- 4 hours ago
Former Rangers hitting coach and podcast host Bret Boone joined Shan and RJ to break down his time in Texas, why he didn’t return, and what he learned from the experience. He also discussed the team’s offensive struggles, key players heading into 2026, the importance of health, and more.
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00:00Good morning, welcome back, and thank you for being with us for another year.
00:06I don't know, Peyton, what do we do?
00:08Brad, I think you're muted.
00:10Are you muted?
00:10Brad, did you mute yourself?
00:11Oh, here we go.
00:12There we are.
00:14Yes, it's good to be back, guys, in a different capacity, nonetheless.
00:18But, you know, I got a chance last year to spend a lot of time with these guys
00:23that are about to take the field tomorrow night.
00:27And, yeah, it's going to be an interesting season.
00:29Quick winter.
00:30That winter went by quick.
00:33Why is it in a different capacity?
00:35Why aren't you back on the bench starting tomorrow?
00:38You know, at the end of the season, nobody knew what was happening with our skipper, Bochy.
00:44And, you know, right away, I got a call from him the day that I left.
00:49And he said, Booney, I'm going to hang around and I'll talk to you in a few days.
00:53We're going to find out what I'm going to do.
00:56And he called me about four hours later and said, I'm not coming back.
01:01It was some back and forth.
01:02You know, there's definitely nothing but respect on both sides of this thing.
01:06I just got a call and it was, hey, do you want to come back?
01:09What do you want to do?
01:11Bruce is the reason I came back.
01:13That being said, once I got back into it, my juices got flowing and I really enjoyed it.
01:18Loved the Texas organization.
01:20I mean, top to bottom, first class.
01:22Loved the guys, you know, especially my hitters.
01:24And you live and die with those guys.
01:27But just the situation and how it was going to play out, my capacity, the atmosphere around me, it just
01:37didn't work out.
01:38And we talked about staying in the organization as a special assistant.
01:43And just as of now, that just hasn't come to fruition.
01:47But I have nothing but good memories in Texas and nothing but good things to say, like I said, about
01:52the organization, about the guys.
01:55You know, I learned a lot last year because you're in this game and this is all I've done my
02:00whole life from my childhood to present.
02:03And you get to a point, you know, you get a little cocky sometimes and think, well, I've been there
02:07and I've done that.
02:08And I've pretty much seen everything.
02:09And then all of a sudden you throw that uni back on, get in the cages with those guys and
02:13start grinding.
02:14And you realize, man, I didn't know it was like this.
02:18You know, I talked to my coaches the whole season and they were laughing at me because they said, Booney,
02:24we knew you didn't know what you were getting into.
02:27In a good way, in a good way.
02:29But it made me want to go back and personally apologize to every coach that I ever played for thinking
02:36I had no idea what was going on with you inside in that coach's room on a daily basis.
02:43But a great experience.
02:44I want to be back on the field, hopefully in the near future.
02:47But right now it is what it is.
02:49And, hey, I'm going to be with you guys for the for the season and, you know, doing my podcast,
02:55doing a bunch of other things media wise.
02:58So, you know, this this is where we're at right now.
03:00Brett, a lot of the names that we're previewing were names that you had in that second half.
03:07We'll get to the name specifically.
03:09You want to break them down now?
03:10You can.
03:10But why did it never fully click for the offense?
03:15Because that is the major question still with this 2026 team to go along with this staff.
03:20Why didn't it ever fully get going for the offense, in your opinion?
03:25Well, I think, you know, coming in, coming in, they had a rough year.
03:30Won the World Series, had a rough year the following year.
03:33And it kind of continued.
03:35It spilled over into the 25 season.
03:38I look at the talent that's on that team.
03:42We were really banged up last year.
03:44And, you know, at the end of the day, of course, we went 81 and 81.
03:48That was disappointing.
03:49But from an offensive perspective and the offensive side and the guys we had on the field down the stretch,
03:57I was proud as I could be.
03:59I mean, at one point, I think we went 16 and four.
04:01We didn't have a Simeon.
04:02We didn't have a Seager.
04:04Wyatt was in and out.
04:05We didn't have a Garcia.
04:06We lost Evan Carter.
04:08And we're doing all this with some young guys, some Hellmans and some Freemans.
04:12And we're getting it done.
04:15And at the end, you know, if you don't pay attention, you didn't want Seager missed at least two months
04:20last year of the season.
04:21Yeah.
04:22He's an MVP type player.
04:24Jock Peterson had the worst year of his career.
04:26I mean, you add all those things up and I kind of wanted to, you know, you get the critic.
04:33It comes with the it comes with the job.
04:35You get the critique.
04:36And it's like, I don't want to go to the critics at 81 and 81 ago.
04:40Well, look at what we had.
04:42Tell me what you would have done with this situation.
04:44As far as the pitching down the stretch, we had Nathan Evaldi, who was a young candidate all year.
04:49As good as I can imagine it, somebody pitching.
04:53He went down.
04:54We lost him.
04:54We lost Tyler Maley for a huge chunk of the season.
04:58You know, Jacob was in and out of the rotation at times.
05:01So it's not like we had cohesiveness where, hey, we were all we were cocked and ready to go.
05:05Everybody was healthy all year.
05:06We were kind of patching things together as we went.
05:09And in the end, yeah, it was disappointing that last 10 days where we kind of folded the 10 a
05:15little bit.
05:15But that run to keep us in it and have, I think, 10, 12 days out, we were one game
05:20out of the wild card.
05:21We were fired up.
05:22And when it was all said and done, we didn't have enough to kind of finish the deal.
05:27But if you look around and the guys, the pieces we were missing, you know, I'd be, it's not an
05:34excuse at all.
05:35But I'd be silly to think, how did we not finish the deal?
05:38If I'm being honest as a hitting coach.
05:41Brett Boone joining us here, 105 through the fan.
05:43All right.
05:43Health, assuming health, everybody's healthy.
05:45I assume Wyatt is going to be a monster and he's going to take that next step.
05:49I assume Seager is going to play like Corey Seager always has.
05:52So the offense probably comes down to Carter and Young.
05:55Can they take that next step?
05:58Individually, what do those two need to do to be able to get to that level they were at at
06:052023, the next level in their career?
06:07They've got to stay on the field, especially Evan.
06:10Evan, when I first met him, I said, you're a Trey Turner, left-handed Trey Turner skill set.
06:16And part of that was, hey, I want to give this guy, make this guy feel really good.
06:20I'm just meeting him.
06:21But the other side of me really believes it.
06:23I look at, I look at the package he brings and runs and it plays an unbelievable center field.
06:28His legs are going to win games for you, period.
06:30And he can hit and he's got some surprising power.
06:33It's just keeping him on the field.
06:35It seems like little injuries.
06:37He was banged up all year and it was like, where'd Evan go?
06:40Oh, Evan's out today.
06:41So it's, it's a health thing.
06:43I look at, I look at a burger at first base.
06:46He's proven he can be productive.
06:48He did it in Miami.
06:49He came here last year, had the injury late, played through it, had the surgery this off season.
06:54Hopefully is you're getting the burger this year that can hit 30 home runs.
06:58That being said, that ballpark, and I'm, this is a, this is not a, I want, and I went to
07:04the, on the road and I was very astute at checking out my surroundings.
07:09We were playing in a different ballpark than everybody else was last year from an offensive perspective.
07:13And, and I know as a player, I, I, you know, I played a lot of games at Safeco Field
07:18back before they moved the fences in and it's a big ballpark.
07:21And I'll tell you, players can get mentally beat up when the ballpark's playing really big.
07:27Last year, for whatever reason, I'm talking to the veterans of Marcus Simeon, the, they said, Booney, two years ago,
07:33that ball was, that ball's in the back of the bullpen.
07:35And right now they're catching it on the warning track.
07:38So the ballpark, for whatever reason, last year is my first, first time in that stadium played really big.
07:44Cause I remember saying to guys, uh, Garcia, when he'd hit a home run on the road and I, he'd
07:49come to me and he'd go, what a ballpark, you know, cause he was away, he was away from, uh,
07:55from Texas.
07:56But for whatever reason, hopefully it's, it's flying normal again this year.
07:59I don't, I have no idea why it wasn't flying, but it wasn't.
08:03Uh, so that's going to be a factor burger.
08:05It doesn't matter what ballpark he's in.
08:07If he's, if he's, if he's swinging the bat, well, he's got that kind of next level power.
08:12Seager, same thing.
08:13There's not a ballpark.
08:14They can keep Seager in the, in the yard, but for your normal player, uh, when the ballpark gets big,
08:19especially in the gaps in the center field, it becomes a mental thing and it can wear on you as
08:24a, as an offense.
08:25And you start to tweak your swing to fit the ballpark.
08:29That's not, that's not a good thing.
08:31Uh, who else are we talking about?
08:33Josh Young.
08:34He had another up and down season, was injured here and there, just couldn't quite get it going.
08:39You saw signs.
08:40He, we sent him to the minor leagues.
08:42He came back from the minor leagues.
08:43He got hot for about 10 days and then just kind of had a mediocre finish.
08:47He's a, he's a talented guy.
08:49One thing about him and, and a lot of these guys, Corey Seager, for one thing, I always knew he's
08:54an MVP type talent.
08:55I didn't know how good defense he played.
08:57Same with Josh Young.
08:59He doesn't look like the quickest, the most fleet of foot.
09:01But I'll tell you what, you put him at third base, you hit it to him, you're out.
09:04So that was impressive.
09:05Our defense was great last year.
09:07I look for, for young to have a, have a bounce back year and be better.
09:11Uh, how good?
09:12I don't know.
09:13I'm not sure on, on Josh.
09:15I know he's a, a quality big league player, but if we're going to put, you know, label him as
09:20a future all-star, uh, on an annual basis, I don't know if that's fair at this point.
09:25Uh, you got Nimmo coming over Garcia leaving.
09:28Nimmo's a really good player in New York.
09:30Once again, I'm going to see how that ballpark's playing to see if he likes playing here in Texas.
09:34Uh, Josh Smith's going to play second base.
09:37What a, what an elite, talented defender, wherever you put him.
09:42Josh was, we kind of ran him, uh, ragged last year because of the injuries he had to play every
09:47day.
09:47And it seemed like it was a new position and wherever you put him, he was great.
09:51Uh, I look for him to have a good year, but it's good.
09:53The keys for me, why it's going to be, um, like you said, a monster.
09:59Your face lit up when RJ said, why it lit up because I, I just, he's a guy.
10:06And I said it all year when we'd work with him, you'd need to leave white alone.
10:10He's a tinkerer.
10:11He's a, he's a trial and error guy.
10:13He really works on his swing.
10:15He's curious.
10:16He's just a young kid that wants to know he's trying different things all the time.
10:20And that's the bottom line.
10:22That's how you learn how to hit at this level.
10:24You're, you're a big leaguer for a reason.
10:26And you're there.
10:27You're not there to learn how to hit.
10:28It you're, you're supposed to be the finished product.
10:31And as young players, I had to go through it.
10:33You got to learn by failing and you tinker.
10:36And in that, in that cage where nobody else really knows what you're doing, but you finally
10:40find that formula.
10:41I saw the second half last year, Wyatt start to come into his own a little bit.
10:45And I, and I talked to him, I said, Wyatt, see how it's carrying better when you hit the
10:48ball the other way.
10:49That's because of X, Y, and Z.
10:51He knows that.
10:52I think he's going to be a great player.
10:53And by 27, I predicted this last year.
10:56I said, by 2027, he's going to be that guy you're talking about in the MVP.
11:00I think he's going to get better than he was last year, but I think Wyatt's going to get
11:04better, better, and eventually going to be a perennial MVP candidate.
11:08So there's a lot of positive things I look at, but a lot of things have to go right because
11:14they're in a tough division.
11:15All the teams I watched last year, I'd come away from each series and I'd always have
11:19an impression.
11:20Certain teams stood out to me last year.
11:23The Philadelphia Phillies didn't end up coming to fruition, didn't go deep in the postseason.
11:29Who else?
11:30The Brewers, the way they played the game, they had a cohesiveness.
11:34Late in the season, we saw the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto.
11:40Special atmosphere.
11:41That city's on fire for the Blue Jays.
11:43They had something special, a kind of camaraderie, a kind of aura about them that only special
11:50teams have.
11:51And I thought, they're going to be tough in the postseason, the way they're playing.
11:54They believe they're good.
11:55They believe when they take the field, they're going to win.
11:58And the other team was the Seattle Mariners.
12:00And I thought, out of all those teams in the American League last year, when push came to
12:04shove, I thought the Seattle Mariners were the best team in the American League.
12:09And I was surprised they didn't get past the Blue Jays.
12:11I thought they were going to go to the World Series.
12:12They almost did.
12:13But that's going to be a tough division.
12:15You know, Houston's always tough.
12:17But I think this, not only are the Seattle Mariners the class of the West, I think they're
12:22the class of the American League if everything goes right for them and they can stay healthy.
12:25In this day and age, I'm starting to notice, too, health is a big thing.
12:30And that's why the Dodgers have thrived in this generation, because they're so deep.
12:35The Dodgers, when they have an all-star go down, they replace them with an all-star.
12:39They have a deeper roster than everybody else in a day and age where people are on the injured
12:44list quite a bit.
12:45The deeper you are, the bigger advantage you have.
12:48So for all these teams I mentioned, with the exception of the Dodgers, health is a huge
12:53factor to keep your big boys on the field.
12:55Brett Boone here on Sean and RJ, 105.3 The Fan.
12:58What do you know about Skip?
13:00Skip, I had interactions with him throughout the year.
13:03He was a part of the front office, a special assistant last year.
13:06He'd come down.
13:07Quiet, reserved, but Skip seems like a really good guy.
13:11Guys like him.
13:12He was always, you know, a professional when he was in the room, and I got along great with
13:17him.
13:18Don't know him.
13:19Never had any in-depth conversation with Skip Schumacher, but from everything I've heard,
13:24Pipe was his bench coach, I believe, in Miami.
13:27He's going to be his bench coach here.
13:29Nothing but good things.
13:30So, you know, clean slate, moving on kind of from the Bochy era where there was a lot
13:34of success, let's be honest.
13:36But, you know, sometimes that's good for a ball club.
13:39We'll see how it goes.
13:39Is that a silk shirt?
13:41Are those pajamas, or is that a silk button-down?
13:44This is a silk button-down.
13:46Wow, look at that.
13:47For what?
13:48It's 7-15 out there.
13:50Hey, hey, I go from the field now.
13:53I got to be a professional.
13:54I got to look good for you guys.
13:55A year ago, you wake me up on a Wednesday morning.
13:59I couldn't say much, you know?
14:01By the way, I realized a year ago by doing the show, it's one thing doing the show, really
14:06not having a dog in the fight.
14:08When you're the hitting coach and you come on, I want to tell everybody else, you go
14:12do a show.
14:13You got to watch what you say a little bit.
14:15You got to protect your voice.
14:17You're going to the ballpark.
14:18You're going to the ballpark.
14:19You don't know who's listening.
14:20So the critique might be taken out of context, or a buddy might have told him Booney was
14:25on.
14:26You should have seen what he said.
14:27So that's a tough gig.
14:29I still, I love my guys.
14:31I think they're great.
14:32I'm pulling for them.
14:34But I could, you know, I could be a little more honest when I don't have a dog in the
14:37fight.
14:37There you go.
14:37Hey, this was a tremendous start.
14:39Thank you so much.
14:40We're beyond thrilled to have you back.
14:41And we can't wait for this entire season.
14:44Enjoy the start of it.
14:45Thank you, brother.
14:46You got it, guys.
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