6-24 record in one-run games would be the second-worst single-season winning percentage in such finishes since 1900, according to the ESPN Stats & Information survey .
1 Related Texas in November gave Woodward a contract extension that covered the 2023 season and included an option for 2024. The Rangers hired Woodward in November 2018 after coaching stints with Seattle and the Dodgers followed a 12-year assistant career. He arrived at Texas to replace Jeff Bannister, who had won division titles in his first two seasons after replacing Ron Washington but struggled to finish last in 2018. The Rangers hoped Woodward would solidify the role as the organization was changing through reconstruction. which set up a better-than-expected start to 2019 as Texas went 78-84. But last-place finishes in the COVID-19-shortened season and last year prompted the Rangers to accelerate their open-market timetable. While they have one of the deepest farm systems in baseball, adding Seager at $325 million and Semien at $175 million to form their half-billion dollar middle infield was a move intended to propel the Rangers to at least nearly conflict. Seager and Semien’s slow starts have been diminished — they combined for nearly six wins above replacement — but Texas’ pitching ranks third in the league in ERA and features independent pitching. The new manager inherits a Rangers team with plenty to dream about — especially if the team hits the free agent market this winter with money to spend and a starter to acquire. The Rangers explored multiple options at the trade deadline, including trading for starting pitching and even after Juan Soto, but kept a farm system that has a wide array of top-level talent. With Seager and Semien, center fielder Adolis Garcia, catcher Jonah Heim, Gray — and perhaps left-hander Martin Perez, with whom the Rangers have discussed an extension — there is a core that Texas can build. Finding a manager to bring out the best in a division with a perennially competitive Houston Astros team and a Seattle Mariners team on the rise is now the goal. Texas overhauled its coaching staff over the winter, and now comes the most significant hire of a coach the organization hopes can accomplish what Woodward failed to: a return to the glory days of 2010 through 2016, when the Rangers they made the playoffs five times. in seven years.
