"Wash is human and is attached to the players that brought him his success as a Ranger manager."

Unless the player's name is Craig Gentry.

MY's 2012 WAR: -1.4
MY's current occupation: Rangers DH

Craig Gentry's 2012 WAR: 2.9
Craig Gentry's current occupation: sweeping sunflower seeds off floor of Rangers dugout

Gentry has contributed 4.3 wins above replacement more than MY this year, so it makes sense to bench him. Fans who feel otherwise should stop whining. MY has earned his playing time by keeping the division race close, thereby keeping fans interested. Gentry has helped the Rangers amass a huge division lead, which is bad for attendance. Sorry, Craig.

@RustyGreerReturns,

no one BLAMES Wash for MY's shortcomings... However he CAN be blamed for not dealing with it in a way that improves the team. The numbers tell the story in exquisite detail.

and, just for the record. every time I see MY on the line up card I FEEL like someone is punching me in the face.

ChiTown is right. Daniels *IS* a sabermetric type guy. He's an analyst, and he has seen Young's decline coming for years (which is why he has tried to move/replace him several times and why Young HATES him).

That is why Daniels is a great GM. He doesn't make ridiculous emotional "loyatly" decisions or pay people for past performance. I'm quite confident that the decision to give Young this contract in the first place was a Tom Hicks decision (based on Young being the 'face').

This is a hard lesson on long-term contracts. At this point the best decision would be to release him and eat the $16m owed to Young next year. The choice is lose $16m and get a -1 WAR from Young (AKA you're buying losses) or lose $16m and let Olt play. It's an easy decision if not for the emotions involved.

Look, I'm willing to stipulate that this is driving JD crazy. But even if that's true, I don't think he'd just release him in the middle of a pennant race. Like it or not, Young is what he is to the franchise and -- according to the beats anyway -- in the clubhouse. Best bet is to force the manager to curtail his playing time and deal with it in the off-season. Plus, if I'm ownership, I don't sign off on a release until I'm told by the GM that the trade well has been bottomed and there are no takers, even with a significant subsidy. Even if you have to eat $14MM of his 2013 salary, a dump deal would still free up $2MM in the budget.

@ Joked wrote: "Wash said that he would play the hot bats. I sure I don't have any facts to back this up, but I'm 99% sure Gentry is a much hotter bat than MY. Just doesn't make any sense."

Of course it doesn't make sense - it's Ron Washington we are talking about. One day, he is a manager that makes decisions based on matchups. It's all righty-vs-lefty, all the time. The next week, he's going with his "gut" and "playing the hot hand."

Now, when asked about playing MY, he relies on "he brought us here" language.

All of this underscores my overall problem with Wash: he lack consistency in any aspect of management. He relies on splits...until he doesn't (Murphy). He relies on the hot-bat...until he doesn't (Gentry/MY). He relies on his old-school-baseball-knowledge (i.e. "Olt is too young to DH)...until he doesn't (when Olt inevitably DHs). He relies on traditional baseball rules (you can't DH your backup catcher")...until he doesn't (and he DH'd his backup catcher).

He has no true management style, beliefs, philosophies, etc...He just flies by the seat of his pants and makes up rationales along the way.

So Wash is critical of Josh for being undisciplined and pig headed but then proceeds to do the same thing in playing MY everyday

Ron Washington is a manager of men, not a manager of numbers. Most people who post on this site don't seem to understand that's how you get a team to the WS 2 years in a row and follow that up with one of the best records in MLB. What the Rangers, and Ron Washington, are in the process of doing is an amazing feat. This should be a joyful time for all Rangers fans. This is a joyless web site.

That was the worst argument put forth on this site in a week.

It's not at all out of the realm of possibility that Washington was simply talking around the question. As in, he might bench MY tonight. Or he might not. But the good folks out there in radioland aren't going to find out until he's good and ready for them to find out.

If MY was such a leader wouldn't he be benching himself at the is point.

I like how MY/Wash supporters use the same arguments that Wash use: opinionated, short-sighted, and flat-out dishonest about other players.

Well played, James

Wow, this thread has gotten more play than I thought it would. Nice!

My biggest problem with Wash is his differing standards for his players. When asked about why Nap didn't face John Lester, Wash responded with, "the Napoli that hit .320 last year or the Napoli that's hitting .200 this year?" This rational would be fine in a vacuum but bring that same rationale to another player and it doesn't hold up. The Nap that hit .320 last year isn't doing it this year so Nap sits, but the Michael Young that has a .300 career average isn't hitting .300 this year so he plays. Total double standard that I really can't abide.

I've said it before and I still stick to it. I have no proof of this, it is only my gut talking. Mike Young was the foremost public supporter of Wash when Wash had his cocaine indiscretion a while back. I simply think that Wash sticking with Young is his repayment for the support that he received back then. That's all. No more, no less. Just my opinion, though.

Ron Washington is a manager of men, not a manager of numbers. Most people who post on this site don't seem to understand that's how you get a team to the WS 2 years in a row and follow that up with one of the best records in MLB.

Oh really, its because Wash is so well liked by his team, not because of what happens on the field?

Prove it. Prove that Wash is even liked by the players on the team.

@Marktown

Wash's comments indicate that he thinks batting average is the end all be all of offensive statistics. I think that we understand the following about Wash at this point:

1. He does not care about walks.
2. He does not care about hitting for power. A single is as good as a home run to him.
3. He is perfectly fine with his guy TRYING to make outs so that guys on base can advance one base.
4. Veterans > youngsters no matter what.

^ like it or not, thats pretty much how he manages the team. Its a wonder that he can even keep his job this way.

The picture of young picking up the phone to call the bullpen defines the relationship between Wash and MY. MY is the coaches son getting picked over better players. Any rookie pulls that kinda stunt and they would get to ride a pink horse into the sunset.

Keystone I don't disagree with that at all.... and I want to cry now.

Mike Young, please call. We have some things to talk about.

When people say this site is depressing and they are tired of all the bashing I would argue that people are passionate about these issues not because they are negative but because we care a whole lot. And we know the impending pain that going to ensue. MY in the past two postseasons has batted .229/.259 and led the team in hitting into DPs as he is right now. If Wash keeps him in the middle of the lineup or anywhere in the lineup he is a huge anchor that will drag the team down. The 10-9 win over Boston is a perfect example. He was 1-5 and did not contribute to one of the 10 runs scored. Further, twice he got out with men in scoring position. Your DH can not be that inept and win in the postseason. Anybody, that has played baseball or is into stats knows that hitting is contagious. When one players hits everybody starts to loosen up and there is a rally, that's why runs come in droves often. Look at Beltre who has a .347 OBP has only crossed the plate 61 times (19 of which were HRs). Thus, he was only knocked in 42 times, whereas Kinsler who has a similar OBP of .341 has crossed the plate 80 times (13HRs). Since Young was hitting 5th behind Beltre, until recently, much of the lack of production can be attributed to him especially since he leads the team in hitting into DPs at 15. But Wash has made it clear he is sticking with Young no matter what. The most telling was watching the Rangers/Red Sox game on TV and hearing Tom Grieve say when MY was up with a man on first and second with one out, "Anything but a double play ball." And when Young popped out to CF there was a collective sigh of relief. Really, when your DH is up you are just hoping he only causes one out!