Rangers Interim Manager Tony Beasley Needs to Make 'Impact' to Stick
Tony Beasley will be a candidate for the candidate for the Texas Rangers' managerial job, both team president Jon Daniels and general manager Chris Young confirmed.
The pair talked about the job search on Monday after firing manager Chris Woodward. They both admitted it was unlikely to start in full throttle until after the season concluded. That gives Beasley, who is now the Rangers interim manager, 48 games to impress the pair and make a case for the permanent job.
Looking back, the last two Rangers interim managers did not get the full-time job. Tim Bogar managed the final 22 games of the 2014 season after Ron Washington left. In 2018, Don Wakamatsu managed the final 10 games after the firing of Jeff Banister.
Daniels indicated that whether Beasley gets the permanent job or not won’t be based solely on the team's win-loss record. The Rangers did win Beasley’s debut 2-1 on Monday over Oakland.
“Yes, he is a candidate and I think that his record, in terms of wins and losses, will not necessarily reflect the level to which he is a candidate,” Daniels said. “I think that we're looking for more than that, the impact in the clubhouse and the environment as much as we are on the field.”
Beasley called his promotion on Monday a “bittersweet opportunity.” But it is his opportunity now, the one shot that Beasley has been hoping for his entire career, which saw him play in the minor leagues for nearly a decade, but never get a Major League promotion.
“Everyone that manages in the minor leagues and comes up through a system, we aspire to get an opportunity to manage at the Major League level at some point,” Beasley said.
Beasley spent eight years as a minor-league manager, and a highly successful one at that. In eight seasons in the Pittsburgh and Washington systems, he managed at every level and won more than 600 games. Along the way, he led his teams to six league titles or playoff berths and he was a two-time Baseball America Manager of the Year in the minors.
Beasley said on Monday that he didn’t need to be a Major League manager to validate himself. But as a four-year cancer survivor and a third-base coach that is universally respected in the clubhouse, it’s not hard for the players to root for him, as Rangers starter Glenn Otto said on Monday night.
For now, the Rangers want Beasley focused on building the type of culture and momentum that will help the Rangers be contenders in 2023, which is still the team’s stated goal. That’s part of the reason they made the move on Monday.
“I think we're focused on the present right now,” Daniels said. “We know that Tony is the right person to stabilize us and help us finish strong here. And beyond that, we'll address really the search as it relates to external candidates, you know, after the season.”
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard
Catch up with Inside the Rangers on Facebook and Twitter.
