The Texas Rangers fired manager Chris Woodward amid a disappointing season that has them likely to miss the postseason for the sixth consecutive year, the team announced Monday. Third base coach Tony Beasley will take over as interim manager for the remainder of the season.
At 51-63, the Rangers are 9 1/2 games behind the third and final American League wild-card spot. SportsLine puts their postseason odds at less than 1 percent. The case can be made Texas is having a tough-luck season. The Rangers’ minus-2 run differential suggests their record should be close to .500 — that is a massive improvement from last year’s minus-190 run differential — but they are 6-24 in one-run games. A few fortuitous bounces and they could’ve been in the race.
Woodward, 46, was in his fourth season as Rangers manager. The team went 211-287 (.424) under Woodward, although the club was clearly in a rebuild in 2020 and 2021. Texas committed over $500 million to free agents this past offseason, most notably Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, and the brain trust surely expected to remain in contention longer this summer.
“We have had extensive discussions over the last several weeks and while the team’s current performance is certainly a big part of this decision, we are also looking at the future,” Rangers executive Jon Daniels said in a statement. “As the Rangers continue to develop a winning culture and put the pieces together to compete for the postseason year in and year out, we felt a change in leadership was necessary at this time.”
Woodward’s managerial stint is perhaps most notable for his run-in with Fernando Tatis Jr. in Aug. 2020. He criticized the San Diego Padres superstar for swinging in a 3-0 count and hitting a grand slam in a blowout.
“I didn’t like it, personally,” Woodward said. “You’re up by seven in the eighth inning; it’s typically not a good time to swing 3-0. It’s kind of the way we were all raised in the game. But, like I said, the norms are being challenged on a daily basis. So just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s not right. I don’t think we liked it as a group.”
Prior to joining the Rangers, Woodward spent three seasons as third base coach with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and several years coaching in the Seattle Mariners system. Texas was his first MLB managerial job. Woodward signed a contract extension last November that locked him up through 2023 with a club option for 2024.
The Rangers are the fourth team to fire their manager within the last 11 weeks, joining the Philadelphia Phillies (Joe Girardi to Rob Thomson), Los Angeles Angels (Joe Maddon to Phil Nevin), and Toronto Blue Jays (Charlie Montoyo to John Schneider) . The Phillies have turned their season around under Thomson. The Angels and Blue Jays have had no such luck since their managerial changes.