Daniels pays for Rangers’ poor results with his job

The Rangers ownership group, led by Ray Davis, even knew Daniels would be fired Wednesday, two days after firing manager Chris Woodward.

Daniels was fired Wednesday by the Rangers, where he had been general manager since 2005, when he was then named the youngest ever. With the team, he won two American League championships in 2010 and 2011.

Davis said Wednesday at a news conference that when Daniels reported Woodward’s firing he simply waited a couple more days so no one would be confused because they were two totally different situations.

The team shareholder reiterated that Woodward left because his team was not progressing and inconsistency became the common denominator in several areas.

He said they were evaluating the performance of Daniels, who was notified Wednesday that his contract would not be renewed next season and, according to both parties, decided to relieve him immediately.

“Jon’s accomplishments in his 17 years at the helm of our baseball operations department have been numerous,” Davis said. “His impact on the growth of our analytics, scouting and player development 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.”

“But the bottom line is that we have not had a winning record since 2016 and for much of that time, we have not been competitive in the American League West Division,” the manager added.

Rangers ballplayers and interim manager Tony Beasley agreed that the blame for the poor results, lack of progress and inconsistency is a shared responsibility, but that at the end of the day the Major League Baseball industry is a business.

“We have to take our responsibility by going out every night and playing baseball,” said Venezuelan pitcher Martin Perez.

“We keep going. The results can’t be bad all the time. Managers make their decisions. They respect each other. They have their reasons.”

“You can feel the tension a little bit. But they made the decisions and you have to respect,” he added. “Our only responsibility is to come in and prepare to go out and play and win.”

Perez acknowledged feeling Daniels’ dismissal even more personally, as he was the general manager who brought him to U.S. baseball from the Minor Leagues to the Majors.

“He’s my friend,” Perez affirmed. “Despite everything, we’ve always had a good relationship. He’s someone who always believed in me since I was practically a kid. But at the same time, we understand this is a business….”

Ray Davis ratified Chris Young as general manager and as the Rangers’ head of baseball operations.

“Chris Young is one of the best young baseball executives in the business and in his 21 months on the job has brought welcome energy and new ideas to the organization,” Davis said. “I am confident in Chris’ ability to lead our baseball operations with the goal of producing a consistent winning team on the field.”