Bruce Bochy’s exit as Texas Rangers manager is an ominous storm front

Bruce Bochy and the Texas Rangers announced on Monday evening what has been expected for the past several months when the two parties said they like each other, but not enough to stay together.

Not quite Keith Urban/Nicole Kidman-level split, but a split nonetheless.

While announcing that Bochy’s run as the team’s manager is over, they announced that they have offered the 70-year-old future Hall of Famer a spot with their club as an advisor. Don’t expect him to take it.

He sounds like a man who wants to remain on the bench, and there are openings already with other big league clubs. However this tenure ended, Bochy did what he was hired to do by leading the club to its first ever World Series. The Rangers don’t win that title without Bochy.

On a conference call with the local media on Monday night, Rangers GM Chris Young said, “Boch’ will forever be a legend in Texas Rangers history.”

Forget Texas Rangers history. Bruce Bochy led the Rangers to a World Series title. That makes him an American legend, a baseball hero.

One of the primary reasons why Bochy came out of retirement to manage the Rangers was the recruiting pitch delivered by Young. At the time of the sales pitch, Young could tell Bochy that the club was serious about winning, and the ownership was prepared to spend the money to do it.

“Moneyball” can make a team competitive, but Bochy has been around long enough to know that money wins championships.

The Rangers had signed pitcher Jacob deGrom, and infielders Corey Seager and Marcus Semien in free agency to monster contracts, among other additions.

Now, CY can make no such promises. After finishing the season 81-81 despite the seventh highest payroll in Major League Baseball, Young has been told by his bosses things have to change. The first item of business is to reduce the team’s payroll; this ownership group is tired of spending money.

A man of Bochy’s age is not going to stick around for another season on a team that isn’t good enough to compete for a championship. Bochy knows what is coming, so rather than deal with it he’s done. Expect pitching coach Mike Maddux to leave as well.

“We probably are going to be a little bit of a younger team next year,” Young said Monday night. “There is no doubt about it. There is going to be player development at the big league level.”

That does not mean a total rebuild. It does mean expensive players will be replaced by the younger ones. Cheaper ones. If the team trades Seager, deGrom and Semien, or any combination thereof, it’s a rebuild.

Last week, Young said again that he does not think the Rangers need to tear it all down. He is a firm believer that the size of the DFW market should allow the Rangers to remain competitive every season without deliberate implosions.

Young called it “financial uncertainty.”

“Financial uncertainty” is man speak for “We ain’t spendin’ it.”

Young’s first item of business will be to find a new manager, and his top candidate may already be on his staff. Senior advisor Skip Schumaker, who joined the club in November 2024, was the 2023 National League Manager of the Year with the Miami Marlins.

Anyone who manages the Marlins is familiar with playing young, cheaper players.

Don’t expect the Rangers to become the Texas Marlins, but their days of trying to spend with the Phillies, Cubs and Mets is on a break.

Bruce Bochy’s tenure with the Rangers didn’t end the way either party wanted, but it did include the World Series that this team had never previously won. His reign as the team’s manager was a success, even if it was brief.

Bruce Bochy’s exit as Texas Rangers manager is an ominous storm front | Opinion

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