Jon Daniels

Jon Daniels (born August 24, 1977) is an American baseball executive senior advisor for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB).

He recently served as president of baseball operations for the Texas Rangers before being released from the position on August 17, 2022.

When hired at age 28, he was the youngest GM in Major League Baseball at the time.

Daniels was born and raised to a Jewish family in Queens, New York.

He attended Hunter College High School and Cornell University, majored in Applied Economics and Management, and joined the Delta Chi Fraternity.

One of his classmates was A. J. Preller.

After graduating from Cornell in 1999, Daniels went into business development for Allied Domecq.

Daniels' baseball career began in 2001, when he landed an internship with the Colorado Rockies.

After the baseball season concluded that year, Daniels was informed of an opening in the Texas Rangers organization.

He applied and was hired by then general manager John Hart as an assistant in the baseball operations department.

In 2003, he married Robyn Daniels.

The couple resides in Southlake, Texas, with their son, Lincoln, and daughters Harper and Charlotte.

He was promoted to director of baseball operations in October 2003.

In this role, Daniels negotiated multi-year contracts for Michael Young, Hank Blalock, and Francisco Cordero.

In July 2004, Grady Fuson left the organization and Daniels was promoted to assistant general manager.

On October 4, 2005, Hart announced he was stepping down as GM and the Rangers replaced him with Daniels.

At the age of 28 years and 41 days, Daniels became the youngest general manager in Major League Baseball history.

Daniels' first major deal as general manager was trading Alfonso Soriano to the Washington Nationals for Brad Wilkerson, Terrmel Sledge, and Armando Galarraga.

Soriano hit 46 homers and went on to steal 41 bases the next season and Wilkerson played most of the season injured and ended with a .222 batting average.

On the other hand, trading Soriano opened up a spot for rookie Ian Kinsler and freed up money that would have been spent on Soriano's salary to be more flexible in offering Kevin Millwood a large contract.

A trade made in December of 2005, sent pitcher Chris Young, outfielder Sledge and first baseman Adrián González to the San Diego Padres for pitchers Adam Eaton and Akinori Otsuka, and catcher Billy Killian.

While Otsuka filled a valuable role as the Rangers closer, the oft-injured Eaton only pitched 65 innings with an ERA of 5.12.

Dallas-native Chris Young pitched 180 innings for the Padres, racking up 164 K's and posting an ERA of 3.46.

Adrián González (considered a prized prospect) batted .304 for the Padres while hitting 24 home runs.

This is generally considered the worst move of Daniels' career.

Some of Daniels' other moves have been better received.

On the eve of the 2006 season, after losing #2 starter Eaton to injury, Daniels made a three-way deal, sending Juan Dominguez to the Oakland Athletics for John Rheinecker and Freddie Bynum, the latter of which he turned and traded to the Chicago Cubs for John Koronka.

Koronka and Rheinecker helped shore up the Rangers rotation in April and May, while Dominguez stayed at Oakland's AAA affiliate for the entire year.

Another trade Daniels made was sending Laynce Nix, Kevin Mench, and Francisco Cordero to the Milwaukee Brewers for minor leaguer Nelson Cruz, and All-star left fielder Carlos Lee.

The trade was completed just before the trade deadline of the 2006 season.

Lee was the most sought after trade target during the season and provided the Rangers with a strong bat in the middle of the lineup.

In late December 2006, Daniels collaborated with White Sox general manager Kenny Williams, engineering a trade in which the Rangers acquired Brandon McCarthy in exchange for John Danks.

Lee then signed a $100 million free agent contract with the Houston Astros, giving the Rangers the #17 and #35 draft picks in 2007 (Blake Beavan and Julio Borbon, respectively) as compensation.

The Rangers committed fully to a rebuilding program during 2007, one that would directly lead to the team's unparalleled playoff success several years later.

On July 31, 2007, Daniels made two career-defining trades, one with the Atlanta Braves, the other with Boston Red Sox.

Daniels first agreed with Atlanta Braves General Manager John Schuerholz to trade coveted slugger Mark Teixeira and relief pitcher Ron Mahay for catching prospect Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

The Rangers were also able to obtain four minor leaguers in the trade.

Cruz emerged as a power-hitting All-Star in the 2009 season for the Rangers, and became a mainstay in the lineup during the World Series years.

The first of these prospects, left-hander Matt Harrison, emerged as a starter in the 2009 Ranger rotation.

The second of these prospects acquired from the Braves, Elvis Andrus, was widely hailed as an elite young shortstop.