Dave Ammenheuser: With Bruce Bochy hire, Texas Rangers have already won the MLB postseason

The Texas Rangers have already won the postseason.

Forget about the Yankees and Astros playing in the American League Championship Series. Forget about the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies playing in the National League Championship Series.

Forget about the World Series that won’t end until the first week of November.

On Friday, the Rangers staked a claim to October.

Welcome, Bruce Bochy.

Hiring Bruce Bochy was marvelous. And naming him in the middle of the postseason playoffs was fabulous. MLB honchos often frown when teams make big announcements during the postseason. They’d prefer the attention be on the games, not the off-field moves.

Kudos to Chris Young. His first major move as the Texas Rangers’ executive vice president in his first offseason was a bold one.

And the right one.

Bochy brings instant credibility to a franchise coming off its sixth-straight losing season. This franchise needed a spark far beyond big-name free agent player signings. Certainly, they still need pitching help and a bit more offense, but getting a three-time World Series champion manager to lead the return to respectability was step one.

And kudos to owner Ray Davis who had to sign off on this signing. It took a lot of guts and soul searching for Davis to fire long-time baseball operations executive Jon Daniels in August. It was a strong statement to tell Rangers fans that the team needed to go in another direction.

Bochy does that.

Many thought that Bochy would retire from the game. At 67, he’s certainly a future Hall of Famer after leading the Giants to World Series titles in 2010 (over the Rangers), ‘12 and ‘14. He managed the Giants from 2007-2019, after leading the Padres from 1995-2006.

Don’t look at his overall winning percentage of .499 (two games below .500 at 1,052-1,054). Look at what he did with a small payroll in San Diego and how he molded a championship team with big-name talent in San Francisco.

Waiting until after the final out of the World Series may have been too late to make the hire. Seriously, if the Yankees lose to the Houston Astros in the ALCS, don’t you think that Bochy would’ve been on New York’s short list after Aaron Boone is fired?

Bringing back Ron Washington would’ve been the easy route for Young and Davis.

But that would’ve signaled that the past was good enough.

Chris Young, Ray Davis decided to go for a big name manager with a big heart. Rangers fans will love Bochy’s approach to the game, the players and their fans.

He has some of the same traits as Washington. Only with some added championship rings on his résumé.

Maybe another one is on the horizon.

If so, it will occur in Arlington.

Until then, go ahead and celebrate, Rangers fans. You’ve already won the offseason.

This story was originally published October 21, 2022 at 12:46 PM.