Rangers won’t be saved by Nolan Ryan, need to hire wisely for these positions
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In 51 years without a World Series parade, the Rangers have faced an existential crisis or two. Losing, despair and agony. Bordering on apathy. They have always turned to the same answer.
Well, this time they will have to figure out something new.
Nolan Ryan isn’t walking through that door.
He’s 75. When he came through town in May to promote the documentary on his pitching career, Facing Nolan (terrific, by the way), he wasn’t sure there was enough Advil to get him through even a ceremonial first pitch. It felt more like an epilogue rather than the next chapter in an amazing baseball life. In the last decade, he’s left executive roles with both the Rangers and Astros because, let’s face it, working in banking and cattle ranching seems a lot more noble than does the baseball industry these days.
But, man, the Rangers could use a little of what Ryan most brought the club as both a pitcher and an executive in his two stints in Arlington. They could use the credibility.
Which brings us to apathy. Despite having a 3-year old, air-conditioned stadium, it took them until the season’s last day to cross 2 million in attendance. Attendance dropped 100,000 from 2021. It was the lowest since 2008, the year Ryan arrived as an executive. On one hand, it speaks to a sizable core of baseball fans in the area, who, if nothing else, enjoy being at the ballpark. On the other, attendance was 2.7 million in 2017. Continued losing only tests the patience of even the most hard-core and easy-to-satisfy fans.
The litany of on-field woes is long. We need not say more than this: While Houston and Seattle are engaged in an entertaining AL Division Series, the Rangers are doing due diligence on managerial candidates.
There is more to consider, though, beyond the on-field needs. If the Rangers truly want to create a “championship culture” throughout the organization, ownership needs to consider funding these positions too:
—President (or something like it): Rangers majority owner Ray Davis is noticeably reticent about publicity. In a lot of places, that works. It would work, too, here if the Rangers were winning. Everything “works” when a team is winning. But in a market dominated by the likes of Jerry Jones and Mark Cuban, the precedent for outspoken ownership has been set. Neil Leibman, a minority owner, holds the title of president of business operations and chief operating officer. He is key in real estate development and revenue creation. Somebody has to speak for and represent ownership more outwardly.
This is what Ryan did so well. He detested the idea of ever being considered a “mascot,” but his presence in the front row every night in the sweltering heat of Globe Life Park helped sell people on coming back. If ol’ Nolan could stand the heat, so could they. Ryan could walk the park, sign autographs and listen to a fan’s complaint or suggestion. He could tell them the club would work on it. People took that as gospel. The Rangers lack that at the moment.
Think of the need thusly: “When we have a full house, I want the hot dogs to be hot. I want the beer to be cold. I want the parking not to be a problem. I want them to leave here and go, ‘Boy, that was worth it, and I want to come again.’”
Those were the words of former Rangers manager Buck Showalter this summer, speaking on the atmosphere at Citi Field where his Mets had perhaps the most electric environment in baseball. To maximize what Globe Life Field can mean in terms of a home field advantage, the Rangers need to maximize every element of the experience.
—Senior adviser to the GM: Chris Young has numerable attributes that make him a potentially special fit as the general manager. He has both a playing background with savvy for data and technology. And he’s got pre-existing emotional ties to the team since he grew up rooting for them. But running baseball operations, with far-flung departments, can be all-consuming.
He’s had barely two months running the show and must hire a manager, convince ownership to significantly increase spending, evaluate big-ticket free agents properly and hire a number of key roles. It would help to have somebody who’d previously been in his role and had the experience of going through it. That’s one of the things that made the August dismissal of Jon Daniels surprising; Daniels could have filled that role while stepping down from running baseball operations.
And since Young brings a pitcher’s intensity to the role, it might also help to have somebody who could help him hold the reigns a little easier at times.
The good news: There are others out there who have run a club before and are available. Most notable: Dayton Moore, who took Kansas City to a pair of World Series in 2014-15 and who was Young’s boss while with the Royals. Moore was dismissed as Royals president of baseball operations in September. He’d reportedly like to stay in the game.
—General manager: Why hire for a title Young already holds? Well, the idea would be to push him into the president of baseball operations and hire a No. 2. This is the hiring structure many teams — including the Rangers until August — have. The GM ends up with more administrative responsibilities, allowing Young to focus on building the club.
In assistant GMs Josh Boyd and Ross Fenstermaker, the Rangers have two capable guys on hand. If one was moved to GM, it would potentially allow for a string of promotions from within. Good for morale and talent retention.
Moving Boyd, at heart a scout, into a more administrative position might take away from what he does best: Evaluate talent and build relationships. Fenstermaker was moved into an assistant GM’s role prior to 2022. Each has been with the club more than a decade. Which brings up another issue: Do the Rangers need more outside voices?
The Rangers are getting started on a whole lot of work this winter. Most of it revolves around guys in uniforms. But they can’t forget about the suits, either.
On Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant
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