There is no excuse for name-calling. Let's not get into arguing about whether Wash "should have been fired" in 2010, etc...I am just interested in reasonable discussions revolving around his decisions.

To me, there is justification for questioning whether Wash earned his paycheck this year. And it's not just about these past two weeks. It's about the team's overall lackadaisical play in the second half of the season. In it's last 85 games, Texas is 44-41.

44-41.

Despite this team's struggles, and despite the fact that many of the veterans have been struggling throughout the season, Wash never did anything different.

* Cruz has a wRC+ of 88 against RH pitchers this season...but has 441 at-bats against them.
* Kinsler has a wRC+ of 75 against RH pitchers this season...but has 491 at-bats against them.
* MY has a wRC+ of 77...but has 646 at-bats.

Meanwhile, Gentry and Profar have sat on the bench throughout the second half of the season watching the veterans being run into the ground and not performing. Wash has refused to do anything about it. And now it may cost him and the team.

The last two years, all Wash had to do was roll out the lineup and the balls and the team would take care of the rest. This season, he was actually required to manage. And, IMO, he failed miserably (win or lose today).

I'd break up the manager job into a few things:

Motivator, Coach, Overall Strategy, In Game Strategy (nonpitching), Pitching Decision

Motivator: C-. Wash's key bit is supposed to be his ability to rally the players, build chemistry,etc. We haven't heard of any chemistry issues, but the team has been flat and uninspired for a month. He hasn't been Bobby V bad, but certainly not good.

Coach: D. Elvis , Murphy, Darvish, Harrison have generally improved as the season wore on and show good development. Others have regressed. We lack plate discipline, ability to execute bunts. We get picked off way too much in situations where it shouldn't happen. Someone needs to figure out why our pitchers don't seem to be able to handle the first inning. Are we working on these things?

Overall Strategy: C. I like the generally aggressive appraoch, but we seem to be playing scared lately. Playing Young all year was stupid. Not playing Profar/Olt in August/September was stupid. Putting Murph in as a regular was smart. The notion of giving days off to regulars throughout the year is not revolutionary and hard to know if it works or not but we have only one major piece (Feliz) that isinjured right now (other than Adrian, but he's playing) so that deserves some credit. Want to give a B here but the MY decision is killing me.

In-Game Strategy: C. Wash gets bashed here, but he's not overmanaging, the players know their roles, he brings in defensive replacements. Seeing fewer dumb things here.

Pitching Decisions: B+. Perhaps this is mostly Maddux, but hard to fault Wash for anything here. He handled the Roy O situation well, he's allowed Kirkman to develop, he's handled Feldman well. He's chewed Holland when he's needed it, didn't panic on Nathan. Only beef is overuse of Ross and Ogando seems to be taking a toll now, but at least we have other arms to count on in there. What's hurting us now is the offense, not the pitching which has held up reasonably well and performed at or better than expectation.

Summary: C- management. Mixed bag of good and bad decisions. B- is minimum acceptable. More impact from bad decisions than good and inability to do anything to breathe life into this thing in September is troubling. Win or lose today, I don't like what I'm seeing.

Remember when Elvis, Josh, Adrian used to be hanging over the dugout wall? Jumping up and down, having fun? Big high fives, cryptic hand signs after hits, the appearance of kids having fun playing a game in grown men bodies? Where is that? What happened to leak the air out of the bubble?

I wonder if we'll learn more about this in the off-season aka Red Sox last year.

I agree, he failed as a manager this year. He may go down with the sinking ship as he said he would earlier this year when he was happy being X amount of games up while admitting that if he replaced MY in the lineup he may be x+1 or 2 or 3 games up in first place. Well, that extra game or 2 hurts right now, and he essentially admitted he was not feilding the best line up every day, and that is a failure on his part.

If your objective as a manager is not to win as many games as possible, you are failing. He rolled the dice that MY would reward him for his loyalty, and MY has hit better the past month or so, but at the expense of 4 months of being one of the worst players in baseball.

Would the Rangers have won 2 or 3 more games with say, Gentry in CF, Hamilton in left, and Murphy and Cruz switching off as DH and RF? We can't say for sure, but I believe we can feel confident saying that lineup would have given us a better chance to win on a daily basis, I don't think that is a stretch. I think Wash failed in this aspect.

As far as the handling of Cruz and Kins, with them I don't believe the alternative is as obvious as it is with MY. I guess you can move Kins down against right handers and do the same with Cruz. I honestly don't know. I can't fault Wash as much for that as at least Kins and Cruz will have produced positive WAR when all is said and done, MY will be in the Negative WAR range, and that is unacceptable.

In the end, this team suffered some big hits to the pitching staff, and will still end the year with one of the best records of the year, how much credit to give Wash for that I do not know. The MY thing I lay squarely on his shoulders, and maybe he did everything he could bc he felt he could not bench him without disrupting the clubhouse. So maybe the solution is to get rid of Young for next year, so that Wash does not feel obligated to show loyalty to him and can field the best lineup. I don't know.

If this team wins tonight, or wins the WC playoff, and gets into the real playoffs and makes a deep run, I think most will forgive Wash, or forget that there ever was a problem. But if this team is done before the ALDS I have to think Wash's job may be on the line. And I can't say I would be upset if he was let go. I think he was given a tremendous team with tremendous talent, and if they don't make the playoffs, I think that says something about his managing ability.

It's not MY's fault if we lose tonight, so that is not a negative on Wash.

I agree Txball. But had the MY situation been handled differently during May - August, today's game would probably be moot.

Wash's managerial decisions this year have been scrutinized throughout and pretty well-documented. If the Rangers succumb to an early postseason exit, I think JD and Co. will seriously reevaluate his job with this team, however, I think Wash gets the benefit of the doubt from mgmt for one more year.

Wash's job has been a mixed bag this year.

Positive around management of starting pitching staff IMO, considering moving pieces, injuries, etc. Positive around the platoon usage of Gentry/Murphy for much of year. Can't knock him for moving Murph into full time position down the stretch due to his performance. Late game defensive replacements are something I've always been a big fan of, and Wash uses those to the Ranger's advantage. And, I do believe the Rangers players are on board w/ him, and he's in a favorable position w/ the players - which can't be undervalued.

Negative w/ his overall stubbornness, w/ certain situations: playing MY, refusing to DH rookies, basically making any hard-fast announcement to the media that doesn't enable him to change his mind. Negative usage of Cruz - never played this many games before, we've seen his decline throughout the year, he's needed more breaks. Baserunning errors/lack of SBs rests a little on Wash - this is one of his strong points. Bunting, ughhh, the bunting is terrible.

Overall, I think his performance this year is a B-/C+. I might be a little too optimistic, but I try to remain objective even after I see him sac bunt Andrus in the first. There are some things he does well and some things not so much. It's still to be seen how this year materializes though....Should be interesting.

Very good and thoughtful posts here. I strongly agree with these evaluations.

Ian Kinsler should never lead off again... Lets go back to Andrus next year or give Leonys a shot but anybody but Kinsler

I don't think anyone here is competent enough to evaluate Washington-teams also do not report injuries or ailments necessarily, you don't have 50% of the information you would need to do it properly. What I DO see is a lot of new previously unknown posters that are either trolls or posters posting to agree with themselves. This is a stupid thread.....do not feed the trolls

Do other teams have a black hole for the 25th roster spot? Seems like the Rangers never have anything other than an emergency player there - - Snyder, German, whoever. Not sure if that's on the manager for not using all the tools or on the GM for not providing a good-enough 25th man but aren't you putting yourself at a disadvantage with only 23 or 24 guys playing? I would think using all 25 to keep people fresh, to provide some playing time competition or even to prep that 25th guy for a key playoff pinch-hit appearance would be on the manager.

I don't know.

Hope they win today. Let's go Rangers!

Speaking of the 25th man, I don't understand why Snyder isn't getting more of a shot to produce. He has shown some grit this year, and if he is potentially going to be the 1B of our future (at least until Guzman gets here) then he might as well play.

I doubt Snyder is the 1B of the future. That said, I doubt Mitch is, either. As far as I'm concerned, this was his put up or shut up year. He had an okay start. Then he was injured, then he put up a while. Then he shut up.

Wash is fine........problem is resolved with a few proper performing field starters. (catcher, 1B, 2B, and 2 outfielders).

UTB
Nice post!
First off let me start by saying I don't think Wash will be or should be fired this year. I think his use of MY all yr is awful but I don't think it's a fire able offense. The team as a whole has played flat since May and I really think that the last 2 year just caught up with them. They have played more games in the last 3 years than any other team in the league and I think this is probably the real reason behind most of this BLAH play.
Looking at this without the MY hate here is what I see
MY awful both at the plate and in the field
Josh Played AMAZING in April and May then June and July couldn't hit water falling out of a boat Aug and Sept have been OK.
Nap and Torre where both really bad offensively and were always getting stole on. Pitchers liked both of them but we got nothing from them.
Cruz more off then on offensively and he has never been a great defender
Kins pops up more than he should and makes the dumb error but is about what we expect yr in and yr out
What could Wash have done with all of this? Josh and Kins not much he's stuck with running them out as much as possible and hoping for the best. Nap and Torre Nothing he was screwed either way I think he did the best he could with those 2. Cruz should have DH more and probably given a few more days off. MY starting in June should have been playing 2 or 3 times a week the rest of the time he should have been answering the phones and helping Jackie Moore to the bathroom and back.
Gentry Murphy and maybe one or two of the kids from Frisco or Roundrock should have played more this season but how much is debatable.
I don't think that Wash will be judged by what he does this yr as much as he will be next yr when some of the dead weight has been removed

Bill, if you could upgrade 5 players from any team in the league most managers would be 'fine'. That post is dumb.

Its simple. He coasted through the entire season. He didn't take one day to manage with a sense of urgency. He just coasted through the entire season, essentially ignoring half the problems the team had because "we're still in first place." This is why you don't manage for October in May.

I want to see him fired. Once the cocaine thing happened, I was no longer sold.

The MY situation and how he handled all of the young players along with Gentry was too much. I hated seeing Andrus bunt every time there is a runner on third. The batting order could have been flipped a few times.

I like the "fun" attitude, but JD needs to start looking early this year. I would prefer we go after someone with a low profile rather than a name.

Nice post UTB. With two WS appearances in a row, second guessing WASH is going no where. I want him replaced but the reality is the owners love them some WASH.

The players, most of them have under performed this year, Dah. That happens. When that happens their trade value diminishes. We are kinda stuck with them that brung us in the off season. The chore is now JD's to make this a better club next year. Assess the FA's and get veterans to replace those that leave.

Players, position and pitchers, have under performed as a whole with the exception of Murphy and Gentry, this year is an under statement. And don't forget 40 % of our starting rotation have under gone in season TJ surgery.

WASH will get a pass or be promoted to an executive position and JD finds some great replacements this winter. Thats the best we as fans can expect.

Colby didn't have TJ, but your point still stands.

Washington should stay. For the sole reason that he has gotten talent to play for him. A lot of managers have had teams loaded with talent that did nothing. While Wash is not the strongest at tactical decisions and has his favorites he still has gotten his players to perform.

The conflict between Wash and JD should be solved this offseason. Young can't be traded with his 10/5 rights but he can be outright released. I don't see him on the roster next year and think the front office and Wash will come to more of a lineup synergy for next season, especially if this one ends early.

It doesn't have to be one extreme or another there can be a middle ground with some adaptations, which is all many have asked of Wash in his lineup for this season. Wash doesn't need to be fired but he should can his "eyeball test" and embrace saber metrics.

"Players, position and pitchers, have under performed as a whole with the exception of Murphy and Gentry, this year is an under statement"

I completely disagree with this.

Hamilton, Beltre, Elvis, Murphy, Gentry are all above expectation
Moreland, Cruz, Napoli pretty close to expected
Kinsler, Young under expectation

Before you try and tell me that Cruz/Moreland/Nap are playing below, take another look at the stats.

Kinsler is underperforming, but not that much.

Cruz is 32 years old, pretty much same BA, slightly fewer HRs. You should expect his numbers to be in decline now.

Napoli had a breakout year last year - but remember he sat a fair amount last year and only got about 350 ABs. His numbers this year are about between his '10 and '11 seasons. Also turned 30 this year.

I think too many people look at last year's performance and naturally project the player to be that good or better. We're not a young team anymore. Most of the regulars are entering the back half of their prime. We need to face reality that our offense looks good in large part due to BPiA--many of these players simply are not elite hitters. They are good hitters made to look great by the Ballpark--especially Ian. We have two elite players on offense--Adrian & Josh, and one of them is bizzarro at times. The others can look very mediocre when forced to play somewhere other than Arlington.

The story with pitching isn't much different. The Nefi move blew up on us, but Yu/Harrison/Colby (injuring notwithstanding) were terrific. Holland was about where I thought he would be after his first 200 inning season. Joe Nathan has been great, Koji bounced back, Adams/Ogando have been very good, Scheppers has developed nicely, Kirkman has been serviceable, etc. The loss of Colby hurt...a lot. Dempster =/= Colby. But just about every team loses a key piece or two. We haven't been hit harder by injuries than anyone else, really.

Yeah. He's done a great job of getting them to play for him when it counts lately hasn't he?

CJ, I see where the ballpark would help sluggers like Cruz, Beltre, and Hamilton, but how does it help hitters like Ian, who do hit some home runs but it's not what they're known for? Or is it the home runs he squeaks out there that raises him from good to great (in his better years)?

kinsler's always had good home run numbers on the road. he has decent power. the problem is that his walk rate plummets on the road.

I think putting Holland in today in the most crucial inning of the day was extremely stupid as well. Wash can't help that Josh is an idiot and dropped that ball, but Holland had no business pitching there. Put in a good reliever like Koji or Ogando, let them put out the fire bc thats what they are for, and then bring Holland in next inning if you have to bc you need multiple innings. You don't put in a kid who has struggled his past few outings in that situation. You just don't