Texas Rangers’ Jon Daniels on the ‘Warm’ Seat?
By Reid Hanson
Texas Rangers President and General Manager may not be on the ‘Hot Seat’, but his seat is certainly getting warm…
After a streak of disappointing seasons many around Rangers Nation are questioning if Jon Daniels is the right man for the job. Jon Daniels’ job security seems to be the topic of conversation in this week’s Texas Rangers Mailbag:
"How can you say Jon Daniels isn’t on the hot seat? He’s had…bad season after bad season, and even made dumb moves when the Rangers were good. – CarlosIt’s strange that so many people are blaming Jon Daniels for all of the injuries the Rangers have had the past two seasons. It would be a huge mistake to fire Daniels. Another team would surely sign him and the Rangers would regret it. – Mike"
Last week we casually mentioned Jon Daniels as “safe”. Then a couple days ago I proclaimed Jon Daniels’ job as secure. Read: Why it’s Good Jon Daniels Isn’t on the Hot Seat. The reaction to Jon Daniels’ job security seems to be very passionate as well as polarized. One segment is quick to point out the Rangers’ failures, while the other notes the plague of injuries that has recently struck this team.
The thing is…both sides of the spectrum are right.
Jon Daniels is thought to be on the “warm seat” this season. He’s not fighting for his job this season, but patience is certainly wearing thin. Daniels has made both good and bad personnel decisions during his tenure, but the problem is the bad…are really bad.
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Elvis Andrus and Shin-Soo Choo both have crippling bad contracts that are virtually untradeable. The Rangers would likely have to pay our ¾ of their value just to trade them. These two high-dollar deals have prevented, and will continue to prevent the Rangers from signing top-caliber pitching.
Giving big money to non-power hitters is questionable to say the least. Add in the underachievement by these two players and the commitment going forward, and you have a really bad situation. The only course of action is to wait it out and hope things change.
On the other side is the injury excuse. The Rangers have suffered a catastrophic plague of injuries the past two years. Daniels was impressive in his ability to lock-up young and talented pitching early, he really can’t be blamed for their injuries.
The farm system is getting better and better and seem on the verge of making a major impact in MLB. Daniels has positioned this team well considering all of the talent.
But money talks and the Rangers have been bad. The fans have responded accordingly as attendance plummets. The team needs to sell the fans, and right now, that just isn’t happening.
It appears next season will be Jon Daniels’ make or break season. If the injury bug hits again – tough luck. The Rangers must make a playoff push next season. That’s why both sides are right. Some of this is Jon Daniels’ fault and some isn’t. At the end of the day it comes down to success and Jon Daniels needs to find some of that soon.
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