The first time Jon Daniels hired a manager, he found a former MLB infielder who was a third-base coach for a team that had success developing players but also had a different way of putting a team together.
Ron Washington worked out pretty well.
Daniels’ third hire is Chris Woodward, a former MLB infielder who was the third-base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers. They spend a ton of money, unlike Washington’s Oakland A’s, but they also have developed young players and infused analytics into a pennant-winning team.
Woodward won’t single-handedly turn the Rangers into a numbers-crunching, development-minded, technology-advanced contender, but the Rangers apparently believe that Woodward will be able to convey the message to players and make the correct baseball decisions game to game.