Elephant Rumblings: Rangers hire Chris Young as GM, promote Jon Daniels

Good morning afternoon, Athletics Nation!

Perhaps there is no better illustration of how early we still are in the MLB offseason than the nature of the personnel searches going on. The Angels and Marlins hired new general managers this winter, and the Mets cleaned house entirely after being bought by a new owner; their new president still hasn’t hired a GM yet. The Phillies are also looking for a new GM.

In other words, we’re not even on to the player transaction portion of the winter. We’re still waiting for the dust to settle on the people who make decisions about the player transactions. Settle in.

On that note, another team shook up its front office on Friday, and it wasn’t even one that anyone was expecting would do so. The Texas Rangers hired former pitcher Chris Young as their new GM, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The Rangers also promoted longtime GM Jon Daniels to President of Baseball Operations, as is recently becoming the customary hierarchy around the league.

Young pitched 13 seasons in the majors for five different teams, earning an All-Star berth in 2007 with the Padres. The 6’10 hurler began his MLB playing career with the Rangers in 2004-05, and he was born and raised in Texas (Dallas area), so there are obvious connections to this pairing. He also has a degree from Princeton, which he completed while playing in the low minors after being drafted.

While this move by the Rangers is a surprise, the selection of Young isn’t. He previously interviewed for the Mets GM job this winter, so he was already on the league’s radar as a potential exec. Now he’s landed a spot with his local team (and an Oakland A’s division rival), as they look to bounce back from a last-place campaign in 2020.

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