Texas Rangers: Which managerial moves will affect the club?

As clubs being to fill their manager spots across the league, the Texas Rangers may find themselves impacted on a few different fronts.

Various clubs have committed to making offseason changes at the helm of their club with a number of teams looking to hire a new manager. This is a spot the Texas Rangers found themselves in last year after parting ways with Jeff Banister and eventually hiring Chris Woodward. So far for Texas, the Woodward hiring seems to be a good move with some quantifiable improvement within the organization. However, while they won’t directly be adding a new manager, there are a couple of moves that could have some considerable impact on Texas moving forward.

Joe Maddon Joins the Angels

The biggest impact the Rangers will see from the coaching changes this year is the hiring of Joe Maddon by the LA Angels. Maddon, recently off a successful stint at the head of the Chicago Cubs that saw them win a World Series, mutually did not renew his contract in Chicago and joined LA who parted ways with Brad Ausmus after just one season.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that Maddon is signing a 3-year deal worth $12 million. This deal makes him the second highest paid manager in baseball.

Joe Maddon's 3-year contract will pay him $12 million, making him the second-highest paid manager behind only Cleveland's Terry Francona, who'll earn $4.2 million in 2020
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 16, 2019

This past year, under Ausmus, the Angels had a pretty tumultuous campaign due in no small part to significant injuries. They finished the year in 4th place in the AL West, six games back of the Rangers.

For Texas, Maddon joining the Angels means that the AL West will be even more competitive next season with really just the Mariners out of the picture. Maddon is thought highly of across the league especially when it comes to helping middle of the road teams take the next step. With the Rangers setting their sights on the postseason and beyond, having Maddon leading a team that features Mike Trout and Shohei Otani already means that the road for Texas just got considerably tougher. With the Angels upping their game, any offseason moves by Texas become all the more crucial.

Jayce Tingler Interviewing for Managerial Opening

This one might not look like it has as direct an effect as Maddon’s hiring but losing Jayce Tingler would be a punch to the Rangers. Tingler currently acts as the Player Development Field Coordinator for the Rangers after bouncing back and forth between coaching and front office roles within the organization.

More from Texas Rangers News

Tingler interviewed for the Rangers’ manager position last offseason before Texas decided on Chris Woodward. Reports are that Tingler is on the shortlist for the San Diego Padres opening which really comes as no shock. The Padres GM is AJ Preller who formerly worked with Texas as the Director of International and Professional Scouting before taking on an Assistant GM role with the Rangers. Since joining the Padres, Preller has helped San Diego land Manny Machado as well as build their farm system into the best in baseball. Preller has a connection to Tingler which would be an indicator of why this link is so strong.

Funny enough, it seems that Tingler is competing with another coach Rangers’ fans should be familiar with, Ron Washington. Wash is a legendary manager for the Rangers’ organization helping the club reach the first two World Series in club history in 2010 and 2011. Wash resigned in 2014 due to personal reasons and would then join the A’s coaching staff before heading to Atlanta as the Braves third base coach.

Tingler, 38, is a guy high on player development and fits the mold of the types of leaders the Rangers want within the organization as they rebuild their culture. Losing Tingler, while not necessarily directly attributable to on the field results, would have an impact to the club.

Home/Texas Rangers News