MLB Team Fires Manager After Spending $500 Million During Offseason

By Brian Jones

An MLB team just fired their manager with less than two months remaining in the season. This week, the Texas Rangers announced they have parted ways with Chris Woodward. The news comes after the Rangers spent $500 million to sign star players Marcus Semien and Cory Seager. Currently, the Rangers are 52-63 and 22 games behind the Houston Astros for the AL West lead. 

"I think first, we've been pretty straightforward that we, as a leadership team, did not come into the season thinking we have put together a championship roster," Rangers president of baseball operations Josh Daniels said, per MLB.com. "[But] we thought we had taken a major step forward in talent from where we were a year ago. We've certainly had aspirations, maybe, to overachieve some — and still do have those [aspirations]. But we were, and continue to be, realistic about where we are. 

"That said, we do think that we can be better than our record, and better than the way that we [have] played at times. That leads to making a decision now, rather than waiting until the end of the year. We think we have an opportunity to begin addressing some items with a change in leadership style."

The Rangers are coming off a 2021 season where they won 60 games and lost 102. Woodward took over for Jeff Banister who was fired after the 2018 season. The last time the Rangers were in the playoffs was in 2016 when Banister led them to an ALDS appearance only to lose to the Toronto Blue Jays. 

"I think he had a challenging hand from the standpoint of ultimate wins and losses," Daniels said about Woodward. "Those elements ... and really, the biggest one is the rebuild. We were kind of in-between when he was hired, and we really committed to it in the middle of his time here. He was fully on board with that, he embraced the move to a young club. [I'm not sure how] I would characterize it, but I think he made the most of what he had to work with."  

Woodward posted a 211-287 record in his nearly four seasons with the Rangers. Before joining Texas, Woodward who spent 13 seasons as an MLB player was a coach for the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Dodgers. As a player, Woodward spent time with five different teams, including the Mariners and Blue Jays.

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