Chris Young on Bruce Bochy: 'Right Fit' for Rangers
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Texas Rangers general manager Chris Young said hiring Bruce Bochy wasn’t about reconnecting with his former manager in in San Diego.
They do have a great relationship, as Young said on Monday during Bochy’s introductory press conference. But Young has a direction he wants to take the franchise, and experience matters.
“For me in this moment, having an experienced manager in the dugout, not only suited me, but I think it’s what is best for our organization and our players,” Young said. “So it was a big part of the decision.”
Young and Bochy crossed paths in 2006 when Young joined the Padres and Bochy was managing. Young was part of a deal in which the Rangers also sent Terrmel Sledge and Adrián González to San Diego for pitcher Adam Eaton, reliever Akinori Otsuka and catcher Billy Killian.
Young was coming off a 2005 season where he tied the Rangers rookie record for wins (12). With the Padres, he fit right into Bochy’s rotation. Young went 11-5 with a 3.46 ERA in 31 starts. He took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against Pittsburgh in one game and tied his career high of 12 strikeouts against the Rangers.
Young was also 6-0 on the road and won Game 3 of the National League Division Series.
But his time working under Bochy was short-lived. At the end of the season, the Padres allowed Bochy to interview for the Giants job, as new Padres CEO Sandy Alderson — formerly of the Oakland Athletics — wanted to hire a new manager.
Bochy made an impact on Young in that short time. But he said he didn’t play a role in offering his former manager the job.
“It’s one of the things I told Bochy when we offered him the job,” Young said. “I said, ‘I'm not doing this because I loved you when I played for you. I'm doing this because we believe as an organization, you're the right person to lead us into the future.’
“I recognize that I played for him in 2006. That was a long time ago. I have special memories from that time. I've seen what he's gone on to do since then.
“But evaluating what our needs are right now and where we're headed as an organization, that's what this decision was about and Bochy fit every part of our criteria in terms of that, and I'm very, very grateful that he chose us.”
The hiring process seemed informal from the outside. A week after Young formally interviewed interim manager Tony Beasley — the only other candidate — Bochy and Young met in Nashville.
But it wasn’t informal. Young said the team vetted several candidates and then focused on Bochy once it was clear that he was interested.
As for Bochy, he had plenty of questions for Young and team majority owner Ray Davis. What Bochy realized after talking with them was that Texas was the right place for him to take another shot at managing.
“I always said that if I was going to jump back into the fire, it had to be the right fit,” Bochy said.
Bochy agreed to a three-year contract with the Rangers. He is the 20th full-time Rangers manager, but the first to come to Texas having previously led a team to a World Series title.
Bochy has a record of 2,003-2,029 with the Padres (1995-2006) and San Francisco Giants (2007-19). He was the National League Manager of the Year in 1996.
He had his most significant success with the Giants, leading the team to World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014. The 2010 title came at the expense of the Rangers, who were making their first World Series appearance.
After stepping aside as manager of the Giants, he remained with the organization as a special advisor and became the manager of the French national team.
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