ARLINGTON, Texas — There is no one perfect formula for building a roster, Texas Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young said Monday, a day after Texas finished a road trip against two clubs that have won with contact, speed, and defense.
Young made the comments on “G-Bag Nation” on 105.3 The Fan.
What the successful teams share, whatever the style, is that they do the little things well and do not beat themselves.
“It’s a great question, because certainly those are two examples of teams that have gone to a style of play and their personnel and constructed their roster in a way that has been very successful. And we certainly are paying attention to that,” Young said. “There are also some other rosters that have constructed their teams in a different manner, with slug and power hitting and maybe not as small ball oriented. And they’ve been equally successful. So what I would get at is there’s not one perfect formula, not one perfect way.”
“What I would say about all those teams independent of the style of play is they do a lot of the little things really well. They don’t beat themselves. They’re very connected teams. They go up with a common approach and a common fight and purpose. They know what’s expected of each player up and down the lineup. And when you have that, it can lead to success,” Young continued. “And so I think that in terms of what we’re looking to do here, this year and moving forward, it is build a winning team. I think having different types of players that are versatile is important. But I think it’s building a team that has a clear identity, knows exactly what’s expected, and then they go and attack it collectively. And I think that’s the important component to winning teams.”
The Milwaukee Brewers are 85-52, the best record in the majors. The Tampa Bay Rays are 82-54 and lead the American League East.
Texas took one of three games in Milwaukee last weekend and one of three at the Chicago White Sox before that. The Rays open a four-game series at Globe Life Field on Thursday.
Chris Young On Batting Average In The Modern Game
Young has had to recalibrate what a modern-day average is and readjust his expectations of what a good hitter looks like.
“I think it’s a beautiful thing for the game. One of the things I love about the game of baseball is that I’ve said this before, I’m 6 feet 10 inches tall, so I take this with a grain of salt, but you don’t have to win the genetic lottery to play the game of baseball, that we come in all shapes and sizes,” Young explained. “And you can be my height, you can be Aaron Judge‘s height, you can be Jose Altuve‘s height. And part of that is there’s different skill sets that this game allows for. And part of that is what we’re seeing with Milwaukee, with Tampa.”
“And to your point, I sometimes have to recalibrate what the modern-day average is and readjust my expectations as to what a good hitter is in today’s game,” Young added. “Because certainly you don’t see, and hitting is harder than ever, which I get, but you just don’t see the averages of what we used to see when I was a kid. So I think that ability to put the ball in play, to use speed, to use defense, it still works. And it is withstanding the test of time. And it’s a fun style of baseball.”
Altuve is listed at 5-6, the shortest active player in the majors.
Young pitched 13 seasons in the big leagues, going 79-67 with a 3.95 ERA over 271 games and 221 starts for the Rangers, the San Diego Padres, the New York Mets, the Seattle Mariners, and the Kansas City Royals. He made the All-Star team in 2007 and won the 2015 World Series with Kansas City. The Dallas native played baseball and basketball at Princeton University and was Ivy League Rookie of the Year in both.
Texas hired Young as general manager on Dec. 4, 2020. He took over the full baseball operations group on Aug. 17, 2022, and was promoted to president of baseball operations in September 2024.
Chris Young On Bunting And Bunt Defense
Bunting went away, and a lot of teams practice bunt defense less than they ever have, Young said.
“For me, there’s two components to that. The first of which is I think a lot of teams practice bunt defense a lot less than they ever have, because bunting did go away. And so you’ve seen some teams, us included at times, we didn’t handle the bunts very well, frankly,” Young said. “It’s something we need to continue to practice and work on, because when you get beat like that, it’s frustrating, because you just need to make a simple play, really. So that’s the first thing is that you’re exploiting maybe a strategy in the game where teams haven’t practiced or aren’t as prepared.”
“The second aspect of that is that to be a really good bunter, you have to practice bunting. And their players do that. They get out and they practice bunting. They’re committed to it,” Young continued. “And it’s impressive to see when you work at something and you practice it and you have a relentless attitude towards something that’s going to make you successful, more often than not, it leads to good results. And that was evident with Milwaukee. We watched their pregame work. We paid very close attention to what they did on field. And they definitely have a committed and concerted effort towards the style of play and the principles and foundational elements that make you successful.”
Through early June, batters had bunted the ball into play or struck out bunting foul in 0.9% of major league plate appearances, a high for the universal designated hitter era and about 25% above the 2025 rate, according to FanGraphs.
Texas ranks 18th in the majors with a .242 team batting average. The Rangers have hit 154 home runs, 17th in the majors.
Texas Rangers Open Homestand Against Athletics
The Rangers went 2-4 on the road trip, winning the opener 11-2 in Chicago and the finale 7-4 in Milwaukee and losing the four games in between. Young evaluated manager Skip Schumaker‘s first season in the same interview.
Texas is 67-70 with 25 games left, second in the American League West and two games behind the Houston Astros.
The Rangers open a three-game series against the Athletics on Monday at 7:05 p.m. CT at Globe Life Field. Jacob deGrom starts for Texas. The game airs on Rangers Sports Network.
