Sports DaySports Day Rangers


Columnist: Astros should pull out all the stops to woo Rangers' Nolan Ryan to Houston


New York Mets Yearbook


Exactly what Nolan Ryan makes of the recent title shuffling in the Rangers' front office isn't clear because he hasn't spoken publicly since the announcement was made.

But, as our Kevin Sherrington pointed out, Ryan's options outside Arlington don't seem to be any more inviting. Unless Ryan would be willing to leave Texas, the only other MLB team in the state are the struggling Houston Astros, who won an MLB-low 55 games last year and don't seem to be anywhere close to competing for a World Series.

Still, ESPN's Johnette Howard argues that shouldn't stop the Astros from trying to woo Ryan to Houston.

"Ryan is not a man who shies from confrontation. He is also not a man who is likely to be willingly led out to pasture until he's damn good and ready, as his 27-year playing career attested," Howard wrote. "So the Rangers should have anticipated (or at least been better prepared to spin) that Ryan might be displeased about their announcement Friday that he was still CEO, but that they had split his other title -- team president -- into two parts."

Howard said the Astros should do whatever it takes in their quest to sway Ryan's loyalties, even if it means showing up on his front lawn to flying planes over Dallas with pro-Houston slogans.

"The Astros should at least try to make it a tough decision for Ryan," Howard wrote. "They're a teardown compared to the penthouse level the Rangers are now on after two World Series runner-up finishes and three playoff trips since Ryan arrived in 2008 -- two seasons after Daniels became GM."

But ironically, maybe the biggest advantage the Astros have is the fact that they have nothing to lose. While the Rangers' attempts to keep its young nucleus of front office execs intact may force Ryan further to the periphery, Howard says Houston could basically promise Ryan a prominent -- and consistent -- role.

"Establishing that organizational line of succession is certainly the Rangers' prerogative. And there's nothing wrong with that," Howard wrote. "But the Astros could assure Ryan it would be different with them."

top picks

