Jon Daniels was a pioneer for NPB, baseball abroad

 

Daniels (right) observes Shohei Ohtani from Kamagaya.

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The Texas Rangers cleaned house last week as both on-field manager Chris Woodward and General Manager Jon Daniels were let go two days apart on August 16 and 18, respectively. 

The Rangers haven't had a winning season since 2016 and the owner Ray Davis made it very clear they're not good. They recently had a new ballpark open in 2020 and the attendance has been dismal due to poor results. 

They signed three high-priced free agents in Marcus Semien, Corey Seager and Jon Gray hoping it would give them a jolt at competing again.

Daniels used Woodward as his scapegoat and took majority of the questions in the press conference after letting go of his manager. They had a 6-24 record in one run games at the time of Woodward's dismissal.

Davis turned around two days later to let go of Daniels, saying he made this decision long before Woodward was dismissed. 

Despite the recent failures in Texas, Daniels should be commended for his efforts in going to Japan and NPB for players.

This isn't just the time he added You Darvish through the posting system, but even the foreigners who've returned including Colby Lewis, Tony Barnette, Joely Rodriguez, Chris Martin and Anthony Bass. 

Playing baseball in Japan has had a reputation for decades as a destination for either veterans looking for some last paychecks to players who couldn't stay around in MLB. While the latter has truth to it, going to Japan is no longer an insult like it once was.

For a pitcher in particular, it's an opportunity to find ways to improve their game. It's possible Japanese coaches bring another perspective to their game and find any flaws they initially came with to fix. 

Daniels was willing to take a flyer and trust his scouts abroad to sign these players who were initially rejected at the MLB level to bring them back.

Lewis was the biggest success story on being able to return and be a rotational starter for multiple years. After leaving the Hiroshima Carp in 2009, Lewis was a starting pitcher until 2016, when he retired. 

In an era with new information and better resources than before, other teams have picked up on players beyond the stars like Shohei Ohtani and Darvish. 13 years ago, Miles Mikolas would have been an easy free agent signing by Daniels, but due to the information available, the St. Louis Cardinals were able to sign him and he's been good in their rotation pitching in his fifth season away from the Yomiuri Giants.

While not everything pans out like Kohei Arihara, Daniels had an open mind to look across the Pacific for depth. 

Today, his philosophy and ideas still influence San Diego Padres GM A.J. Preller, who worked until Daniels as an assistant GM from 2004-2014. 

Besides Darvish himself, the Padres roster in 2022 has Pierce Johnson and Robert Suarez among former NPB players. He also took a flyer on Kazuhisa Makita in 2018.

When the pursuit for Shohei Ohtani took place, he made a trip to Kamagaya, Chiba, the Fighters farm facility to scout him while he was rehabbing.

It was the most devoted trip to Japan by a Generalanagwr aside from when Seattle Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto was in Sapporo to see an Ohtani outing. Daniels tried to throw everything from saving international money and offering hitting freedom for Ohtani, but came up short as the reigning MVP is on the Angels.

There are plenty of what could have beens if Ohtani and Mikolas were on the Texas Rangers. Maybe they would've competed? However, the Rangers have failed to rebuild since their postseason exit on 2016.   

Daniels hit his expiration date with the Rangers, but the ideas and influence exists today as a bridge to NPB. Everyone should be thankful how much he respects the league for what it is when others saw little to no value aside from the obvious phenoms.

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