Texas Rangers, Chris Young, -4.2 games
Young, a former major league pitcher, assumed the position formerly held by Jon Daniels, who retains his role as team president, in October.
From a headline standpoint, his most visible move was the trade of damaged goods with Oakland. Young sent Elvis Andrus (-1.1), a costly shortstop in whom the Rangers no longer had interest, to Oakland for Khris Davis (-0.4), the A’s’ used-up slugger.
Since the Rangers had used Davis only sparingly before releasing him, whereas Andrus has been a consistent and oft-used millstone around the A’s’ necks, the performance advantage probably goes to Texas so far.
Inheriting a roster widely decried as non-competitive, Young has worked hard at the task of importing personnel in the hope that some of it would work out. He’s already acquired six new Rangers by trade, purchase, or waiver claim, signed 10 free agents, and utilized a half dozen more first-year players.
Among the more impactful of those arrivals:
- Young signed several veteran free agents, among them outfielder David Dahl (-1.3), infielders Charley Culberson (+0.5) and Brock Holt (-0.7), and pitchers Mike Foltyniewicz (-0.1) and Ian Kennedy (+0.7). Net impact of those five signings of veterans: -0.9 games.
- He traded veteran pitcher Lance Lynn (+2.3) to the White Sox for pitching prospect Dane Dunning (+0.4) and a minor leaguer. Net short-term impact on the Rangers: -1.9 games.