The Rangers have made a change atop the dugout, announcing the dismissal of manager Chris Woodward on Monday afternoon. Third base coach Tony Beasley will take over on an interim capacity for the remainder of the 2022 season.
“(General manager) Chris Young and I had the very difficult task of informing Chris Woodward of our decision today,” president of baseball operations Jon Daniels said in the press release announcing the decision. “In his tenure as Rangers’ manager, Chris worked tirelessly under what was at times some difficult circumstances. He has been dedicated and passionate in his efforts to improve the on-field performance of the Texas Rangers, and it is greatly appreciated. He has represented the organization with class and dignity.
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. 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. On behalf of the entire Texas Rangers organization, we thank Chris and wish him and his family the very best.”
Woodward, 46, spent a bit under four seasons at the helm in Arlington. Texas hired him off the Dodgers coaching staff over the 2018-19 offseason, making him the permanent replacement after dismissing Jeff Banister that September (with some intervening interim work from Don Wakamatsu). Woodward stepped into a difficult situation, taking over a team coming off a last-place finish that was cutting payroll as it embarked upon a rebuild.
Texas bounced back a bit during Woodward’s first season, finishing in third place in the AL West at 78-84. The club was outscored by 68 runs that year, though, and regression hit the following season. Texas went 22-38 during the shortened campaign, then stumbled to a 60-102 record in 2021. It marked back-to-back last place finishes, but Texas nevertheless signed Woodward last November to an extension that ran through 2023.
At the time, Daniels praised the skipper for “(helping) to lay the foundation of our culture” throughout his first three seasons. The Texas front office certainly couldn’t have expected great results with the rosters they’d trotted out through 2019-21, and Woodward’s extension reflected the organization’s confidence in his ability to guide the club to a more competitive phase. Texas signaled a desire to push payroll forward at the start of the offseason, and they followed through with a far more aggressive winter than many might have expected.
The Rangers signed four players to multi-year free agent contracts, including two of the three largest overall guarantees of the offseason. Texas added Corey Seager for $325MM over a decade not long after signing Marcus Semien for seven years and $175MM. They stepped in as the Rangers foundational middle infield, while the club signed Jon Gray to a four-year, $56MM pact to anchor the starting rotation. Texas brass acknowledged that leaping from a 60-win team to immediate postseason contention seemed like a stretch, even with such an aggressive offseason overhaul. Yet they no doubt anticipated a marked improvement that’d serve as a stepping stone to a playoff run in 2023.
The results on that front have been mixed. The Rangers are on pace for their best season in three years, with a 51-63 record that has them in third place in the AL West. A 44.7% winning percentage is much better than the sub-40% marks of 2020-21, but that still translates to a roughly 90-loss pace over the course of a full schedule. They’re 9 1/2 games out in the Wild Card and virtually certain to miss the playoffs again, with little hope of playing meaningful games in the season’s final couple weeks.
At the same time, one could argue the Rangers have been more competitive than their record would suggest. They’ve been outscored by only two runs on the season with more blowout wins (games decided by five-plus runs) than losses. Had they played to a roughy .500 record that aligned with their run differential, they’d be in the Wild Card picture and the general tenor of the franchise would be far more optimistic. Instead, they’ve gone an atrocious 6-24 in one-run contests, losing so many tight games they’re nowhere near contention.
How much responsibility Woodward bears for that record is open to debate. There’s no doubt some amount of misfortune with a record that poor, but one could also note that Woodward is ultimately in charge of managing a bullpen that has blown 18 leads (the eighth-most in the majors). Texas has gotten productive seasons from some of their young position players (i.e. Jonah Heim and Nathaniel Lowe), but the club hasn’t gotten much from their younger starting pitchers aside from Dane Dunning. Meanwhile, Texas has gotten solid seasons from Seager and Gray, but Semien has underperformed in the inaugural season of his free agent deal.
Of course, managerial decisions are made based on far more than just the club’s on-field results. Teams are evaluating a skipper’s handling of the clubhouse and behind-the-scenes work that takes place out of public view. Daniels and Young evidently determined the time had come for a change in the voice atop the clubhouse.
Over the next two months, that’ll come with the elevation of Beasley to the manager’s chair. A former minor league skipper in the Pirates and Nationals farm systems, Beasley first joined Texas’ coaching staff in advance of the 2015 season. The 55-year-old is now in his eighth year with the Rangers, a stint that overlapped Banister’s and Woodward’s time as skipper. This will be his first major league managerial opportunity.
Texas will conduct a search for a full-timer next offseason. They’re the fourth team that’ll be doing so, as each of the Phillies (Joe Girardi), Angels (Joe Maddon) and Blue Jays (Charlie Montoyo) have dismissed their skippers in-season. Philadelphia has gone on a tear under interim manager Rob Thomson, while the Angels continued to flounder under their temporary skipper Phil Nevin. The Blue Jays have improved an already-productive club in their first month under interim manager John Schneider.
Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News first reported Woodward’s dismissal.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
And Mike Matheny remains in KC.
KC didn’t have a big off-season to create expectations that were too big
The expectations were not to contend this year, but next. They remain the same
I actually think lately KC is playing good ball. I like what I’ve seen from the two Italian First basemen, Isbel, Massey, Eaton, and especially Melendez. Perez had been much more consistent since he had come back from tyne DL. Pitching is looks much improved, especially Singer and Bubic. Keller? Not so much.
@Troutahni That’s more just the players themselves. Matheny is holding them back from being even better.
Seager leads all SS in HRs. Got off to a slow start but has been one of the best hitters in baseball the last month. He also gets crippled by the shift.
Seagers OK. He just needs to work on his game a bit more. Especially in night games. Now that the Rangers seem to have much more to lose. With autumn closing in.
He’s 28 years old and is getting paid 33Million this year. That shouldn’t be someone who needs to work on his game… His game should be refined and he should be at the top of it with that money, his age, and his prior track record.
every major league ballplayer should always be working on his craft. seager to me has always stood out to me as a talented, loud player but when you really look at the stats doesnt it kind of seem like he should be doing more?
He’s hitting .257 in night games compared to .250 in day games. Both are unsatisfactory but he’s been better at night. Nice Bob Seger reference
Night moves.
We identified the only 2 commenters on here under 50 apparently.
And has a bad on base and average OPS. getting paid 35M. He still isn’t putting up anywhere close to his old numbers before signing the big contract.
Maybe he’s missing those Hollywood Nights.
pileofsandwich59 mins ago
And has a bad on base and average OPS.
============================
Did math suddenly go out of style?
IRT to his OBP, he has a .332 and the league average is .309. His OPS is .812 and the league average is .700. It continues to amaze me that posters make comments without the slightest idea of what they’re talking about.
Dumpster diver… What does age have to do with anything?? Unless you’re talking about young knuckleheads who don’t know their a$$ from the proverbial hole in the ground but comment like they do?
Niiice!
He could be hitting Against The Wind
This thread has devolved into one shaggy carpeting encrusted Chevy party van.
No he doesn’t
Yes he does.
No he doesn’t. Scaramouch. Scaramouch. Will you do the fandango.
Daniels is an idiot he is the one that needs to go
I have no idea how he is still employed. One could make the case that the last time the Rangers were successful, it was 2010-2016, and credit for that could easily have gone to Preller
The owner is probably afraid of him
Speaking as a rangers fan, they can’t seriously have expected to contend this year.
Yeah. I mean this was about as good as I could’ve possibly imagined the Rangers being this year. Maybe Seager and Semien sold some tickets but that was an org that has basically developed no good players from their own system. You don’t win that way.
@jbigz, agreed. They are horrible at drafting and developing. They aren’t going to win throwing half a billion dollars at 3 players while putting nothing else around them.
How well did the ARod signing years ago go? I know it was a long time ago but still same idea. Try signing a big name to a huge contract but don’t have a lot around him to help. I know they have some good young players but not ready to compete. Sign the big name or names but figure will still be a few years on the rebuild.
What exactly didn’t work out about the ARod signing from the Rangers perspective? They got 3 All-Star years, an MVP, a 2nd place MVP, and around 27 WAR from ARod. Then traded him for Soriano and when he opted out of the contract with the Yankees, the Rangers were relieved of their financial obligation. The team wasn’t a winning team when he was there but that certainly wasn’t the fault of ARod, that happened because ownership decided to stop spending.
No, I don’t think they did expect to be in contention. What they did expect was to see a pretty sizeable step forward towards contention, and that hasn’t seemed to be the case this year either.
Pitching is king. Throwing big $$ at FA position players is unwise unless you are one of the Goliaths who can outspend mistakes. Trading either Seager or Semien as a salary dump this offeason would help until their pitching is better.
@Dave: What’s your point?
And unfortunately Zaidi and Kapler still in San Francisco
Ha ha. Couldn’t find a Giants thread ?OCD much.
and Shelton remains in Pittsburgh
The pirates are still actively trying to get worse to tank so firing their manager doesn’t make much sense. Most of the young prospects aren’t up too so manager can’t mess up much here, so far of the interesting prospects only cruz is up.
He probably will be fired when the young guys are up and not performing.
Shelton putting VanMeter in the lineup daily = fired.
You’re wrong. The Pirates are on their upswing. Next year they’ll be this year’s Orioles. They are slower but 5hey are definitely building upward.
Domingo111
The pirates are still actively trying to get worse to tank
==========================
If they were trying to tank, they wouldn’t have promoted Cruz, Marcano, and Contreras. And they would’ve traded Reynolds.
Beats putting sugar in the gas tank.
Would you rather have Ned Yost still managing the Royals?
Losing Jung didn’t help. He was supposed to be their opening day 3B. Still the staff was horrible from the outset and the even got lucky with Perez.
@thecoffinnail Yes! A 1000 times yes!
Michael Young.
Words and phrases.
Lol
Please hire Carlos Beltran, keep him from ever announcing another game.
Yes please lol
That’s not how you spell Alex Rodriguez!
I’d take ARod over Beltran any day.
ARod is an awful announcer.
I’m that case hire Cameron Maybin!
AMEN to that brother !!!
That’s a way of getting rid of Jessica Mendoza, too. I like your way of thinking, sir.
@Paul: Jessica and A-Fraud (plus the fact that it has become a pathetic, unwatchable, Total-Clown company) are the reasons I haven’t viewed even a second of ESPN on several years.
Jessica is at least attempting to make strides and Eddie Perez is solid as always. But ARod. That’s outright malpractice. Weasely wish washy “analysis”. And then there’s the Jeter series. Always respected the man, and the first episode unearthed some promise with revelations about his previously undisclosed thoughts on being biracial. But ESPN managed to greenlight a 7 part series that’s more dull than the person himself.
If she’s trying to make strides, that’s even more embarrassing.
ESPN baseball telecasts are truly aweful, and I don’t watch. ARod and Mendoza are terrible. Never ceases to amaze me why networks consistently hire unlikeable personalities and unqualified ones just so they can check some box on the diversity quota questionnaire. Please just hire the best, most knowledgeable, most likable for the job! Think Vin at every hire opportunity. Apple telecasts are even worse than ESPN by the way with the Millennial crew they got.
Thought the Apple telecasts were a bit. They’re a bit right? Performance art sketch comedy w mimes and monkeys clanking tiny cymbals and stuff?
It never ceases to amaze me how many bad white male announcers there are in the game (how many years did we suffer Hawk Harrelson?) but whenever someone criticizes a bad announcer who isn’t a white male their complaint is always some sort of affirmative action grievance. Here’s a thought. Some people just aren’t great at their jobs. Full stop.
Hawk played major league baseball and GM’d a major league team. He had actual qualifications to be an announcer (whether you think those are valid qualifications is up for debate). Yes, he was absolutely insufferable and hung around for way, way too long (poor Stony), what were Mendoza’s qualifications? When it’s blatantly obvious why someone got the job that they did and retains it, despite being awful, that’s why people complain about it.
This x1000. The ESPN and Apple announcers make for unwatchable ballgames.
You can’t be serious lol. The guy who took the trashcan sign stealing scandal with him from team to team. What a joke of a post. Beltran should be banned from baseball for life.
Holey John McEnroe.
Yes plz, I don’t understand what they wanted out of this guy
Now you know that Hal or Cash do not watch the games…..very painful to watch! The Yankees are bad enough presently.
Not a lot you can do with that SP group.
Yes it’s his fault the front office drastically overpaid for Corey seager Marcus semian and to a lesser extent Jon gray. All good players but not big time difference makers. Expectations for this team this year was unreasonable! Not a rangers fan so maybe rangers fan wanted Woodward fired but no one could of won with this team.
It’s the management of the bullpen and his in game decision making that got me.
@thatdudetg
OK as an A’s fan I don’t watch the Rangers day in and out but suggested to a Rangers friend in April that they’d be 80-82 this year. An irritating number I know – their Pythagorean now has them 57-57. As others have said it just looks like a monumental mess in close games.
(By they I wonder weather Pythagoras when messing with triangles & round things had a long time yearning for Baseball (size of diamond etc) of whether Bill James has a line to the other size. Or Bill is just making it up as he goes along.)
Seems as if they’ve (F.O) stuck with Woodward as long as they could given their heightened expectation.
Please elaborate? For most of the season, (1) with the exception of Perez and Gray, he didn’t have a starter who could get the game into the 5th inning either tied or ahead. Further, other than Burke (and possibly Moore), there hasn’t been a consistent reliever and there’s been an enormous number of games where the BP has squandered leads that have resulted in losses. Take a look at the 1 run losses to see a pattern.
I’m not approving of Woody getting fired. He was asked to endure bruises and bloody noses for the past 3+ seasons and then canned midseason as a thank you.. Unless there’s another story that hasn’t been printed yet, I think he got as much out of this team that they were capable of giving.
Is he actually making those changes or is he one of those managers that gets directive from the FO on that stuff? Legit question
Gray was their only good signing IMO.
The FO has done a nice job with improving FA pitchers they’ve signed. Oddly enough they haven’t been able to develop any from their own system though.
Gray signing was OK not great. We will see next year if it’s good or not.
6-24 in run one games equates to how dare the middle infield and 2nd starter not do more?
Sounds like they need a bullpen and a deeper lineup…
You can’t build teams starting with big free agent signings (especially when one of them is already in his 30’s). You have to start with internal growth through prospects, and THEN only do you go invest in the Corey Seager’s of the world, to fill holes. Seems to me like the Rangers spent a bunch of money last off-season to make the fans happy and save the GM’s job.
Hey! This is a sports thread, so leave your common sense at the door before entering.
Well put. Big spending either through FA or trades of prospects should be done when there’s a core group of young players to build around. The Rangers completely skipped the step of developing the core group of young players to build around. They instead spent $76m per year on 3 guys whose average age is 30. There’s arbitration guys to pay and then most likely a severe overpay on Martin Perez coming. They will be pushing the limits of their payroll with a group that will struggle to get to 70 wins. Very poorly run franchise.
I mostly agree with this. Though, I understood what the Rangers were trying to do. The NY hockey Rangers signed Panarin to a superstar contract before they were ready to contend. They knew they had young kids up and coming, with a few nice pieces on the roster already. But they invested in a star a year or two before they were truly ready to contend. Texas is trying to get ahead of teams by grabbing star power when they had the opportunity, with the hope their young talent will continue their progression. Not a bad plan if it works out. You don’t see guys like Corey Seager on the open market every off season. I believed those signings were more for 2024 than for 2022. I just think the FO expected to see SOME type of improvement. This team hasn’t offered their front office much in terms of progressing towards contention.
Apparently the Rangers and Angels went to the same college. Load up on big name free agents and dumpster dive for the supporting cast. What’s that? Oh awesome. Matt Duffy is coming off the IL. Great.
Aren’t hockey prospects less volatile than MLB ones? The thing about baseball is that MiLB numbers do not always translate to MLB, so you have to have some established talent and not just prospects before making a huge push.
I understand the thought process too, but I don’t agree with it. Especially not for the players they signed. The idea that Seager or MS to a lesser extent are a rare commodity on the FA market isn’t one I can really agree with. Just look at this offseason, you have TT and Correa (again) as options. Now granted that’s rare, but you can often find difference makers on the FA market and if you’re willing to over pay like the Rangers did, you can probably even sign them. You’re essentially wasting 2 of what should be the most valuable years of those players because of FOMO? Doesn’t sound like a solid strategy.
Exactly if you can’t contend and make the playoffs just with your internal prospects the gm doesn’t deserve the chance to sign a big name free agent.
Why? Because successful tes have done it that way? If you have faith that your farm will produce, It doesn’t matter. It’s like saying 3+2=5, but not 2+3=5
I remember them the Rangers getting pummeled in some of those Hearn starts, who should be in the minors.
Are there like 3 different people GMing the Rangers? Lot of seeming young talent in the pipeline and then nonsensical contracts? Why 2 top of the market free agents when the pitching is so abysmal? Outflanked by both the Astros and the As consistently. Good thing they have the Angels to keep them company in terms of roster management.
Jon Daniels has hired a fake GM that reports to him and changed his own title to President of Baseball Operations. At some point in the near non-contending future, he’ll also throw the fake GM under the bus.
But Jon Daniels runs out Charlie Culbertson or the equivalent in the cleanup spot for 8 straight years and gets to keep his job. Lmao. Can’t make this stuff up
Jon Daniels doesn’t make the lineup. Woody does. Is this your first time watching baseball?
Front office makes the lineup nowadays, especially when it’s a novice manager
Jon Daniels both makes the lineup and acquires the players, sport.
Managers don’t have the autonomy they once had. It’s not uncommon in today’s game for a GM to give instructions to a manager of who to play and who not to play. It’s presented in reports of match-ups and data that been compiled by the analytical department. It’s portrayed as a team effort and collaboration, including the manager, but really he’s there to execute the organizational game plan. (See Blake Snell being pulled early in the World Series.) Some teams give more leeway than others, but this has been more and more common. Jon Daniels is known as one of the biggest control freaks in the game. I wouldn’t doubt if he was dictating starting lineups. Mostly today’s managers are there to handle the people and the morale, and to make sure the overall organizational philosophies make it into the dugout and clubhouse. I don’t think there’s any manager calling the shots 100% anymore…
Do the Rangers have an organizational philosophy?
Baseball’s Dumpster Fire since 1961!
I’ve said this before. Unless anyone else has concrete evidence otherwise I still believe that this is the way it’s done. Front office has a lot more analytics on player performance and tendencies against different types of pitchers etc. Lots of data.
That said, I highly doubt that front office “makes” the lineup cards and “makes” pitching decisions, etc. I think they make sure to hire a manager and bench coaches that are “analytics” friendly. Managers are armed with tons of data that help them make their decisions, but obviously plenty of decisions are up to different interpretations.
If the front office gets the sense that there is a deviation from the data it gets addressed but I highly doubt that there is direct specifics that so and so needs to bat fourth or you have to sit so and so, and pitch so and so. It may work more like this, “I noticed that you’ve been batting Bellinger in the six and seven holes lately while matchups may indicate that he may struggle against these type of pitchers…help me understand the thought process” or “Interesting decision to bring in Cleavinger in the 8th with a one run lead what was the thought process there…”. I think more mutual respect from both sides as opposed to ultimatums.
The managers don’t fully call the shots any more because they’re armed with so much valuable data. It is true that ultimately it’s the front office’s data and general plans and for the most part that is followed. But all that data doesn’t mean that there is one interpretation and that interpretation is being forced to managers. They’re not quite the puppets that they get played out to be, in my opinion.
That’s a stupid assessment. The Rangers did go to two World Series.
Sometimes dysfunctional organizations succeed, at least temporarily, in spite of themselves.
I think it varies club to club. For the one i’m most familiar (HOU), the manager is making the lineup decisions and is consequently at odds with both fans and the FO.
Wash!
Not with all these young experimental coaches especially. I’d like to think the Mets gave Buck Showalter a pretty long leash. But generally I agree… Managers have overall become less and less relevant in the game. Especially now with universal DH in the NL. Takes a lot of brains out of the decision making
I agree with much of what you say, but the front office does dictate lineups to the extent that they’re trying to position certain players to harvest as trade bait at the deadline. Unfortunately, the only player that drew trade interest was Matt Bush. Cole Calhoun was at the top of my list as a player I wished could have been moved. His AB’s should go to the younger guys that are under team control for several more seasons. Less emphatically, you can also add Miller and Culbertson to the list. In the end, without adding a couple of 6 inning arms for next year, 2023 is going to resemble 2022.
They do. The FO meets with the manager to “construct a line up”.
Do you think Francona of Cleveland does the starting lineup/has more freedom than the average manager?
Makes no sense
Pirates please take note and get into the swing of things. Fire Shelton.
Whether it’s line-up assembly, game strategies or usage of subs and relievers, I’m often at a loss as to what Shelton is trying to do
But truly, I’m not sure that anyone could conjure up more wins out of this group. I get it, their kids. They’re going to make bonehead mistakes on the field and have awful at bats. And I won’t even address their pitching. They’re extremely difficult to watch
But just who could come here and flip the switch?
I’m sure that Shelton has a plan. I’m just as sure that no one but Shelton understands what it is.
Shelton is the 2nd coming of John Russell. Please follow the Rangers lead and dismiss Shelton
Congrats to Tony Beasley, who once sang the national anthem as a player before a minor league game. Seems like a good guy, hope he does well.
can a Ranger fan shed some light on this? is he making in-game mistakes? has he mismanaged the dugout? screwed up the pen?
definitely bad bullpen management, but nothing crazy
Ppl keep saying bullpen mismanagement, but who besides Burke and Moore would u depend on?
Hard to be responsible for “bad bullpen management” when you have a bad bullpen. Burke and sometimes Moore have been the extent of reliable arms out of the BP.
I have never liked him for lineup management. If a young player has 2 good games in a row in the 8 or 9 spot ,he would move them to 4 spot and then they would go into slumps. He did it with Solack and Heim last year. Heim has recovered this year and is hitting good, but Solack is still lost, and he was a bat first player.
.
Yea I did always question why semien was the leadoff hitter. Other than being capable of stealing, nothing about that made sense
Last year, you could have drawn names out of hat when constructing a batting order. It wouldn’t have made any difference. What shuffling that was done was trying to get a hot bat closer to the top of the order to get them an additional AB in the game.
approaching historically bad in 1 run games.
Just look at the one run games record. Then look at the extra innings record. Then look at Brad Miller who he consistently runs out there as the DH. Then we can start talking about his poor bullpen management.
Well he can’t run Moore and Burke out there 4 innings every night and rest of options suck
Ding, ding, ding….we have a winner.
Its the front office needing a fall guy. Probably happened now as opposed to the end of the season because North Texas completely tunes out the sad sack Rangers when the NFL preseason starts. JD and the boys are deflecting blame now while a few people still care.
As a Rangers fan I’ve on the fence with Woody…. Seems to me that there have been some really bad errors and some sloppy play at times.
@toetherubber17; I might be able to “shed some light”.
Orioles fan, not a Rangers fan. That said, since around 2010 both teams have had the same journey. Success through 2016. Then 2017/18, not so much. From that point, both have been attempting to rebuild through prospects.
Daniels thought he had a strong enough younger foundation … and with team control … to be comfortable enough to go to owner Davis to say “we can now spend money on free agents”. Like Avila in Detroit, minus the injury issues in Detroit, it didn’t work. Avila, a long time dedicated employee, is out. Wouldn’t be surprised if Davis followed suite by relieving Daniels, a long time dedicated employee, of his duties.
Here in Baltimore, looks like we’re “on deck”. GM Elias just made the announcement that owner John Angelos has given the okay to expand payroll this off season. Gulp! The glaring difference in ownership strategy here compared to Texas and Detroit is Angelos cleaned out the front office (in 2018). He did not promote within like in Texas and Detroit. Could this be a difference maker?
I’ll take him over Shelton on the Pirates. Each loss more embarrassing.
Bring back Ron Washington.
That’ll cost ya a kilo
(I love Wash no hate)
Well played, NW
“It’s incredibly hard”
I see what you did there. All seriousness though, Wash is still beloved by many players and is still a great coach. It’s crazy to me that he hasn’t landed a manager role since his tenure in Texas.
John Gibbons music
What would John Gibbons entrance theme be?
I’m gonna go “Hurts So Good”
Chris Woodward didn’t have the maturity to be a manager at the MLB level. I am sure he’s fine as a coach or assistant to a manager on a staff, but he doesn’t seem to have the emotional composition or the tactical ability to be at the helm of a team.
This was the right decision.
Him and Brad Ausmus share a lot of similar managing qualities.
I’m at a loss in understanding your post. Are you juxtaposing maturity for experience? If not, please explain the immaturity that you’ve witnessed. And as for experience, after 3.5 years at the helm, is that even a valid comment.
He has made some comments about other teams when the Rangers were struggling that suggested a petty petulant nature that avoided accepting responsibility for his team’s shortcomings and blaming others- something children tend to do moreso than adults- hence a maturity issue.
Also wufdog- you seem very personally offended that I wasn’t a huge Chris Woodward As A Manager fan… that you, Chris Woodward?
Joe Madden?
Joe Maddon?
Joe Maddun?
Joe Maddin?
Joe Maddoff?
Jon Madden?
John Madden?
Joe Maddan?
Why fire a manager for a team’s poor performance?
Because ownership never fires themselves.
Ownership typically allows GMs/Front Office to make player personnel decisions. Seems like Rangers spent some money this season but didn’t get results. That should be on GM/front office. That said, I don’t know the Rangers game to game situations and what kind of decisions were made by Woodward. Usually though it’s mostly player personnel decisions and game to game is secondary. How many games in a season are really decided by bad manager decisions, which can be subjective.
Outside of Seager,Semien and one other player ( Cuban right fielder whose name escapes me) the other people on the team are okay players but not great. The pitching is mediocre so not sure why the manager takes the blame. The GM has had more than 5 years to rebuild and should be fired.
Aroldis Garcia is the rf. But none of the 3 r hitting over .250. Perez. Gray, Moore, Burke, Lowe, and heim have all been more valuable than those 3
Ok thanks for sharing the name with me. None of the people you mention to me are memorable in the games I’ve watched outside Seager, Semien and Garcia.
Yep! On the season, Semien has been a disappointment and his glovework tends to be lacking at times. An OBP under .300 is not a desirable attribute for a leadoff hitter. Seager strikes me as a guy with limited range. I enjoy watching Garcia but he’s either a hero or a goat (in the old sense). I am pleased to see him attempting to hit the ball where it’s pitched more often than in the past. I believe this is responsible for him having more multiple hit games of late and fewer K’s with men on base.
Actually Seager and Garcia are both over .250 after yesterday’s game.
I’ll celebrate when the headline says Rangers Fire Jon Daniels. All this means is Woodward gets replaced with another first time manager. Most likely one in over his head, again.
Amen.
Another head scratcher from my texas rangers. Wtf do u expect froma manager given 2 reliable starters, 2 reliable BP arms, and a team hitting around .250. He’s the manager, not the gm that signs guys, and not the players underperformed.
Batting average doesn’t matter.
OK change my comment from batting avg to obp, where they’re in bottom 5. Solo homeruns don’t win games
I think batting average matters a lot. Higher batting averages means more action and more exciting games. Higher OBP does not necessarily equate with more excitement or action. Would I’d rather watch .300 hitters whose OBP was. .350 or .150 hitters with OBP of .400? The quants would argue for the higher OBP, but give me the .300 hitters every time. People get lost in their analytics and forget what makes baseball fun.
Every single gm would choose the higher on base guy. What makes baseball fun is winning generally.
Bad bullpen management, line-up structure and mainly because we are 6-26 in one run games. The team is better than their record suggests.
Not really. 2 reliable starters, 2 dependable BP arms, .240 team acg, and .300 obp. What there says better than performing?
The tale of two teams. In early July, the Orioles limped back home after a frustrating away stretch. Next up, the Rangers. The Os swept them. All one run games. IMHO, this series was pivotal in how it influenced the moral, thus direction of the journey of each team, from there onward.
Lowe has been their best hitter. Shows you don’t know much about Rangers baseball.
If the Rangers ownership had a brain, they would have fired Jon Daniels by now. But after this long, that is probably never going to happen. The smart move would have been hiring Jeff Luhnow before he went and bought a soccer team, but again they weren’t smart enough to think of that one.
It’s about time. I don’t know why they waited so long. I was afraid they were going to wait until the end of the season. It was frustrating watching him manage the team. I don’t know that he knew what he was doing half the time.
Note the correspondence between team WHIP and the standings:
mlb.com/stats/team/pitching/whip?sortState=asc
Woodward may have faults as a manager; I wouldn’t know because I only see the Rangers when they play my team. But it’s hard to figure how a manager can be responsible for how many walks and hits his pitching staff gives up unless he overworks them or chronically puts them in bad matchups. I’d be inclined to fault the pitching coaches or the GM who assembled the pitching staff. But Rangers fans would be better able to say.
Really. Rangers fire their manager and Chicago is stuck with Sleepy?
Here come the ‘my team should fire its manager and hire him’ comments.
Cuz as we all know, 1 team’s bad manager is another team’s savior.
At least the interim manager, Tony, can double as The National Anthem singer. Big-time cost-saving move there.
There were many problems with bullpen management and roster construction. In-game poor decisions as well.. For example, at best you have a mediocre bullpen, so trying to throw a BP game against a Seattle Mariner’s team is not intelligent. Woody has used BP games twice within the last week, both losses. I am not sure how many BP games he has used but I doubt we have won 10% of them. It is true that Ranger pitching has been dealt serious injuries which has exposed the lack of depth in the organization. Eventhough Winn is not having the season people hoped in AAA he would have been a better option than a BP game. Kuechel as well. Woody becomes enamored with certain players like Hearn and Howard who simply at this point are not MLB-level players, at least not as starters. Culberson is another example of a good team matte I am certain, but not an MLB-level player anymore. K Calhoun has had big moments but has failed miserably more often than not in key situations. The Seager and Semien haters are simply upset that their team didny acquire them. Both have been very beneficial to the club. Seager has frequently delivered in the clutch.. If Rangers FO is smart and they land Rodon, Syndergaard and a couple of relief arms and perhaps Bell at DH this can be an impressive team.
I pretty much agree. But Jon Daniel’s signed those guys, and fail to trade or dfa them at deadline.
Managers don’t get to call up AAA players. Woodward did what he did with the roster that was given to him.
Save for Perez and Gray, the Rangers have had to trust innings to young starters typically not capable of getting them into the 5th inning. As such, the BP has had to carve up the rest of the innings. resulting in poor innings from poor performing pitchers. Outside of Burke and Moore, what reliever did you want to see more innings from? You know it’s a bad situation when you see pitchers duck down when the manager looks down at the bullpen.
rangers13, signing Rodon, Syndergard, Bell and a couple of RP is a big ask for any front office – especially after adding Seager, Semien and Gray last off season. That said, I concur the Rangers would be much improved in ’23 were this to occur.
When can we expect the presser where Dusty Baker declares this fire-and-replace scenario to be a clear example of racism??
What?
Dusty has an unfortunate history of a) trying to find racism where there isn’t any, and b) making racist remarks while trying to excuse them by saying he’s not being racist.
I think that is where Animalize was going with that
Do you have any examples?
Meanwhile, why would Baker suppose a racist motive underlying the firing of a white manager? Does that make sense to you?
No, i think that part was sarcasm.
As for examples, there are multiple articles seemingly mostly from his time between Cincinnati and Washington that you can find online
Woodward is white, Beasley is not. His point was, likely, that even though this is the same situation, Baker wouldn’t call it racist because that’d go against his made up narrative. Essentially, he’s calling Baker a hypocrite, I believe.
Yeah, I got that he was being sarcastic. What I question is why he dredged up Baker’s past history in reference to this case. Seems like a reach for the sake of grousing about Baker’s complaints about racism.
Rsox, I did that search and found multiple examples of stupid racist remarks by Dusty; e.g., whites are slower and don’t play as well in hot weather.
@Fink: Racism is racism. And racists see racism everywhere they look.
What part of Reality don’t you get??!
And lots of people get exercised over the faults of others because they harbor the same faults themselves, but they feel more comfortable denying the presence of those faults in themselves and instead attacking them externally when they perceive them in others.
@Fink: What’s your plausible evidence of this?
Otherwise you’re likely just clamoring to make others believe that you’re smart and wise so that they Hero-Worship you.
Huh? Who hero-worships anonymous commenters on baseball discussion threads?
I’m not sure what you’re asking: i.e., what’s my plausible evidence of what?
Finally
Rangers roster was dead before the season started
Didn’t they just sign him to an extension not too long ago?
Texas spent big at least a year too early and Woodward gets to be the sacrificial lamb
Yes. Gave him extension this past November that ran through 2023 with team option for 2024
Adding Gray to the rotation and expecting a postseason/winning record is a pipe dream. There’s a reason/reasons why not many teams were in on Semien and it was thought at the time of an overpay for him as well. Woodward was used as a clear scapegoat in the tbh poor allocation of funds last offseason by Daniels. Another classic example of a gm throwing money around aimlessly and pinning the lackluster result in someone who didn’t even spend a penny of it! Pathetic that this continues to be allowed by owners of teams!
I’ve been a Ranger fan for a long time and have seen the good and bad from this organization. Here are my thoughts for what it matters
1. It was time for Woodward to go. This team quit a month ago. Every team has errors but dropped foul pop ups, balls bouncing off gloves on relays, and no accountability has crept up on this team. Woodward would have the occasional calling out of the teams effort, but it was vastly overshadowed by the “we’ll get better” and “we need to improve” speeches. This team lacked fire, which a manager has to inject and hold those accountable that aren’t focused
2. The upper minor league pitching coaches have to go. Cole Winn, jack leiter, Cody Bradford, Taylor Hearn (up and down from aaa to majors), aj alexy, Spencer Howard all have had bad years. It’s not good to read scouts saying they believe the pitching coach screwed up leiters mechanics. The pitchers that have succeeded this year have all been in the majors all year (Brock Burke, Matt moore, Martin Perez). The only starting pitching prospect that has done better than expected in the upper minors this year is Cole Ragans. That’s a problem.
When the rangers went to the World Series, they opened up the pocketbook for coaches. Mike Maddux was the highest paid pitching coach.
I think the book is still open on Doug Mathis this year, but they are miserable failing in their upper minors
3. Too much of a boys club. Just like the cowboys, how many ex players are going to work in. the front office? I have read so many times in the last 10 years about what a fun place it is to work in the front office, and how much fun it is for the players to come to the ballpark. That’s not a bad thing, but they need accountability. Th try need people that have consistently built winners. They need someone to shake it up when things aren’t working, and it hasn’t worked in a long time
4. Stop blaming the lack of talent. The rangers have some good talent on this team, and some just around the corner. Josh jung should be a huge offensive boost when he comes up. They have a lot of good pitching prospects (some will fail,some should succeed) if they are handled correctly. Leiter, Winn, owen white. Good young hitters in luisangel acuna, Aaron zavala, foscue, and Evan carter. Young players on the team that should have some sort of role on a future team in taveras, Duran, heim.
5. Finally, I think this team needs a major shakeup. They need accountability in the front office and on the field. There is no reason some of the veterans should still be on this team after the trade deadline. Matt moore should have fetched something for the minors. Charlie Culberson, brad miller are taking at bats away from players that will be here next year. Hopefully a strong manager will be hired that will voice their opinion and hold everyone in the organization accountable and continue putting pieces on this team that can help long term
In other words, the GM added Seager, Semien, Gray and Miller, and got a combined 6 WAR for $79M, so the manager has to take the fall. They didn’t have a lot of position players, and none of the SPs figured to be any better than a #3 (or worse).
I’m not surprised that they are a .447 team, and won’t be surprised if they do so next year.
No one will notice unless it involves the Cowboys, the innocent slaughtering of cows for brisket, losing to Oklahoma or saying something negative about Ted Cruz. Texans are a breed of their own.
The brisket is awesome
Lolol how do you fire a guy you just re-signed before his extension even kicks in? Talk about bad planning.
Hey look another REALLY bad front office blaming their manager and forcing him to take the fall.
The comments like “the front office doesn’t make the lineup” always baffle me. Like where do you think the players that makeup the lineup came from? The manager doesn’t get to put players from other teams in his lineup LOL.
I LAUGH at the Texas Rangers
Are you happy now Rangers fans? Well are you, punks?
Carry on my Woodward son
There’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more
Who’s the leader in the Ranger’s clubhouse?? Every clubhouse has got to have one!
Are the Rangers trying to make news by making crazy decisions? I never heard anyone calling for Chris Woodward’s head. The roster is half baked.
I’ve been a Rangers fan for nearly 50 years. I watch the games….
Woody’s a nice guy, but he doesn’t know how to handle a pitching staff.
I’ve been getting the feeling this season that the players on the field don’t have a fear of failure. That’s a culture problem.
How would u presume to manage the pitching staff? U have a 3,4,5 slots in the starting rotation that struggle to even get to the 6th inning. And ur choices out of BP are Moore, Burke and 7 guys that are equally likely to shutout an inning or give up 3 in an inning. So if Moore and brock aren’t rested, it’s a crapshoot what ur gonna get from any of them
I agree with those who think this is an FO (who’s own decisions have been questionable) scapegoating its newly extended field manager.
Also, I suspect they’re intending to send a message to their players.
I think it’s ham-handed, on both accounts.
Every team that signed one of the “Elite” SS from this past FA season would love to dump the contact if they had that option, because NONE of them are earning their paychecks. Only Minnesota may get their wish, if Correa really believes his declining numbers will get him a better contract than what Detroit offered him last year.
I read the statements in the article. I read most of the comments. I watched a Ranger game a week or so ago, I was struck by Woodward walking around in the dugout all game with a menacing Matt Williams-type look on his face. The sort of thing one sees in coaches that don’t adjust well to being mangers.
That look very possibly came about because Daniels and others from the FO were talking to him (as the Rangers statement noted). I think the comment about the long-term outlook very probably came from players complaining about him – especially the free agents they gave long-term contracts with gobs of money to.
AJ Preller (Padres) will fire Bob Melvin and replace him with whatshisname.
Preller does Preller, this is the type of move Preller does.
[Sarcasm]
David Murphy would be a great manager for these young players. He came up through the ranks and is a great leader.
Rod Barajas is a name to watch. I wouldn’t rule out Jeff Mathis either
Love how front offices decide to spend big money on free agents then blame the manager to save their hides for a season or two.
Voodoo one! Wood’s been hit! Wood’s been hit!
Bring back Ron
Woodward isn’t the problem. It’s Jon Daniels and the front office. The Texas Rangers haven’t had a winning season since since 2016.
If my east coast buddies here are still up there is a dandy of a game going on between the M’s and Angels. Ohtani vs Castillo was as advertised. 2-2 bottom 7
Go Diego Go on the mound whipping that slider around
I’m hoping for an Angels walk-off in the bottom of the 9th.
… alas, it was a mental and physical error-fest in the top of the 9th…
Feisty games this year! You knew it was gonna be a weird one when Shohei San fouled the first two pitches off his foot
Where’s Ozzie GUILLAIN?
They are doing better than I expected. Strange. Daniels and his yes man need to go.
I know Woody didn’t have much to smile about in general, but he always seems to have a petulant look on his face. Having Gloomy Gus as a manager makes it hard to have any sort of optimism.
He’s looked like he was worried about getting fired since the day he was hired. Perpetually trying to “fight” which is why he always gets fired up about nothing. Looks like a bench or base coach to me. Maybe he’ll get some seasoning and get another crack down the line
Enter Joe Maddon
Banished to Kathmandu
The manager of a team that was intentionally tanking. They add a couple of free agents to try and turn around the team. And Woodward gets fired. He never had a chance. It kind of reminds me of Alan Trammell’s time in Detroit as a manager.