There will be a Game 7 tonight. And while that is glorious because of the drama and gut churning on every pitch for fans of both teams, for fans of the Rangers, all we have gotten so far this offseason is punched in the gut.

First, the Rangers Hall of Fame manager wasn’t asked back, replaced with a much less expensive manager who might be a perfectly fine manager, but he hasn’t won four World Series rings.

Then comes news that the greatest pitching coach in the history of the franchise is leaving, once again, to lend his brilliance to the Los Angeles Angels. The Rangers have made it to the World Series three times in their sixty-five seasons as a franchise, included the eleven in Washington before moving to Texas. As the pitching coach, Mike Maddux was the one constant in all three appearances.

This is a team with a history of horrible pitching, a team whose rotation surprisingly led all of baseball with a 3.42 ERA.

He wasn’t fired. In fact, he was asked to return and, according to reports, was even offered other roles. 

He was the Rangers pitching coach from 2009 to 2015. Texas made the playoffs four times in those seven years. He went to Washington. They won the World Series. The Rangers had six losing season after he left. He returned to be Bruce Bochy’s pitching coach, the Rangers winning returned. 

While they didn’t make the playoffs the following two years, it certainly wasn’t because of the pitching. 

The offseason won’t officially start until the last out of the World Series is made tonight. But so far the Rangers have lost their best manager and best pitching coach in team history. And they haven’t even begun dismantling the team.

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