Texas Rangers hire Chris Young as general manager, but Jon Daniels is still in charge
The Texas Rangers have hired Chris Young, one of their former pitchers and a Dallas resident who attended Highland Park High School, to become executive vice president and general manager, the team said Friday.
The team’s baseball decisions will still run through Jon Daniels, who retains his title as president of baseball operations. Young will report to Daniels.
The Rangers will introduce Young, who has been working in the MLB commissioner’s office, on Monday morning in a Zoom call.
The decision came a few months ago when Daniels and owner Ray Davis evaluated where the Rangers are as an organization.
“We agreed that adding the separate role of general manager would make us a stronger organization in a number of ways,” Daniels said in a statement. “The responsibilities of running a major-league baseball operation have increased significantly, and many successful MLB organizations now have a similar structure in place.
“I welcome the opportunity to collaborate with Chris and the many talented individuals we have in the Texas Rangers baseball operations group as we continue to grow and improve on both the major- and minor-league levels,” he said.
Daniels had been GM since 2005, overseeing five playoff appearances, four division titles and two American League championships. He pointed the Rangers into a rebuild during the middle of the 2020 season, which marked the team’s fourth straight losing campaign.
He isn’t going anywhere, and Davis said that Daniels recommended adding the GM layer.
“I believe in Jon Daniels and his track record of building winning teams,” Davis said. “I am very optimistic about the future of our club and I look forward to working with Jon, Chris and our baseball group in 2021 and beyond.”
Young, 41, pitched for the Rangers in 2004 and 2005 before he was traded to the San Diego Padres. He pitched for three other teams before retiring in 2017.
He has worked for commissioner Rob Manfred since 2018, and in February was promoted to vice president of on-field operations, initiatives and strategy. Chief among his duties was handing out discipline.
Young also worked with the Rangers on issues related to the construction of Globe Life Field and oversaw operations during the 2020 MLB playoffs that were held at the new $1.2 billion ballpark.
He was recently considered a strong candidate to become the New York Mets’ GM, but withdrew from consideration. Instead, he is the ninth GM in Rangers’ history.
“As a Dallas native who grew up rooting for the Rangers, I recognize what a special opportunity this is and how much the Rangers mean to this community,” Young said. “I look forward to learning from and working with Jon on a daily basis. I am confident that with his and Chris Woodward’s leadership and with the strong group of baseball operations individuals in place, we will accomplish our goal of building a championship team.”
This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 3:40 PM.
