Jon Daniels Five Biggest Mistakes Since 2010

I know a whole lot of people that think it is time for Jon Daniels to go, and I also know a lot of people that think he is brilliant as the Texas Rangers GM. I fall somewhere in between running him out of town on a rail and giving him the keys to the city. In his tenure as the general manager with the Texas Rangers, the franchise has been to two World Series and have acquired such players as Adrian Beltre and Yu Darvish. Of course they have also let players like Nelson Cruz, Koji Uehara, Mike Napoli, Josh Hamilton and other go and watched them perform at a very high level elsewhere. I thought I would take a look at what are the five worse moves by Jon Daniels from 2010 to 2014, and then what are the five best moves he has made in that same period of time. Hope you enjoy.

5. Christain Guzman and Jorge Cantu –

Mar 3, 2014; Surprise, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels prior to the game against the Cleveland Indians in a spring training game at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas Rangers were having a very good season in 2010, and they shocked the world by landing Cliff Lee before the trade deadline. But, for some reason, Jon Daniels thought that they needed two more guys to help them get to the post season. Thus, he made the trades for Guzman and Cantu. The Texas Rangers traded Tanner Roark and Ryan Tatusko to the Nationals for Guzman, who really never had any kind of impact on the squad whatsoever, and he didn’t even make the post season roster.

The Rangers had already traded Evan Reed and Omar Poveda for Jorge Cantu, and the only game he had an impact in was the division clinching game where he had his only RBI of the season for the Texas Rangers. Cantu did make the post season roster, where he was 0-8. Since the Texas Rangers went to the World Series that season, I rank this as the number 5 worst move since 2010.

3. Nelson Cruz –

Jul 6, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas Rangers right fielder Nelson Cruz (17) points to the sky was he crosses home plate on his solo home run against the Houston Astros during the seventh inning at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas Rangers made Nelly the qualifying offer of $14.1 million, which he declined to see what he could get on the open market. No one knew that Nelly was going to have the type of season he is having, but the Texas Rangers did know that the slugger would be a good designated hitter and that depth is never a bad thing. But Jon Daniels and his staff let Nelly walk to the tune of $8 million to the Orioles, and he has been nothing short of spectacular for them. The Rangers knew that Nelly had pop in his bat still, but they were worried about having him play in the outfield. While I don’t blame them on that one, I think the Texas Rangers should have tried harder to resign Nelly, because they sure could use his power at the plate right now.

Will anyone step up with Mike Napoli like fire?

(photo credit: wija.com)

2. Mike Napoli –

The chants of “NAP-O-LI” used to ring out at Rangers Ballpark at Arlington every time Mike Napoli came to the plate. He hurt his ankle in the World Series and would have been the World Series MVP had the Texas Rangers hung on to win in 2011. The Rangers front office was worried about Naploi and his health, and so were the Red Sox if you remember right. They voided the original contract they signed with him and changed it to a one year instead of a three year deal. Either way, the Sox moved Napoli to first, and the rest is history. The Texas Rangers would have been better off keeping Napoli at first instead of bringing in Prince Fielder, but again that is easy in hindsight. I thought at the time and still think today that the Texas Ranger should have resigned Mike to a contract and kept him in a Texas Rangers uniform.

1. Matt Garza –

May 27, 2014; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Matt Garza (22) reacts after being taken out of the game in the seventh inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

There are not may trades in Texas Rangers history (but there are a few) where a team has give up so much to get so little. The Rangers sent Mike Olt, Class A right-hander C.J. Edwards and right-hander Justin Grimm to the Cubs for the privilege of renting a useless Matt Garza for less than half a season. The Rangers lost a really good third base prospect, a pitcher who already had major league experience and a highly touted pitching prospect for nothing, when you look back at the trade. Even Jon Daniels himself has said that this was a bad trade for the Texas Rangers.

“I thought way too short-term with the Garza deal last year,” Daniels told Zach Buchanan. “That one’s got a chance to haunt us and haunt me.”

The team got absolutely nothing from Garza, as he went 4-5 with a 4.35 ERA, something Justin Grimm could have done just fine. I didn’t like the Garza deal at the time, and I still say it was the worst deal since 2010.

I excluded a few for these reasons:

Chris Davis said he probably never would have hit like he did if he would have stayed with the Texas Rangers.

Koji Uehara did not get along with Yu Darvish at all and did not want to stay with the Texas Rangers, and he was not nearly as good with the Texas Club.

Josh Hamilton may have been better if he would have stayed, but we will never know.

Ian Kinsler for Prince Fielder is still too early to know if that was a horrible deal or not in the long run, but I have a sinking feeling that it will be.