After two decades with the team and 17 leading the club, the Texas Rangers fired Jon Daniels Wednesday relieving him of all of his duties as the president of baseball operations effective immediately.
According to managing partner and majority owner Ray Davis, Daniels was surprised when he was told his contract was not being renewed at the end of the season and that he was relieved of his duties effective immediately.
Daniels is credited with building the World Series teams of 2010 and 2011, but since that time the team has only won the AL West twice, in 2015 and 2016, and has strung together the longest streak of losing seasons since the team moved to Texas 50 years ago. If the Rangers don't win 29 of their final 46 games, they'll post their sixth straight losing season.
“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," Davis said in a statement.
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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
Ray Davis, majority owner
Daniels joined the Texas baseball operations department in 2002 and was the youngest general manager ever in the majors when he got the job with the Rangers at age 28 in October 2005. He added the title of president of baseball operations in 2013, and held both roles until Dallas-native Chris Young was brought in as the team's EVP and general manager in December 2020.
The team said in a news release Wednesday morning that Young will assume oversight of all aspects of the Rangers’ baseball operations department.
“Chris Young is one of the top young baseball executives in the business and in his 21 months on the job has brought welcome energy and new ideas to the organization. I am confident in Chris’ ability to lead our baseball operations with the goal of producing a consistent winner on the field.
Davis said he's certain the team is headed in the right direction but that a change in leadership was needed.
"The fans have got to be as upset as I am. I'm not a good loser," Davis said. "All I can say to the fans is we're treating this with a sense of urgency … we plan on putting a very competitive team on the field next year."
Jon Daniels released a statement Wednesday in part saying:
"Somewhere along the way, this baseball fan from Queens got an opportunity to help lead a
Major League Baseball franchise in Texas. It’s been an unbelievable experience. My family and I
are incredibly thankful to so many people along the way."
Earlier this week, Daniels and Young released manager Chris Woodward who was two games shy of his 500th game with the club and with a season remaining on his contract.
During Monday's news conference addressing Woodward's departure, Daniels was asked about his role in the team's lack of recent success and said he took a lot of responsibility for the team's performance over the last six years, and acknowledged that the Rangers haven't been good enough in that span.
"But ultimately, this is a team effort … When we were good, it wasn't about me. It's always been a team effort," Daniels said. "We have a ways to go. We have a lot of good people here. As far as my personal accountability or situation, that's something we'll address down the line."
TEXAS RANGERS
Daniels didn't elaborate then on what he meant, but his situation with the team became clear Wednesday.
Young was a senior vice president for Major League Baseball when he was hired by the Rangers as general manager. The 6-foot-10 Young played baseball and basketball at Princeton before pitching in 13 major league seasons with five teams. He made his big league debut with the Rangers in 2004 and he won a World Series title with Kansas City in 2015.
