The Rangers on Friday introduced that they’ve agreed to a multi-year contract extension with basic supervisor Chris Younger, who’d been within the closing season of his earlier deal, which ran from 2021-24. The group didn’t specify the size of the brand new contract. Younger was additionally promoted and now holds the title president of baseball operations.
Younger, 45, joined the Rangers’ entrance workplace in Dec. 2020 after spending two seasons working in MLB’s central workplace because the league’s senior vice chairman of on-field operations, initiatives and technique. Given his background, he was a considerably out-of-the-box rent, however the Rangers weren’t the one membership with curiosity. Mets proprietor Steve Cohen additionally spoke to Younger a couple of potential baseball operations management function, however Younger eliminated his identify from consideration for that publish. Simply weeks later, he accepted the title of GM with the Rangers. As a Dallas native, it was a homecoming for Younger and helped to elucidate why he rapidly withdrew from consideration for the Mets publish.
On the time of his hiring, Younger was second on the Rangers’ baseball ops hierarchy to then-president of baseball operations Jon Daniels. Daniels had helmed baseball operations in Arlington since 2006, however Younger’s hiring proved to be a portent for a altering of the guard. Lower than two years after tabbing Younger as the final supervisor, Daniels was fired in Aug. 2022. Younger took over baseball operations and, in his first full season steering the ship, noticed his membership defy all preseason expectations by bringing dwelling the primary World Sequence title in franchise historical past.
The success can hardly be attributed to Younger alone, in fact. Daniels’ fingerprints have been everywhere in the 2023 Rangers, whether or not within the type of prior free agent signings (e.g. Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Jon Grey), earlier trades (Adolis Garcia, Nathaniel Lowe, Mitch Garver) or homegrown contributors (Josh Jung, Leody Taveras, Jose Leclerc). That stated, it was Younger who was main the entrance workplace when Texas signed Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Robbie Grossman and others. He additionally oversaw the acquisitions of Max Scherzer, Jordan Montgomery, Chris Stratton and Aroldis Chapman (admittedly paying what now seems to be like an excessively steep worth of Cole Ragans). This previous offseason’s slate of modest, payroll-limited strikes included fruitful signings of Kirby Yates, David Robertson and Michael Lorenzen.
The 2024 season hasn’t in any respect been the followup to final yr’s title that possession, Younger, the remainder of the group and followers of the Rangers envisioned. It was well-known heading into the yr that Texas would have a number of key arms on the shelf (Scherzer, deGrom, offseason signee Tyler Mahle), however the hope was that final yr’s juggernaut offense would assist hold the group afloat till these huge arms returned to the fray.
That didn’t occur in any respect, nonetheless. Seager was injured early (and just lately returned to the IL as a result of a necessity for sports activities hernia surgical procedure). Jung missed appreciable time for a second straight season. Garcia, Lowe, Taveras, younger outfielder Evan Carter and catcher Jonah Heim have all taken vital steps again. Prime prospect Wyatt Langford, final yr’ No. 4 total decide, broke camp with the group and has picked up steam since a gradual begin. Nevertheless, he’s nonetheless sitting on a roughly league-average batting line and hasn’t damaged out into instant stardom like many hoped after a torrid spring coaching.
Extra to return.
