[MLB.COM] Rangers hire Nolan Ryan as club president

Now how does this affect his ownership of the minor league clubs? Wouldn't that represent a conflict of interest?

 

Will they make him divest ownership? They should.

 

it won't matter, the astros are the rangers of the NL this year.

 

I thought he had a personal services contract with the Astros? Can he really do both jobs?

 

that contract will be terminated.

 

roy oswalt alone is better than any starting pitcher in rangers history.

 

My guess is no, as both parties asked McLane's permission before having discussions.

 

i would take nolan at his best over roy o.

he played long before my time, but fergie jenkins was pretty good. and what about kenny rogers?

 

Ryan-Sanders Baseball are the owners of the Hooks & Express. Nolan's son Reid is the CEO. I doubt that will change, but I'd imagine Nolan will be walled-off from any decision making, or at worst he'll just give whatever interest he has in it to Reid or to some sort of blind trust setup. All Ryan Sanders does is run the business side of the clubs, they have no say in the minor league system, development, etc.... There's not much risk in Nolan "stealing" anything, or divulging any sort of meaningful inside info, but it is a conflict of interest.

BTW...Ryan Sanders would make excellent part/majority owners of the Astros some day. Reid Ryan could be the next President of the Stros whenever Tal retires, that's my guess.

 

nolan ryan at his best happened in anaheim.

 

agree, Roy O is better in an off year than any pitcher the Rangers ever had

 

a little off subject but I was playing golf at River Oaks CC one day (the club Sanders is a member of) and I was in a group behind him and I'm pretty sure Reid Ryan's wife was the blond in that group man I would love to hit that, or atleast see it walking around MMP every night

 

ERA+

Cali: 117
Hou: 115
Tex: 113

Roy's career era+ is 143, btw. Roy has one fewer top-5 Cy Young finish in 7 years than Nolan did in 27 (6-5).

 

Reid Ryan's wife has dark hair.

 

and how about no hitters and strike outs?


nolan didn't lead us to the "promise land" and roy o won't do it either. once you accept that, look at individual achievements.

 

must of been some other girl, dam

 

no hitters and strike outs alone aren't the best criteria to judge a pitcher.

roger has never pitched a no hitter...he's a far better pitcher than nolan ryan.

 

This story first broke up here in Dallas last week. Randy Galloway of the FT. Worth Star-Telegram had Nolan Ryan on his ESPN radio show and they were talking about Tom Hicks offering him the job. At that time, Nolan indicated that he had been in negotiations with Hicks and the Rangers for some time. Here's Jim Reeves' story from today's Star-Telegram:

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/457224.html

Posted on Wed, Feb. 06, 2008
Nolan Ryan is Rangers' new president

By JIM REEVES
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Nolan Ryan is back.
Sources within the Rangers' organization and Ryan's Round Rock Express minor league franchise confirmed this morning that Ryan and team owner Tom Hicks have reached an agreement that will make the former Rangers pitcher and Hall of Famer the club’s new president.

The Rangers have scheduled a 3 p.m. press conference today to make the announcement.

“The whole family is going to be there,” Ryan’s oldest son Reed said from his office in Round Rock. “We want to be there to support him in this.

“I don’t think there was ever any question that the Rangers wanted him back. But you know, dad, he doesn’t do something unless he’s sure he can commit to it totally.”

Ryan himself was flying back from a cattleman’s meeting out of state and was due to arrive at DFW Airport early this afternoon.

Hicks and Ryan had met in Georgetown, along with Tom Hicks Jr. and media relations director Jim Sundberg, for lunch on Jan. 25 to talk about the possibility of Ryan forgoing the final year of his personal services contract with the Houston Astros in order to return to the Rangers’ fold.

Details of the contract were apparently worked out over the last few days.

Hicks and the Rangers had requested permission to talk to Ryan sometime in late November and Astros owner Drayton McLane had agreed, though he later told Houston media that he expected that Ryan would finish his contract with the Astros.

Ryan spent the final five years (1989-1993) of his playing career pitching for the Rangers, reaching such milestones as his 5,000th strikeout, his 300th victory and his record-extending sixth and seventh no-hitters.

He spent 10 years with the club after retiring, fulfilling a personal services contract with the Rangers during which the team used him as an adviser and for personal appearances. Five years after Ryan’s retirement as an active pitcher, he was enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, where his plaque depicts him wearing a Rangers cap.

Since his retirement, Ryan has been part owner and operator of a Triple A franchise at Round Rock and a Double A franchise at Corpus Christi. Both are affiliated with the Astros and have been highly successful operations.

A few years ago he and wife Ruth moved from their longtime home in Alvin to Georgetown, to be closer to the Round Rock team.

His desire to remain closer to home led to his leaving the Rangers at the end of his 10-year personal services contract and he signed a similar, 5-year deal with the Astros.

Ryan’s sons Reid and Reese, both TCU graduates, are highly active in the family’s minor league operations.