Chris Young makes bold hire with inexperienced new Rangers hitting coach

You’re not going to catch grass growing under Texas Rangers President of Baseball Operations Chris Young’s feet. One day after firing offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker and releasing outfielder Leodys Taveras, both positions have been filled.

With the Rangers having an off day on Monday and a night game in Boston, it made sense that the club would move quickly to fill Leodys’ spot on the roster. What wasn’t a given was the club also already having a replacement on the staff for Ecker.

Can Bret Boone fix the Rangers' underachieving lineup?

However, during a media scrum on Monday afternoon Young announced that the Texas Rangers are making the move most people expected to replace Taveras. While it’s not official yet, the club is planning on recalling outfielder Evan Carter just head of its game against the Boston Red Sox. They’ve also named former Major League player Bret Boone as their hitting coach

The announcement of Boone was was a surprise only because just minutes before the Rangers made it official Young said he in “advanced” talks with the next coach. Most people might have believed that meant it would be a day or two. Those advanced talks quickly moved all the way to finished.

Interestingly, when Boone joins the club in Boston on Tuesday he will officially start his first MLB coaching job. Boone played 14 MLB seasons and was named to three All-Star teams, picking up four Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers along the way. He’s best known among Rangers fans for being a Seattle Mariner, including his career best 2001 season when he hit .331 and bashed 37 home runs.

Boone is of course, the brother of New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone and the two brothers will meet up as opponents later this month when the Rangers head to Yankee Stadium on May 20. 

The expected callup of Evan Carter and the hiring of Bret Boone are just the latest in a flurry of moves Chris Young has made to try and jump start an offense that has been one of the worst in baseball since the beginning of last year. Perhaps being this proactive will allow the Texas Rangers to carry the good vibes from Sunday’s 8-1 win against the Mariners on the road with them.