Rangers have made a change at the top of the dugout, announcing the sacking of manager Chris Woodward on Monday afternoon. Third baseman coach Tony Beasley will serve as interim coach for the remainder of the 2022 season.
“(General Manager) Chris Young and I had the very difficult task of informing Chris Woodward of our decision today,President of Baseball Operations Jon Daniels said in the press release announcing the decision. “In his tenure as manager of Rangers, Chris worked tirelessly under sometimes difficult circumstances. He has been dedicated and passionate in his efforts to improve the Texas Rangers’ on-field performance, and that is greatly appreciated. He represented the organization with class and dignity.
We’ve had long discussions over the past few weeks and while the team’s current performance is certainly a big part of this decision, we’re also looking to the future. As the Rangers continue to develop a winning culture and put the pieces together to compete for the playoffs year after year, we felt a change in leadership was needed at this time. On behalf of the entire Texas Rangers organization, we thank Chris and wish him and his family the best.”
Woodward, 46, spent just under four seasons at the helm at Arlington. Texas hired him from the Dodgers coaching staff in the 2018-19 offseason, making him the permanent replacement after firing Jeff Banister in September (with interim work from Don Wakamatsu). Woodward came into a tough spot, taking over a team that was coming off a last-place finish that was cutting payrolls as it embarked on a rebuild.
Texas bounced back a bit in Woodward’s first season, finishing third in the AL West at 78-84. The club were outscored by 68 points that year, however, and regression hit the following season. Texas went 22-38 in the shortened campaign, then stumbled to a 60-102 record in 2021. It scored last two straight spots, but Texas nonetheless signed Woodward last November to an overtime that lasted until 2023.
At the time, Daniels praised the skipper for “(help) lay the foundations of our culturethroughout its first three seasons. The Texas front office certainly couldn’t have expected great results from the rosters they fielded throughout 2019-21, and Woodward’s extension reflected the organization’s confidence in its ability to guide the club towards a more competitive phase. Texas signaled its desire to advance payrolls early in the offseason, and they followed up with a much more aggressive winter than many might have expected.
Rangers signed four players to multi-year free agent deals, including two of the three biggest overall guarantees in the offseason. Texas added Corey Seager for $325 million over a decade shortly after signing Marcus Semien for seven years and $175 million. They came on as a central midfielder for Rangers, while the club signed Jon Gray to a four-year, $56 million pact to anchor the starting rotation. The Texas Brass acknowledged that going from a 60-win team to immediate postseason competition seemed like a stretch, even with such an aggressive offseason overhaul. Still, they were undoubtedly anticipating a marked improvement that would serve as a springboard to a playoff run in 2023.
Results on this front have been mixed. Rangers are on pace for their best season in three years, with a 51-63 record that puts them third in the AL West. A 44.7% winning percentage is much better than the sub-40% ratings of 2020-21, but that still translates to a loss pace of around 90 over a full schedule. They have 9½ games in the Wild Card and are virtually certain to miss the playoffs again, with little hope of playing any meaningful games in the final two weeks of the season.
At the same time, one could argue that Rangers have been more competitive than their record suggests. They have only been outscored by two points this season with more blowout wins (games decided by more than five points) than losses. If they had played with a rough .500 record that matched their point differential, they would be in the Wild Card picture and the overall tenor of the franchise would be much more optimistic. Instead, they’ve gone an abysmal 6-24 in one-point contests, losing so many close games they’re nowhere near contention.
Woodward’s share of responsibility in this file is subject to debate. There is no doubt some bad luck with such a lackluster record, but one could also note that Woodward is ultimately responsible for running a bullpen that blew 18 leads (eighth most in the majors). Texas has had productive seasons from some of its young players (i.e. Jonas Heim and Nathaniel Lowe), but the club didn’t get much from its young starting pitchers other than Danish Dunning. Meanwhile, Texas got strong seasons from Seager and Gray, but Semien underperformed in the inaugural season of his free agent contract.
Of course, managerial decisions are made on the basis of more than just the club’s results on the pitch. Teams assess how a skipper manages the clubhouse and the behind-the-scenes work that takes place out of public view. Daniels and Young have obviously determined that the time has come for a change of voice at the top of the clubhouse.
Over the next two months, that will come with Beasley’s elevation to the manager’s chair. A former minor league skipper in the Pirates and Nationals farm systems, Beasley first joined the Texas coaching staff ahead of the 2015 season. The 55-year-old is now in his eighth year with the Rangers, a stint that will overlapped Banister and Woodward’s time as skipper. This will be his first opportunity to manage in a major league.
Texas will search for a full-time employee next offseason. They are the fourth team to do so, as each of the Phillies (Joe Girardi), Angels (Joe Maddon) and Blue Jays (Charlie Montoyo) fired their skippers mid-season. Philadelphia suffered a tear under interim manager Rob Thomson, while the Angels continued to flounder under temporary skipper Phil Nevin. The Blue Jays improved an already productive club in their first month under interim coach John Schneider.
Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News first reported Woodward’s firing.
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