Added quotes from my Chris Young profile for D CEO.

Editors are necessary. And sometimes really cool, too.

Mar 25, 2025

I was asked this offseason by D Magazine if I would write a profile on Rangers President of Baseball Operations Chris Young, specifically for publication in the “City of Champions” special edition of its D CEO business magazine.

An exceptionally easy “yes.”

It was my enthusiasm, or lack of experience writing magazine features, or both, that led me to build a list of people to talk to for the story that was probably too long. But it was absolutely worth it. I visited with some folks I’ve known a long time, others I’d never met. And every one of them delivered.

So much so, that I turned in a draft of the story that I knew was too long. I feared the surgery my editors were going to perform on the draft, because I’d already taken out what I felt was below the fold in terms of what was necessary and purposeful to the heart and vibe of the story. Thankfully, Ben Swanger and Mike Piellucci masterfully sculpted things, getting the feature down to a manageable length without turning it into something I barely recognized. Not surprisingly, they made the story leaner. More cohesive. Better.

They did another really cool thing. Though the issue has been available to purchase for weeks now (and I highly recommend it — tons of great content), the stories have been released intermittently online for free reading. Mine was published yesterday.

Even with that, Ben and Mike have allowed me to share with you contents of the story that were cut from the original draft.

I’m limiting this to quotes from people I interviewed for the piece, as opposed to chunks of my own writing. They all gave me meaningful time and I’m happy to be able to share some of their money comments that ended up on the cutting room floor.

I’m grateful to all of them — and to D Magazine for letting me do this.

Young’s time at Highland Park High School:

Young starred in two sports at Highland Park High School, helping lead the basketball team to the state finals in the spring of his senior year and the baseball team one step further, recording a complete-game win in the state championship game three months later. It wasn’t just based on talent that, even though the seasons overlapped and the baseball schedule started without him, Young was the captain of both squads.

“Ultimately, that’s just respect from your peers and teammates,” said William Cervin, who was Young’s catcher at Highland Park.

“We all looked to Chris for his steady demeanor and his willingness to put in the work, as well as the je ne sais quois that came from his skill and stature,” said Cervin. “We were good athletes, so he didn’t have to shoulder the team on his own. But he could have, and that makes a ton of difference through the tough stretches. Chris was the leader we all aspired to be, the source of inspiration for our success. We had a collective, ‘We can do this,’ attitude. It was enabled by Chris.”

In [Ryan] Cotton’s second summer with the [Dallas] Mustangs [select baseball program], following Young’s junior season at Highland Park, [Mustangs head coach Sam] Carpenter had brought Young on board. Before long, the legendary coach saw something unique in his new pitcher besides his physical presence. “He was an extraordinarily focused teammate,” said Carpenter, whose Dallas teams were in the midst of a run reaching the Connie Mack World Series in Farmington, New Mexico 13 years out of 14.

“And the best leaders are great teammates.”

Cotton, a year ahead of Young in school, recognized the same thing. “Chris was that perfect combination of obvious extraordinary talent mixed with genuine leadership,” said Cotton, now the global head of Bain Capital Real Estate. “Character leadership. Team leadership. A kind of inspirational strength.”

During that first conversation he had with [Princeton head baseball coach and longtime major league catcher Scott] Bradley, Cotton could tell the Princeton coach was wired like Carpenter in terms of the type of players he wanted to build his program with. “Great talent, of course—but not just the best available athlete on the board,” Cotton said. “Also great people and great leaders. Culture carriers. People who think there’s a bigger why and who can inspire those sorts of things. That fusion was the magic . . . the one-and-one equals three.”

Cotton had just the player to recommend.

“I told him there’s this guy, Chris Young, who’s one of us,” Cotton said. “He’s an amazing talent—differential for the Ivy League, for sure—plus, he’s a real leader. And he’s got the intellectual horsepower to thrive here at Princeton. We’ve got to go get this guy.”

Young’s time at Princeton University:

The basketball season came first, and Young was immediately making an impact. The Tigers had reached the NCAA Tournament three straight years from 1996 until 1998, but had sent center Steve Goodrich to the NBA and were expecting the 1998-99 season to be a retooling campaign. So, at least, thought team captain Brian Earl, who’d been an integral part of those three March Madness squads.

“We were just trying to figure out how to go from a top-25 team to . . . whatever we were going to be,” said Earl, a former Ivy League Coach of the Year while at Cornell and now the head coach at William & Mary. “We were sort of scrambling to fill some huge voids. But Chris stepped up pretty early.”

Earl doesn’t remember Young being especially vocal in team huddles, but he had a presence that his teammates began feeding off of. “He just was able to handle the moment better than pretty much anybody at that age,” Earl said. “It was clear pretty quickly that he was unflappable.”

And he was a force on the court.

After the Tigers had gone 22-7, 24-4, and 27-2 the previous three seasons, they took a 5-4 record into the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu in late December of 1998, in the middle of Young’s freshman year. The underdog Tigers swept Florida State, the University of Texas, and UNC Charlotte to win the tournament. Young was instrumental in all three wins, none more so than the final, when he poured in 16 points and added six assists and five rebounds—and calmly drained two free throws with 25 seconds left and the game tied.

Earl was named to the All-Tournament team, shortly after which he found Young’s mother and father in the stands—and tried to give his All-Tournament trophy to Mr. Young. “I told him he deserved that trophy, because Chris was our most valuable player those three days,” Earl said. “I don’t think he scored the most, but you could tell he sort of shored everything up. He was able to just plug himself in and make a difference. Such a mature kid, with so much pressure on him, to be able to step up in that moment.”

The baseball team was set in mid-March to open its season by traveling to the University of Miami, who would go on to win the NCAA title that year. Because basketball was still going on, Young hadn’t been around the baseball team much. But he insisted on throwing a bullpen the day before the basketball team’s first NIT game. Bradley tried talking him out of it.

“Chris looked at me and said, ‘Coach, I want to win this basketball tournament, of course, I would like to advance,’” Bradley said. “‘But just in case we don’t win this first game, I need to pitch a couple innings against Miami. I need to test myself against them. They’re top five in the country. I need to see how I stack up.”

The Tigers won the basketball game, and so Young couldn’t make the trip to Miami. “But you could just see the purpose in his bullpen,” Bradley said.

Young’s time as a pitcher in pro ball:

The [NBA’s Sacramento] Kings met with Young in July, while his Triple-A Oklahoma club was in Sacramento for a series. He was planning to lace his high-tops back up and go to camp with the Kings in September. But then he went on a tear and earned his major-league debut in August, making seven starts for the Rangers in what was their first true pennant race since the late ’90s. He was the first Princeton player to appear in the big leagues in 23 years.

And he was, once and for all, no longer a basketball player. (“I have no regrets,” Young said, “but I do wish I could have played out the hoops path to see where it would have led . . . had I chosen hoops, though, I would have always wondered what could have been in baseball.”) As soon as the season ended, the Rangers signed Young to a three-year, $1.5 million contract with a club option for a fourth year.

Jon Daniels was the team’s Assistant General Manager at the time. “I didn’t know what to make of him necessarily, aside from us being around the same age and both educated in the Ivy League,” Young said. “And then he traded me.”

Young’s time as a Rangers executive:

Young joined the Rangers in December of 2020.

“By that time, there were opportunities on the club side, which I didn’t think I was ready for—except for one unique situation, which was with the Rangers and specifically Jon Daniels, who’s a very close friend,” Young said. “I felt between the opportunity to come learn under somebody I respected immensely in JD, and then help my hometown team, the team I grew up rooting for, to help them win their first World Series, to me there was nothing that could be more fulfilling professionally.”

“[JD] only cared about others, and his ability to pour into relationships and care about others and invest in other people, with a patience doing so, it’s really remarkable. It wasn’t a strength of mine. I step back at times and have to challenge myself to say I need to spend more time doing some of the things that JD did in terms of investing in others, because he had a remarkable way of making everybody feel unique and special.”

It’s become a hallmark objective for Young: winning championships, yes, but also developing championship people. “I’ve had the opportunity to realize my dreams within the game. I’ve won two championships and I got to be a player. I want all of our people have the opportunity to accomplish their own dreams. We want to develop our people to go on and be successful leaders—hopefully within baseball, but if not baseball then with whatever path they choose. In some way, for the Texas Rangers to set them up for success. To me, it comes back to hiring good people and investing in them, believing in them. I want us to be known for our culture.”

For Young, Daniels joined a long list of role models and teammates who have invested in his own growth. “We’re all shaped by our own experiences and the people we’ve been around,” Young said. “I’ve just had such good fortune to be surrounded by so many great people and exposure to all of them. I would be stupid not to learn from all of them.”

Deflecting praise is more than just a modesty for Young. “I've been a part of teams my entire life,” he said. “Being part of a team and depending on my teammates. Understanding my job is to empower them to be great at what they do and to give them direction. To hold them accountable. To ask tough questions, but also to hear their opinions and to synthesize those, so collectively we can make the best decisions possible. I rely on them immensely.”

“Even in the business environment, we’ve all been around really, really smart people, which Chris is,” said Cervin, founder and Managing Member of Dallas’s Herodotus Holdings. “But we’ve also all been around very talented individuals who don’t carry that ability Chris has—not to drag you along, but to put his arm around you and bring you along.”

“Chris was always mature for his age,” Cotton said. “He knew he was bound for success, I think, and he was really humble about that. There were people we played against with exceptional immaturity, like, I’m a bad-ass, get out of my way—and Chris was always the opposite side of that. Like, I’m very comfortable about my talent, and I don't need reassurance. I don’t need to tell you how good I am, therefore I can invest in you and I can help you feel better about yourself and your talent.”

All of it informed Young’s leadership style. “I never want to think that I’m the smartest person or have all the answers—in fact, I don't in most cases—but I want to lead with humility and empathy for others,” he said. “But also a confidence that we're going to we’re going to be successful collectively if we do it the right way.”

Daniels and [Rangers GM Ross] Fenstermaker have both experienced the unique brand of competitiveness in the former player. “We’re different in how we process and respond to things,” Daniels said. “I’m more reserved. My competitiveness churns internally; I can’t turn my mind off. He wears it much more openly. I think some of the group had to adjust to that. You’ve got one dude that’s small and relatively quiet, and then the 6’10 guy who is not.”

“First off, it’s hard to work in this game if you don’t just love to compete,” Fenstermaker said. “That said, there is a different level of attention to detail and intensity with CY that I’ve come to appreciate so much. It’s easy to feed off that. Because of his standards, we’ve all elevated our game.

“He’s the type of teammate who challenges you to be your very best, but is also there to support you at each stop along the way. He’s thoughtful, inquisitive, and collaborative. He empowers us to excel in our roles. The culture of baseball inherently involves failure, yet having a teammate like CY—who acknowledges and supports those experiences as opportunities for growth—is invaluable.”

On the field, the goal is keenly in focus. As Young learned from Torre, winning a single title is not enough. Stringing successes together is what distinguishes the great organizations.

“The challenges are the same,” said Young, now with one World Series trophy on display in Arlington. “We’re going to build a winning culture. We’re going to choose the right people. We’re going to give ourselves the opportunity to win championships. That comes down to making one good decision after the next, and creating an environment for these players and staff to thrive.

“We have to find a way to keep that edge and rebuild, retool, and come back and be able to do it the next year. That’s what the most successful organizations have done in sports, and that’s what I strive for us to do over time.”