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Texas Rangers hire Chris Young ’02 as General Manager

Students practicing baseball at Princeton.
Heather Grace / The Daily Princetonian
Students practicing baseball at Princeton.
Heather Grace / The Daily Princetonian

On Friday, the Texas Rangers named Chris Young ’02 as the team’s next executive vice president and general manager (GM). Young, 41, who retired from pitching in 2017 after 13 MLB seasons, most recently served in the MLB office as the senior vice president of on-field operations.

He was recently rumored to be a candidate for the GM job with the New York Mets, and is considered by many to be one of the brightest young minds in the sport.

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During his time at the University, Young was a star in both baseball and basketball, and he became the first male athlete in Ivy League history to win Rookie of the Year in multiple sports. He set school records for blocks in a season (87), and led the baseball team to an Ivy League title in 2000 while posting a stunning 1.05 ERA in conference games.

He was drafted later that year by the Pittsburgh Pirates, made his MLB debut in 2004 with the Rangers, and also went on to pitch for the Padres, Mets, Mariners, and Royals. He was an MLB All-Star in 2007 and won the World Series in 2015 with Kansas City.

Young, who is from Highland Park, Texas, is excited to take a job close to home. 

“As a Dallas native who grew up rooting for the Rangers, I recognize what a special opportunity this is, and how much the Rangers mean to this community,” he said in a statement. “I am confident that … we will accomplish our goal of building a championship team.”

Jon Daniels, who had served as the team’s GM since 2005 and will now serve solely as President of Baseball Operations, and who traded Young to the Padres that same year, had nothing but praise for the new hire. 

“This is an exciting day for the Texas Rangers’ organization,” he said in a release. “Chris Young’s background and experiences will be a huge asset to our baseball operations group. He is a very well-regarded executive in our game in his role as Major League Baseball’s head of on-field operations.” 

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Rangers owner Ray Davis also chimed in. 

“I have had the opportunity to interact with Chris Young on a number of Major League Baseball initiatives, and his qualifications make him the ideal person to take on this role. I believe in Jon Daniels and his track record of building winning teams. I am very optimistic about the future of our club and I look forward to working with Jon, [Manager] Chris [Woodward], and our baseball group in 2021 and beyond,” he said to MLB.com.

Young will look to help improve the team after they finished dead last in the American league with a 22–38 record this past season. He will be formally introduced at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Monday, Dec. 7.

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