Arlington, Texas – According to the press release, The Texas Rangers today hired former Major League player Ian Kinsler as a Special Assistant to the the General Manager Chris Young. The former Rangers second baseman will assist CY in many of the day to day things that happen.
Kinsler, who was inducted into the Texas Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame on August 13, 2022, is one of 26 members to be honored. He holds multiple offensive records for a Rangers’ second baseman and batted .273 with 156 home runs and 539 RBI over 1,066 games with Texas from 2006-2013.After retiring in 2019, he has spent the past three seasons (2020-22) with the San Diego Padres front office as Special Assistant, Baseball Operations & Player Development. Kinsler will manage Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic in March. Israel will compete in Pool D with first round games beginning on March 11 at loanDepot park in Miami.
He is one of just 13 players and two second basemen in Major League history with 30 homers and 30 steals each in multiple seasons, accomplishing that feat in both 2009 and 2011. Kinsler holds club records for most games started (662) and home runs (109) when hitting first in the batting order, including a team mark of 29 homers when leading off the first inning.
He ranks second to Elvis Andrus on the club’s all-time list in stolen bases (172), is sixth in runs (748), places seventh in extra base hits (428) and walks (462), and is eighth in home runs (156-tied), doubles (249), total bases (1,908), and multi-hit games (335). He also scored more than 100 runs in four different seasons, tying Michael Young for the club record.
Kinsler was either a fan favorite or someone that everyone loved to hate for his ability to pop up any ball into the air. Some fans think that is all he did, but he was much better than that. Along with all the records he holds for Texas, Ian was also a team leader in the clubhouse. He was mad when he was traded because he wanted to stay and it was handled badly at the time.
He is still one of the greatest Rangers of all time in my opinion and I am glad to see that he is now back with the organization as a special assistant. Welcome back Ian!
