Texas Rangers have a PR nightmare on their hands

By now, we’ve all heard the story of the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros moving their upcoming series to St. Petersburg. While each side points a finger at each other, where is the full story?

Major League Baseball announced Monday afternoon that the upcoming series between the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros will move to Tropicana Field. While moving the series really surprises nobody that has paid attention to the weather, the location does. After being asked to host the three games in Arlington and moving the Sept. 25-27 to Houston, the Rangers front office balked. In doing so, they’ve sent a horrible message that they may regret.

Multiple sources, including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Jeff Wilson and the Dallas Morning News’ Evan Grant, state that it wasn’t a simple solution for General Manager Jon Daniels. In fact, the pieces do present some pretty well-written points that we should think about before setting out with pitchforks. But it really was a simple decision and for a few reasons, the Rangers really are the bad guys this time.

Don’t look at those final three games

Yes, moving the final home series with Houston to Minute Maid Park would create some problems. Some season ticket holders would likely get upset that they’d miss that series or have to try and swing some sort of travel deal to get down to Houston. But at the end of the day, this becomes a much bigger issue than that.

More from Texas Rangers

• Texas Rangers hitting the reset button with Jonathan Hernandez
• Texas Rangers lose Jacob deGrom to Tommy John: Next steps
• Grant Anderson gives the Texas Rangers their missing ingredient
• Texas Rangers: How Adolis Garcia started putting up MVP numbers
• Why Kumar Rocker is still a successful pick for the Texas Rangers

Yes, some ticket holders could be inconvenienced. But, the Texas Rangers have one of the best fan-friendly guys in the business in Chuck Morgan.

As Executive Vice President of Ballpark Entertainment and Productions, Morgan and his team have come up with some really creative ideas in the past to take care of Rangers fans. I have no doubt that he’d figure out something to help the inconvenienced ticket holder for those games. It’s actually conceivable that the fans would come out ahead. But alas . . .

Even though Daniels listed those final games as a reason, it’s really a lame excuse. After all, we’re talking about a Houston Astros team that will now have to stay on the road for 19 straight days. Meanwhile, they have loved ones back in Houston that are dealing with some major life issues right now.

Do look around the Metroplex

The Rangers didn’t have to look very far to see an example. Just across the street, the Dallas Cowboys will host the Houston Texans on Thursday night. While that game was also originally scheduled in Houston, they seemed to have no problems making accommodations for the displaced Texans.

Granted, we’re talking about a preseason game here, but there’s still a gesture of goodwill that shouldn’t be forgotten in this. Yes, the NFL pretty much forced Dallas’s hand in the move, but per Cherean Williams of NBC Sports, Cowboys Executive Vice President Stephen Jones had already made a decision on Saturday.

"“The league and Houston will make that decision, but we stand ready to help them out.”"

Then of course, there’s what the TCU Horned Frogs have done for the Rice Owls. The Dallas Morning News broke the story on Monday that Rice would head to Houston on Monday to prep during their week off.

Love talking about the Rangers? Join the team and write a weekly column!

Do look at the front of your jersey

All around the state, texans have taken the opportunity to help out and bless fellow texans and their teams. The Rangers could learn a lesson from this. Set aside any rivalries, grudges or slim playoff prospects.

The Texas Rangers missed out on a major opportunity Monday. No, looking good and gaining spotlight shouldn’t be of primary concern in a situation like this. But even if it was for them, they missed the mark badly.

With the exception of the decision from the Rangers, this state has reached inwards and helped each other out immensely. But now, it’s too late. The deed has been done and the lot has been cast.

The Texas players should expect some boos and jeers headed their way. They should probably just go ahead and expect them at every road game from here on out. Why?

Next: Sam Dyson wouldn't be the same if he'd stayed

Well, at every road game, when people see “Texas” across this team’s chest, they’ll see a team that turned their back on a fellow Texas team. They’ll see an organization that, to some, doesn’t deserve that name across the chest. While that feeling may seem a bit extreme, it’s an understandable one. And who would I be to say they’re wrong?