The Rangers announced on Friday that they had hired three-time World Series winner Bruce Bochy as the club’s new manager after agreeing to a three-year contract covering the 2023-25 seasons.
“In his 25 years with San Diego and San Francisco, Bruce was one of the most successful and respected managers in Major League Baseball,” Chris Young, the Rangers’ executive vice president and GM, reported in a press release. “With a calm and steady presence, he has a remarkable ability to connect and communicate with players, coaches, and staff, and his teams have always played with maximum effort. His knowledge of the game, as well as his integrity, is unmatched.”
Young said Bochy’s passion and excitement about returning to an MLB dugout were evident, and it became clear that Bochy is the right manager to lead Texas as they try and build a championship ballclub in Arlington.
Bochy is the club’s 20th full-time manager and the first to win a World Series with another team. He is the first Texas manager with MLB experience since Buck Showalter in 2002.
Bochy will be in charge for the first time since the 2019 season. In September, he managed Team France in a World Baseball Classic qualifier in Germany.
“Over the last several days, I’ve had extensive conversations with Chris Young and other individuals in the organization, and I had the chance to meet with [owner] Ray Davis,” said Bochy. “Their vision and commitment to putting together a club that can contend and win year in and year out is impressive, and I became convinced I wanted to be a part of that.”
The Rangers defeated the Yankees 4-2 in the final game of the season to finish a mediocre season at 68-94, better than the 102 losses in 2021, but not by much.
The Rangers headed into the off-season in need of a new full-time manager and more starting pitching, as last season’s ace Martin Perez is a free agent, The Dallas Express reported.
After a decent first half last year, Texas was 41-49, 10th in the AL, and six games out of wild-card contention.
A second-half collapse saw Texas finish fifth in the AL West, 38 games behind Houston (106-56), 18 games out of the wild card, earning the worst second-half record (27-45) in the AL.
Texas free agents Marcus Semien and Corey Seager delivered in the 2022 season, and run production was not the Rangers’ major problem last year.
Seager had a career-best 33 home runs, and Semien was nominated for another Gold Glove award at second while also leading the Rangers in the leadoff spot offensively.
Adolis Perez led the team in RBI with 101, and Nathaniel Lowe batted .302 with 27 homers and 76 RBI.
Late-season callups Bubba Thompson and Josh Jung had several final-week highlights as well.
“If I was going to return to managing, it had to be the right situation,” Bochy said of the Ranger’s gig. “I strongly believe that to be the case with the Rangers, and I can’t wait to get started.”
The 67-year-old played for Houston (1978-80), New York-NL (1982), and San Diego (1983-87), hitting .239 with 26 homers and 93 RBI in 358 games, according to the press release. Bochy also played for Dick Williams in the 1984 World Series for the Padres.
Bochy is one of 10 MLB managers to win at least three World Series titles, and the other nine have all been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, according to the Rangers.
Bochy’s Giants won the World Series in 2010 (vs. Texas), 2012 (vs. Detroit), and 2014 (vs. Kansas City). He is one of five MLB managers to win three titles in five years, joining Connie Mack, Joe McCarthy, Casey Stengel, and Joe Torre.
Bochy is 12th in Major League history with 2003 managerial wins and needs 38 more to reach the top 10. He has managed in the MLB for 25 years, the 10th-most ever.
