Nolan Ryan to remain Texas Rangers’ CEO

All speculation surrounding Nolan Ryan's future with the Texas Rangers came to an end Wednesday evening.

In statements released by both Ryan and Rangers co-chairmen Ray Davis and Bob Simpson, it was announced that the 8-time all-star pitcher and current Rangers CEO will continue in his role going forward.

Reports began surfacing in early March that suggested Ryan's relationship with the organization may be deteriorating after general manager Jon Daniels was promoted to president of baseball operations while holding on to the GM title, and Rick George was named president of business operations while remaining the the club's COO. It's believed Ryan was concerned about losing power in the organization despite holding a higher position and fully intended on walking away. But those concerns have been squashed now and all parties are comfortable continuing on with the partnership.

Here's what Ryan himself had to say via the Rangers' press release:

"After productive discussions the last several weeks with Ray Davis and Bob Simpson about the structure of our organization, together we are moving forward. In my role as CEO, I am focused on working closely with ownership and with Jon Daniels and Rick George to build on the success of the past five years and to bring a championship to Arlington."

Davis and Simpson added:

"We've had meaningful conversations with Nolan Ryan over the past several weeks and are pleased that our focus is now on working together to win a championship for our fans. Over the years Nolan has made extraordinary contributions to the Texas Rangers organization, both on and off the field, including providing valuable guidance to Jon Daniels and Rick George. His leadership as our chief executive - with both baseball and business operations reporting to him - has been vital to our success and offers us a bright future."

Where there's smoke there's fire, but this one was put out fairly quickly. The power structure that has helped mold the Rangers into a consistent championship contender remains in place, and now the focus can go back to where it should have been all spring: reaching the postseason a fourth consecutive season and finally getting over that hump to win the World Series.

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