Texas Rangers: GM Chris Young content with Lynn, Montero trades

New Texas Rangers’ GM Chris Young spoke with the media recently, giving his take on some of the recent transactions made by his team.

Jon Daniels might still be the head honcho in the front office, but new GM Chris Young has been plenty involved in the Texas Rangers‘ off-season plans.

It’s been an active month on the Hot Stove for the the rookie executive Young, who has had to learn about being a GM on the job, but what better way to absorb knowledge than to have your team dominate the majority of the Winter Meetings headlines?

Speaking with Sportsradio 96.7 FM/1310 The Ticket this past week, the former Texas Rangers’ pitcher revealed that he actually played a sizable role in the execution of his team’s recent transactions:

"“I think a lot of the groundwork for these moves was laid before I came on board. That said, since I’ve been on the last week or 10 days I’ve been in on every conversation. [I’ve been] really sitting back learning and observing, but I’ve also been contributing in areas I feel comfortable in.We have really good people in place. I think their evaluation skills and the processes I’ve seen thus far are solid and I’m excited about the moves we’ve made.”"

The Texas Rangers’ GM has a solid foundation in Arlington.

It appears as though Texas’ new GM is transitioning into his new role quite seamlessly, which should assuage the fears of many fans that with Daniels still involved in team operations, Young’s baseball acumen would be ignored.

That certainly isn’t the case based off these comments.

Young also addressed questions about winning in 2021, to which he said fans should demonstrate patience and trust that the team is in good hands:

"“Obviously the fans deserve a winning team, a team that’s competitive year in and year out and we’re going to give them one. We hope that it will be 2021 but realistically with where we are and where the vision is certainly we understand that there’s a process we have to go through.But we’re going to take the necessary steps in the process. We hope that with the young talent we have on the way that will be accelerated. Wins and losses this year are going to be important, but I think that more importantly is building the right culture.”"

As difficult as it might be to accept the immediate fate of the Texas Rangers, it’s better to leave the future of the organization to a smart individual like Young, who in tandem with the front office has a plan mapped out for now and for later.

It didn’t take long for the new GM to be pressed about the recent trades of Lance Lynn to the Chicago White Sox and Rafael Montero to the Seattle Mariners.

Luckily, Young was prepared for those questions, saying that he believes the team received great value for both players.

First, Lynn:

"“I think we felt very very good about what we got in return for [Lynn]. He’s certainly a great pitcher, has done great things for the franchise and will be missed, but I think moving forward getting Avery Weems and Dane Dunning moving forward are two pieces that are going to be under team control.We hope [Weems] will develop into the pitcher we think he can be. Certainly [Dunning] has a lot of potential, a lot of talent. We think we can do some things to help him maximize that and hopefully he will be a long [term] piece of our team.”"

Next, Montero:

"“We thought [because] he [Montero] had two or three years left of control in fitting with our timeline with what we’re looking at and how we’re [planning] for the future, we thought we got great value in return for him.”We have a pitcher in Jose Corniell who the Mariners paid a lot of money in the international market in 2019. The industry thinks very highly of him. We think he has great potential and we’re excited to help him realize that and hopefully get him to the big leagues in time.”"

It’s clear Chris Young has been internalizing much of what he’s learned on the job through his first few weeks on it.

And if these comments are any indication of what’s to come for Young in his tenure as Texas Rangers’ GM, the organization looks to have its priorities straight and is in great shape going forward.