Daniels basking in yet another Rangers run

Jon Daniels ultimately is likely to be remembered in baseball as the guy who completely changed the way people think of the Texas Rangers. As legacies go, that’s about as good as it gets in professional sports.

In the 34 seasons before he took over as general manager, the Rangers had been to the postseason just three times and won exactly one playoff game.

Now they make it look routine. This season’s American League West championship is the franchise’s fifth playoff appearance in the last seven years, beginning vs. the Wild Card Game winner in Game 1 of the ALDS (Thursday on TBS, 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 CT). Only the St. Louis Cardinals have been to the postseason as often.

And after all that success, after those back-to-back World Series appearances in 2010-11 and all the rest, this season might be Daniels’ finest hour.

Game Date Time Matchup TV Gm 1 Oct. 6 4:30 p.m. WC @ TEX TBS Gm 2 Oct. 7 1 p.m. WC @ TEX TBS Gm 3 Oct. 9 7:30 p.m. TEX @ WC TBS *Gm 4 Oct. 10 TBD TEX @ WC TBS *Gm 5 Oct. 12 TBD WC @ TEX TBS *- If necessary | All times listed ETShop for postseason gear: Rangers • Complete Postseason coverage

The 2016 Rangers are a testament to his judgment and aggressiveness and to his never-ending search for ways to get better. This season, the Rangers are a near-perfect blend of youth and experience and of homegrown players and those from the outside Daniels and his staff saw as being perfect fits.

This isn’t the team Daniels thought he would have, and it’s significantly different from the one that lost a deciding Game 5 of an American League Division Series against the Toronto Blue Jays last fall.

The Rangers still have third baseman Adrian Beltre, shortstop Elvis Andrus, left-hander Cole Hamels and others, but a lot of the other faces have changed.

Here’s how Daniels did it:

1. He signed free-agent shortstop Ian Desmond at the beginning of Spring Training. At the time, it wasn’t clear where Desmond would fit. …

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