Rangers fire Chris Woodward after more than 3 seasons as manager

The Texas Rangers made major splashes in the offseason signing Corey Seager and Marcus Semien to bolster the offense and make a run for an American League West title.

But through 114 games in 2022 with a $142 million opening-day payroll, the Rangers are 51-63 and in third place in the division behind the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners and firmly out of the wild-card race as of Monday.

And so, a change was made.

Texas fired Chris Woodward as its manager.

“Chris Young and I had the very difficult task of informing Chris Woodward of our decision today,” Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels said in a statement. “In his tenure as Rangers’ manager, Chris worked tirelessly under what was at times some difficult circumstances. He has been dedicated and passionate in his efforts to improve the on-field performance of the Texas Rangers, and it is greatly appreciated. He has represented the organization with class and dignity.”

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Third-base coach Tony Beasley was named the interim manager for the rest of the season.

Woodward was in his fourth season with the Rangers. He replaced Jeff Banister, who led the team to their last playoff appearance in 2016.

Woodward, a former major league infielder, took the job after a few seasons on the staff of the Mariners and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was 211-287 with the Rangers and never made the playoffs.