The 2022 Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame inductee was named special assistant to general manager Chris Young.
The Texas Rangers made a Monday announcement. The club’s press release:
Texas has hired former Major League player Ian Kinsler as special assistant to the GM. The former Rangers second baseman will assist GM Chris Young in many facets of baseball operations.
Kinsler was inducted into the Texas Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame on August 13, 2022, one of 26 members to be honored. He retired as a player after the end of the 2019 campaign and 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 in Miami.
Kinsler 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. 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 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 also scored more than 100 runs in four different seasons, tying Michael Young for the club record.
Kinsler also excelled in the postseason for the Rangers, setting career team marks with a .311 batting average and .422 on-base percentage in 34 games with Texas. He has the only six-hit cycle in a nine-inning game since 1900, tying overall team marks for hits (6) and runs (5) on April 15, 2009 vs. Baltimore. A three-time A.L. Star as a Ranger (2008-10-12), Kinsler was the team’s 2006 Rookie of the Year.
Overall, Kinsler finished his Major League career with a .269 batting average, 257 homers, 909 RBI, and 243 stolen bases in 1,888 games with the Rangers (2006-13), Tigers (2014-17), Angels (2018), Red Sox (2018), and Padres (2019). He played for Israel in the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing last year and for Team USA in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
As for the club, pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training to the team’s facility in Surprise, Ariz., on Feb. 15, with position players to follow by Feb. 20.
The Spring Training game schedule starts on Feb. 24 with a game against Kansas City at the Surprise complex shared with the Royals.
The Rangers wrap up their exhibition season with a pair of games at Globe Life Field against the Royals on March 27 and 28. The Rangers open up the regular season at home against Philadelphia on March 30.
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