Julio Rangel, Hector Ortiz will not return

Texas Rangers coaches Julio Rangel and Hector Ortiz will not return in 2021, per the beat guys. The team is not renewing the contract of Rangel, who has been the team’s pitching coach since 2019. Ortiz has been offered a role in the organization, but will not be on the major league coaching staff, and is weighing whether to accept the new role.

Rangel, 45, was hired by the Rangers in November, 2018, to be the pitching coach on new manager Chris Woodward’s staff. Rangel had already accepted the bullpen coach job for the Cincinnati Reds, who had just hired as their new manager San Francisco Giants farm director David Bell (who also interviewed with the Rangers for their managerial job). Rangel had been the minor league pitching coordinator for the Giants in 2018, and had spent 2007-17 with the Cleveland Indians.

I don’t really have much of an opinion on this, as I don’t feel like there’s much I can opine upon in regards to the efficacy of a pitching coach, and I’m not sure there’s a ton of difference between various pitching coaches. This isn’t exactly an expected move, but after a season like 2020, it’s not surprising changes would be made. What I’m curious about is whether this is a move made because there’s someone the Rangers have in mind they want to bring in, or if this is an instance where the Rangers feel Rangel wasn’t working and they needed to move on.

As for Ortiz, he’s been in the Rangers system as a coach since 2006, his first year post-playing, and has been on the major league coaching staff since 2015. Ortiz originally was going to be the team’s first base coach and catching coach in 2020, but Corey Ragsdale ultimately took over first base coaching duties.