Nov 4: The Rangers officially announced that Fenstermaker has been promoted to general manager, and that they’ve hired Figueroa as assistant GM. Additionally, the Rangers officially announced the hiring of Justin Viele as hitting coach, a move that was first reported last week.
Nov 2: Rangers President of Baseball Operations Chris Young was recently promoted to that title after signing an extension with the club back in September. That position had been vacant since Young took over baseball operations midway through the 2022 season after the firing of then-president Jon Daniels. Now, it’s the GM role that stands vacant, and Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported this evening that the Rangers may be on the verge of a front office shakeup that could lead to that vacancy being filled.
According to Grant, the club is “zeroed in on” hiring Rays director of baseball operations Cole Figueroa for an assistant GM role. That deal is not yet completed, with Grant saying the hire remains dependent on typical background checks being completed, but if that deal comes together than Grant suggests that the addition could subsequently lead to the Rangers promoting internally to fill the vacant GM role.
Figueroa, 37, was an infielder who briefly played in the majors from 2014 to 2016, collecting 84 plate appearances with the Rays, Yankees, and Pirates during that time. Since his retirement following the 2016 season, Figueroa began working in the Rays organization in baseball operations. He was promoted to assistant director of hitting development in 2018 before taking on his current role with the Rays following the 2021 season. In some ways, Figueroa’s ascent up to front office work is similar to that of Young, who spent 13 years pitching in the majors before moving first to the commissioner’s office and then to the Rangers’ front office as GM.
With Figueroa likely coming on board as an assistant GM, that could make way for a current assistant GM to move up the ladder and become Young’s #2 in the front office. Specifically, Grant suggests that assistant GM and VP of player development and scouting Ross Fenstermaker could be the person tapped for the role. Fenstermaker joined the Rangers as a baseball operations intern in 2010 and made his way up the ladder through the scouting department, serving as a scout and crosschecker for nearly a decade before being promoted to director of pro scouting in 2018 and then promoted once again to senior director of pro and international scouting two years later.
Of course, whether that actually occurs or not remains to be seen, even if the Figueroa hire is completed. Grant notes that the Rangers have left the door open to finding a new GM to give Young a right-hand man but have never committed to doing so, even as front offices around baseball have increasingly began to utilize the GM role as a second-in-command behind the president of baseball operations. Texas isn’t the only club seemingly contemplating the addition of a GM to their front office this winter; the Red Sox could look to promote internally for the role as well, while the Giants recently did the same in hiring Zack Minasian to serve under new president of baseball operations Buster Posey.
As a Rangers fan, I am excited to see our front office continuing to evolve and strengthen. Chris Young has already shown he can lead this team with the moves he’s made, and the idea of adding someone like Cole Figueroa from the Rays organization feels like a step in the right direction. The Rays have been a model franchise for developing talent and finding ways to win without breaking the bank, so bringing that kind of mentality to Texas could really benefit us with no TV deal in place.
Figueroa’s background, going from a player to an important front office figure, mirrors Young’s path and shows that both have a deep understanding of the game from multiple perspectives. It also sounds like there’s a chance for some internal promotion with Ross Fenstermaker possibly stepping up. He’s worked his way up in the organization and clearly knows the ins and outs of scouting and player development.
I love that the Rangers are building a strong front office to complement the talent we have got on the field. With our recent World Series win 2023, having a solid foundation in the front office is only going to make us even more competitive. If this all comes together, the rest of the league better watch out—this team is setting up to be a contender for years to come. Plus with the Texas Dallas Stock Exchange on the way with no state income taxes we have a nice financial future!!!!!!
The Rangers have a solid team but I thought could have done more to repeat as champions. New stadium and big time revenue coming. Feel free to trade Seager to Yankees if they are unloading Salary
What did they not do? Failed to bring back monty… That was a positive. Added Langford who was positive except handing him dh was a mistake. The roster that won the world series essentially came back and underperformed to a man. The front office wasn’t prepared for it, no one was really unless you thought all ranger performances in 2023 were flukes, which some did granted. 2 or 3 regressions you maybe plan for, can’t for 10+.
Plus being payroll stretched, they were still willing to add at the deadline if they hadn’t gone cold, but way too many holes. Holding steady if anything was a minor mistake though I hope gives us a leg up in keeping eobaldi… Yates and Robertson will probably go where they get paid on contenders. Maybe the rangers but doubt it.
The actual off-season had huge price tags they couldn’t afford or free agents not significantly better than a ranger had just done… Maybe another healthy starter instead of mahle or in addition would have helped. Who I’m not sure. Easy to sit back and say flaherty or imanaga or someone, but were mostly assumed meh arms in their financial reach
Knowlln is right, what more could they have done? They sold their soul for 1 year and will be paying the price for the foreseeable future.
This rush to sign FO people, scouts, managers, and coaches that once worked for the Rays is becoming a joke. Most of those people were not instrumental in the Rays success. And the teams they’re being hired by are not going to turn into the Rays.
The allure of what the Rays do is too great and teams continue to chase that setup. I think the only team that has been able to successfully emulate the Rays is the Dodgers.
The Rangers obviously had a need to make more Fensters.
should be Fenstermacher though