Wednesday Newsletter time: Texas Rangers coaches can't work with MLB players during lockout, but they're working this week
Manager Chris Woodward has summoned his coaching staff for a planning meeting and some get-to-know-you dinners.
Chris Woodward didn’t completely overhaul his coaching staff coming off a 102-loss season, but two of the changes were in key posts.
Donnie Ecker signed on as bench coach and offensive coordinator after two seasons as San Francisco Giants hitting coach, replacing Don Wakamatsu, and hitting coach Tim Hyers joined after leaving Boston. He replaced Luis Ortiz.
Ecker, in his hybrid role, won’t take on all of the duties of a traditional bench coach, and some of those will fall to first-base coach Corey Ragsdale and catching instructor Bobby Wilson.
So, there were enough changes to prompt Woodward to bring the entire coaching staff together this week. He wants to make sure everyone is up to speed on the changes and any new responsibilities, and to give Ecker and Hyers a chance to get to know the rest of the staff.
“Some guys haven't even met Donnie in person or Tim,” Woodward said last week. “It's getting everybody together, have a couple of dinners with each other, but go through some things like messaging for next year and the vision we have.”
The Rangers still have one opening, an assistant hitting coach to replace Callix Crabbe. They would like to have that filled before Christmas.
Ecker and Hyers were in Arizona last week for a hitting camp with the top prospects in the system. Pitching coach Doug Mathis lives in Peoria, about 15 minutes away from the Rangers’ complex in Surprise, and stopped in on the camp.
Early signing period
Wednesday is a big day in college football, as players begin to sign national letters of intent as part of the early signing period. There is still the traditional National Signing Day in February.
You are likely to see fans from some teams pumping their chests (I’m looking at you, Texas fans) and others just happy to have a class at all (ahem, TCU). For all the boasting, though, no one knows what will come of the recruiting classes other than many recruits will end up in the transfer portal at some point in the future.
These players are still developing. They are teenagers who have never been away from home, who aren’t finished growing, and who have been told how great they are for a number of years.
Some will get homesick. Many will get run over early in practices as they adjust to a new game. They will be grinding between practices and weight lifting and, don’t forget, course work.
Not every signee, even the can’t-miss five-star prospects, is going to be a star.
Gee, that sounds like baseball player development. The Rangers are sitting on their best farm system in years and the best and deepest group of starting pitching prospects they’ve ever had.
The Rangers would be thrilled if three of them, just three, turned into steady, effective big-league rotation members for them. Some might end up in other organizations. Some might fizzle out because of injury, and others might be better as relievers.
That’s just the way it goes.
Now, enjoy the rest of your signing day.
Newsletter reminder
A few people have already done this, and more have said they have plans to do it: Giving the Texas Rangers Newsletter as a Christmas gift.
Giving a gift subscription has many perks for the shopper. You can purchase it without leaving the house, without having to wrap it and without having be in a rush to get it. You could gift it as late as Christmas Day.
The prices haven’t changed since June — $5.99 a month or $60 a year. You can click this link or the button above this note.
FYI: The Newsletter has published new content almost every day of the offseason and lockout, and that’s the plan going forward. A subscription won’t be going to waste.
Doggy video!
A little on the short side but oh so happy. Enjoy. See you Thursday.
