Jon Daniels
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Jon Daniels (born August 24, 1977) is the current general manager (GM) of the U.S. baseball club the Texas Rangers.
[edit] Biography
Daniels grew up in New York City. He graduated from Hunter College High School in 1995 and from Cornell University in 1999 with a degree in Applied Economics and Management. While at Cornell, he was in the Delta Chi fraternity. After graduating, he took a job with Allied Domecq, in the Dunkin' Donuts division, where he worked until 2001.
His baseball career began in 2001, when he landed an internship with the Colorado Rockies. After the baseball season concluded that year, Daniels was informed of an opening in the Rangers organization. He applied and was hired by then GM John Hart as assistant of baseball operations. In July 2004, Grady Fuson left the organization and Daniels was promoted to assistant GM. On October 4, 2005, John Hart announced he was stepping down as GM and the Rangers replaced him with 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 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.
Another move that still upsets many Rangers fans was a trade that Daniels made in December of 2005, sending pitcher Chris Young, oufielder Terrmel 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 and more forseeably bad than the Soriano deal.
Some of Daniels' other move have been more widely received. On the eve of the 2006 season, after losing #2 starter Adam Eaton to injury, Daniels made a three-way deal, sending Juan Dominguez to the Oakland Athletics for John Rheinecker and Freddie Bynum, who he turned and traded to the Chicago Cubs for John Koronka. Koronka and Rheinecker helped shore up the Rangers rotation in April and May, while Dominguez stayed at Oakland's AAA affiliate for the entire year.
