September 30, 2014
Just like old times...
Listening to Royals vs. A's. It's remarkable how similar Ned Yost is to Ron Washington.
Incidentally, Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels dropped what probably could be considered a bombshell on ESPN, where he mentioned that Washington's resignation would probably be a benefit to the team going forward. Of course, he could be referring to all sorts of things.
Well, better late than never.
Incidentally, Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels dropped what probably could be considered a bombshell on ESPN, where he mentioned that Washington's resignation would probably be a benefit to the team going forward. Of course, he could be referring to all sorts of things.
". . . having seen the last few weeks, having seen the change in the energy and atmosphere, I do think it had an impact. Tim [Bogar] should certainly get some credit for that, but sometimes I do think that a change is beneficial. I told Wash this and I’ve told you guys this before, I was hoping he’d be the only manager I ever hired. I was hoping it would be an even longer-term partnership, it was already eight years which is a long time in today’s game. So I was not going to make the move this winter. Since it was effectively made for us, I can look back now with some perspective and say ultimately, it may be for the best."
Daniels is referring to the level of play enjoyed by the Rangers following Washington's resignation. Small sample size, correlation does not equal causation, so on and so forth...but it seemed pretty obvious that the guys were playing with a different attitude. There's also a bit of an implication in the statement that firing Washington was on the table, just not this year. And further the implication that in hindsight, Ron probably needed to go.
Well, better late than never.
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September 23, 2014
Olbermann on Jeter
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...and back to the tragedy...
One of the few cat-calls of the involved Rangers fan over the past few years has been the phrase "Top baseball prospect Jurickson Profar". Profar was expected to be a middle-infield talent at least equivalent to Elvis Andrus in value, with the same quickness, reach and instincts; more power and less speed. After a disappointing 2013, Profar was shut down with a torn muscle in his shoulder. Expected to be the starting second baseman in 2014, Profar re-injured the shoulder in Spring Training and has spent the entire year on the disabled list. Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels announced today that Profar's shoulder still is not healed, and the young infielder will be off the roster for a further three months. Profar is still quite young, but after missing a year and a half of pro ball you have to wonder how long it will take to get him back up to speed next year.
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September 22, 2014
Tragedy averted...
After sweeping the Braves and Athletics, the Rangers took two out of three from Los Angeles and have now won the first game against Houston. With 93 losses and six games left to play, it's now mathematically impossible for the Rangers to lose 100 games. As manager of the Texas Rangers, Tim Bogar now has a 10 - 6 record and a .625 winning percentage.
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09:24 PM
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September 19, 2014
Top of the first against one of the best teams in baseball...
...and Texas is up 3 - 0.
I would get smug but L.A. has a great offense and I don't think Lisalverto Bonilla will be able to keep it in check.
Still...good grief, Rangers.
I would get smug but L.A. has a great offense and I don't think Lisalverto Bonilla will be able to keep it in check.
Still...good grief, Rangers.
UPDATE: They ended up winning 12 - 3.
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September 18, 2014
Huh...
60-92 - Rangers win season high sixth straight, sweep A's...
I picked the Rangers to lose 102 or 103 games one week ago, based on a simple mathematical projection. This six game streak has already modified the math to 99 losses, with an outside chance of 98. Oh, and I listened to the game today, and they *still* won. That's, like, the second time this year.
Le roi est mort, vive le roi!
Le roi est mort, vive le roi!
Long live the Tim Bogar Rangers.
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September 14, 2014
What the hell, Rangers?
57-92 - Hahahahaha National League baseball: Rangers sweep Braves
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September 10, 2014
I'm not grinning now...
It is now being reported that sexual assault allegations have been made against Ron Washington, and this is the reason for his resignation. This is on par with the worst possible news regarding the resignation, and really is completely unexpected.
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September 05, 2014
Half of my face is grinning and the other is crying...
Ron Washington has resigned as Manager of the Texas Rangers.
The resignation, according to the Rangers and Washington, has nothing to do with the Rangers' losing season following two World Series appearances followed by a Wild Card appearance followed by a play-in game. The resignation doesn't even have anything to do with baseball. It is because of an important personal issue that Washington feels he has to devote himself to entirely. However, it's not drugs; this was specifically pointed out in the press conference. Washington tested positive for cocaine use a few years ago. General Manager Jon Daniels and the two owners, Bob Simpson and Ray Davis, explicitly stated that Washington was going to be the manager in 2015 until Wash informed them of his decision to resign. There had never even been a discussion on replacing him.
They move forward without Ron Washington, and it was probably time.
MOAR UPDATE: Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels appeared on the DFW ESPN affiliate yesterday and angrily rejected the rumors that the final schism between himself and Ron Washington was over Yu Darvish or Disabled List management. He also suggested that the personal issue Wash was dealing with would be made public at some point, most likely by Washington. On one hand, of course you would expect Daniels to say something like that. On the other hand, no matter how much other Rangers fans or I think that Wash is a bad manager and needed to be fired, Daniels had made it pretty clear that he was dedicated to Ron Washington remaining the Manager for the foreseeable future. On the third hand, Jon Daniels has a practically unbeatable poker face.
The bottom line is that I think Jon Daniels is a good General Manager, and I want to believe that a good General Manager would realize that Ron Washington needs to be fired. Therefore, I want to believe that Ron Washington didn't resign, but was actually fired for supporting a position *so* "old school" (a pitcher pitching through an elbow injury) that he was a liability to the team. There is, however, a certain amount of cognitive dissonance involved. Jon Daniels isn't just claiming that Ron Washington wasn't fired for his Disabled List opinion, Daniels is claiming that Washington doesn't have the opinion that he has been documented as sharing with the media. This is starting to sound a bit like when Nolan Ryan resigned before the season started. Officially, there were no disagreements, no problems with division of responsibility, no egos. Unofficially, we all know those are the reasons Ryan isn't Team President or C.E.O. any more.
The bottom line is that I think Jon Daniels is a good General Manager, and I want to believe that a good General Manager would realize that Ron Washington needs to be fired. Therefore, I want to believe that Ron Washington didn't resign, but was actually fired for supporting a position *so* "old school" (a pitcher pitching through an elbow injury) that he was a liability to the team. There is, however, a certain amount of cognitive dissonance involved. Jon Daniels isn't just claiming that Ron Washington wasn't fired for his Disabled List opinion, Daniels is claiming that Washington doesn't have the opinion that he has been documented as sharing with the media. This is starting to sound a bit like when Nolan Ryan resigned before the season started. Officially, there were no disagreements, no problems with division of responsibility, no egos. Unofficially, we all know those are the reasons Ryan isn't Team President or C.E.O. any more.
UPDATE: Rangers infield coach Gary Pettis tweeted a message yesterday wishing Ron Washington a speedy recovery, lending credence to the health problems some fans have suspected. However, Washington denied any health problems for him or his wife later in the day. Earlier today, a writer at a Rangers blog, claiming inside knowledge, reported that the straw that broke the camel's back, as it were, was Jon Daniels' decision to keep Yu Darvish on the disabled list for the rest of the season. This allegedly resulted in a screaming match that ended with Washington notifying the players of a team meeting set at 3:00 PM the next day, which ended up following his 2:00 PM resignation.
I normally don't like jumping into something that's only a step above rumor-mongering. However, if this latest alleged incident between Wash and J.D. turns out to be valid, it would not only fit in with other comments Washington has made, but also with how he has managed his roster over the past few years. It also brings into question exactly what Jon Daniels has done regarding managing the disabled list, as ostensibly, that is one of his major in-season responsibilities. Another major point of contention is Shin-soo Choo, who arguably should have been on the DL months ago. Decisions like that aren't made without the input of doctors, the player and the Manager, but if this report is accurate, it's pretty clear that Daniels and Washington were not on the same page regarding injury management.
I normally don't like jumping into something that's only a step above rumor-mongering. However, if this latest alleged incident between Wash and J.D. turns out to be valid, it would not only fit in with other comments Washington has made, but also with how he has managed his roster over the past few years. It also brings into question exactly what Jon Daniels has done regarding managing the disabled list, as ostensibly, that is one of his major in-season responsibilities. Another major point of contention is Shin-soo Choo, who arguably should have been on the DL months ago. Decisions like that aren't made without the input of doctors, the player and the Manager, but if this report is accurate, it's pretty clear that Daniels and Washington were not on the same page regarding injury management.
------------------------------------------
The resignation, according to the Rangers and Washington, has nothing to do with the Rangers' losing season following two World Series appearances followed by a Wild Card appearance followed by a play-in game. The resignation doesn't even have anything to do with baseball. It is because of an important personal issue that Washington feels he has to devote himself to entirely. However, it's not drugs; this was specifically pointed out in the press conference. Washington tested positive for cocaine use a few years ago. General Manager Jon Daniels and the two owners, Bob Simpson and Ray Davis, explicitly stated that Washington was going to be the manager in 2015 until Wash informed them of his decision to resign. There had never even been a discussion on replacing him.
Of course, nobody believes that. At least not completely.
However, I think it's important to get the face-value option out of the way immediately. Mr. Washington, if this is a personal issue of such magnitude, drug-related or not; then this sounds like a serious problem and I seriously wish you all my best going forward. I pray all is well with your family, and I hope to see you in baseball again some day.
We have to talk about the other hand, though. And the other hand is that nobody really believes that this is a coincidence, coming on the heels of both managers and general managers losing their jobs this past week. All of the firings were from teams that are a few games ahead of Texas, despite being perennial cellar dwellers who were able to point out the best seats to the newly-arriving Rangers. It is really hard to believe that Ron Washington wasn't actually asked to resign.
I've mentioned before that I thought Washington should go. He's a poor game manager, and I have seen no sign of his vaunted abilities as a motivator, father-figure or "player's manager". I was, as far as I can tell, one of the few bloggers who felt there was a good chance Wash was gone before next year. Although, to be fair, I wasn't expecting this resignation.
Before the "personal reasons, we mean it" press conference, I was planning out in my head the reasons why Wash would have been fired. As I went over the past few months, the big thing, timing-wise, that really fits with both the unsubstantiated "big changes coming" rumors that inevitably start flying at this time of year and the actual performance and timing of the resignation, was Washington's comments on Yu Darvish pitching with elbow inflammation in order to "not quit" on his teammates. It's the kind of statement that has caused managers to be fired before. When you call out a player, you can't walk that statement back. The Players' Union crawls right up your ass and camps. Ownership flips out because you just slapped in public a superstar player that the team relies on.
Maybe Ron Washington is leaving for personal reasons, maybe he isn't. But if he isn't, it's because his personal philosophy of managing is so out-of-whack with current medical knowledge and technology that he had clearly shown himself to be a liability.
Steven Goldman:
I've mentioned before that I thought Washington should go. He's a poor game manager, and I have seen no sign of his vaunted abilities as a motivator, father-figure or "player's manager". I was, as far as I can tell, one of the few bloggers who felt there was a good chance Wash was gone before next year. Although, to be fair, I wasn't expecting this resignation.
Before the "personal reasons, we mean it" press conference, I was planning out in my head the reasons why Wash would have been fired. As I went over the past few months, the big thing, timing-wise, that really fits with both the unsubstantiated "big changes coming" rumors that inevitably start flying at this time of year and the actual performance and timing of the resignation, was Washington's comments on Yu Darvish pitching with elbow inflammation in order to "not quit" on his teammates. It's the kind of statement that has caused managers to be fired before. When you call out a player, you can't walk that statement back. The Players' Union crawls right up your ass and camps. Ownership flips out because you just slapped in public a superstar player that the team relies on.
Maybe Ron Washington is leaving for personal reasons, maybe he isn't. But if he isn't, it's because his personal philosophy of managing is so out-of-whack with current medical knowledge and technology that he had clearly shown himself to be a liability.
Steven Goldman:
The Ron Washington of 2006 - 2011 was a good-but-not-great manager. The Ron Washington of 2012 - 2014 was a bad manager. I don't want to speculate why...there are plenty of reasons that changes like that happen. But whatever the reason, the Rangers move forward now with a lot of youth and some really big question marks. The move forward with Tim Bogar at the helm, at least for now."...it apparently caused him to suffer a serious loss of perspective as epitomized by his suggestion that Yu Darvish pitch through elbow inflammation because to do otherwise would be to "quit on his teammates." "So he's got inflammation," Washington shrugged. "I've got inflammation."
"Washington later disowned those comments, but they called into question not only his judgment, but his whole raison d'etre given that he was a terrible Xs and O's manager. His whole appeal was based on his ability to manage players as people, not as chess pieces. If you're a danger to those pieces, risking breaking them for questionable gain, or character-assassinate them in the press, well, then what are you contributing? You're not the morale officer anymore, you're just the boss, and not a good one. He may well have retained the respect of the players right down to the day of his resignation, but at that point there are bigger issues at stake, greater risks to be avoided."
They move forward without Ron Washington, and it was probably time.
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September 02, 2014
Still there...
The Rangers haven't had much to talk about lately. Or at least, nothing that I feel that is worth spreading around or that I have a good take on. However, last night Joey Gallo finished his AA campaign the way he began it, with a massive home run:
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