The Rangers are dismissing longtime president of baseball operations Jon Daniels, Ken Rosenthal and Levi Weaver of The Athletic report (via Twitter). Texas announced the move shortly thereafter, adding that general manager Chris Young will now oversee all baseball operations decisions and processes. The move comes just days after the organization fired manager Chris Woodward.
“This morning I informed Jon Daniels that his contract would not be renewed at the end of the season and that he is being relieved of his duties effective immediately,” managing partner Ray Davis said in a press release announcing the move. “Jon’s accomplishments in his 17 years running our baseball operations department have been numerous. 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. His impact on the growth of our player development, scouting, and analytics groups has been immense. Jon has always had the best interests of the Rangers organization in mind on and off the field and in the community.
“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 in leadership of the baseball operations department will be beneficial going forward.”
Daniels had been atop the Rangers’ baseball operations hierarchy since way back in 2005, when at just 28 years of age he became the sport’s youngest general manager. Prior to today’s ousting, he was the sport’s third-longest-tenured baseball ops leader, trailing only Athletics executive vice president Billy Beane and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.
More to come.
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