Interim Beasley 1st interviewed in Rangers managerial search

By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Baseball Writer

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Interim manager Tony Beasley was the first candidate interviewed in the Texas Rangers’ managerial search that general manager Chris Young hopes to wrap up in three to four weeks.

Young said Friday that Beasley would be the only internal candidate for the job, but didn’t say who else or how many other people would be interviewed in the process.

“We started with a large master list, and we’re narrowing that as we speak,” Young said, without elaborating two days after the Rangers finished their sixth consecutive losing season.

Young declined to comment when asked specifically if the search could proceed without knowing if three-time World Series champion manager Bruce Bochy had interest in the job or not.

The 67-year-old Bochy hasn’t managed since 2019, when he stepped away after 13 seasons and those titles with the San Francisco Giants. Young played for Bochy with San Diego in 2006.

Young had acknowledged earlier in his media availability that he loved playing for Bochy.

“We had a winning season together. I learned a lot from him, just a calm, steady presence,” Young said. “I have the utmost respect for him. It’s no surprise that he went on to win three world championships with the Giants, and he’s a tremendous person and manager.”

The Rangers fired fourth-year manager Chris Woodward on Aug. 15, two days before president of baseball operations and former GM Jon Daniels was also let go. Texas went on to finish 68-94, eight wins more than 2021 but what Young said, “was about half of our internal expectations.”

Texas was 17-31 under Beasley, the longtime Rangers third base coach who was once Young’s manager in the minor leagues. Several young players got extended looks during that span, and Young said back in August that Beasley wouldn’t be judged solely on win-loss record or how the team played.

“We knew that we had a young group coming in, that they were going to have to get exposure at the big league level,” Young said Friday. “In terms of what we were looking for with our culture, the management of the staff, those types of things, I thought he did a tremendous job.”

The departure of Daniels, who had led the club for 17 years as GM and then team president, put Young in charge of baseball operations for the team he pitched for to start his career after rooting for as a kid. He played for five teams over 13 big league seasons and was working in the Major League Baseball office before he joined the Rangers as GM in December 2020.

“The goal is that when we start to win, we win for a long time. And that’s important to get right on the front end here,” Young said. “This offseason is big to make sure we take the next step.”

Along with finding a new manager, Young said the Rangers will be in pursuit of top-line starting pitchers, in free agency or through trades.

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