Petition to fire Texas Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels

This is an official petition to fire Texas Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels.

On October 4, 2005, John Hart announced he was stepping down as GM of the Texas Rangers and the Rangers replaced him with Jon Daniels. At the age of 28 years and 41 days, Jon Daniels became the youngest GM in baseball history.

Daniels' first major deal as general manager was trading Alfonso Soriano to the Washington Nationals for Brad Wilkerson, Terrmel Sledge, and Armando Galarraga, a move that perplexed many Rangers fans in the DFW area at the time. The move had many pros and cons. Soriano hit 46 homers and went on to steal 41 bases the next season and Wilkerson played most of the season injured and ended with a .222 batting average. On the other hand, trading Soriano opened up a spot for rookie Ian Kinsler and freed up money that would have been spent on Soriano's salary to be more flexible in offering Kevin Millwood a large contract. Still, Millwood's subsequent performance has been unspectacular, and Kinsler's position could have been opened up just as easily by moving Soriano to the outfield, where he went on to play anyway with tremendous success with the Chicago Cubs. The only plausible benefit from the Soriano deal has been a reduction of player payroll, which has accrued only to team owner Tom Hicks while furthering the dearth of championship baseball in Arlington. That the team received no players of lasting note in return for Soriano is indicative of poor personnel management and questionable faith with fans given that season tickets were marketed with Soriano on the roster. This is considered one of the worst moves in Rangers franchise as no less than two years after trading away the All-Star Soriano, the Rangers have nothing to show for it and where still paying over $12 mill a year to the Yankees for Alex Rodriguez.

Another move that still upsets many Rangers fans was a trade that Daniels made in December of 2005, sending pitcher Chris Young, oufielder Sledge and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to the San Diego Padres for pitchers Adam Eaton and Akinori Otsuka, and catcher Billy Killian. While Otsuka filled a valuable role as the Rangers closer, the oft-injured Eaton only pitched 65 innings with an ERA of 5.12. Dallas-native Chris Young pitched 180 innings for the Padres, racking up 164 K's and posting an ERA of 3.46. Adrian Gonzalez (considered a prized prospect) batted .304 for the Padres while hitting 24 home runs. Many Rangers fans consider this deal even worse than the Soriano deal.

In late December, 2006, Daniels collaborated with White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams, engineering a trade that caught many within baseball's inner circles off guard. The Rangers acquired young starter Brandon McCarthy in exchange for the even younger John Danks. This trade turned out to be a disaster on all fronts as Danks has emerged as the best player in the White Sox rotation and McCarthy has been extremely ineffective and injured.

Another trade Daniels made was sending Laynce Nix, Kevin Mench, and Francisco Cordero to the Milwaukee Brewers for minor leaguer Nelson Cruz, and All-star left fielder Carlos Lee. The trade was completed just before the trade deadline of the 2006 season. Lee was the most sought after trade target during the season and was supposed to provide the Rangers with a strong bat in the middle of the lineup. Lee was only in a Ranger uniform for a couple of months before the season ended, and did not live up to the high expectations of Rangers fans. Lee then signed a $100 million free agent contract with the Houston Astros. Cordero became an All-Star closer for the Brewers the following year, and again, the Rangers were left with nothing in return.

Before the 2008 Season, Daniels traded the 2nd member of what was once dubbed the "DVD trio," sending Edison Volquez to the Reds for Outfielder Josh Hamilton. This trade has received mixed reviews among baseball fans as both Volquez and Hamilton were both voted in as starters in the 2008 MLB All-Star Game. However, The Rangers lack dominant pitching and already had a powerful lineup. Luckily, Hamilton has performed above expectations as Volquez has become the favorite for the Cy Young in the NL and the most dominate pitcher in that league.

There have been many up's and downs with many many more downs for the young Rangers GM. His mistakes are beyond repair and it is time to move on and cut our losses. Daniels must be removed immediately as GM of the Texas Rangers. Sign the petition below and when enough signatures have been received this will be forwarded to the Texas Rangers organization. It is time for the fans to step up and not sit back and watch an unexperienced general manager doom this franchise for decades to come.