Nick Hundley, a former Major League catcher, was hired as a special assistant to the general manager by the Texas Rangers on February 7.
Hundley, 38, has been the senior director of baseball operations for Major League Baseball since early 2020, MLB.com reports.
Before joining the front office, Nick Hundley had a 12-year MLB career with the San Diego Padres (2008-14), Baltimore Orioles (2014), Colorado Rockies (2015-16), San Francisco Giants (2017-18), and Oakland Athletics (2019).
The Seattle native and Padres second-round pick out of the University of Arizona batted .247 with 93 home runs in 3,097 at-bats, played nearly 1,000 big league games, and appeared in at least 58 games a year for 11 years to start his career.
Hundley played his final Major League game for the Athletics against the Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington on June 8, 2019. He also played with current Rangers general manager Chris Young for the first three seasons of his career in San Diego, giving him another tie to the Rangers. The two also collaborated in the MLB front office in 2020.
In addition to Nick Hundley’s hiring, the Rangers announced the signing of outfielder Joe McCarthy to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League spring training. McCarthy played for the San Francisco Giants in 2020, going 0-for-10 with five strikeouts at the plate.
These changes to the Rangers’ organization occur amidst the lockout that threatens to delay spring training and the start of the 2021 regular season.
On February 8, just days before the regular start of spring training, The Athletic reported United States Labor Secretary Marty Walsh has now offered his assistance to help end the labor disputes between the league’s players and owners.
The Associated Press (AP) reported on February 8 that due to the expiration of the sport’s drug agreement between management and the players’ association, testing for steroids in the MLB stopped for the first time in nearly 20 years.
“It should be a major concern to all those who value fair play,” Travis Tygart of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency told the AP.
According to the Associated Press, the MLB and the union declined to comment on the halt.