I've tried to figure Wash out all season. But, just this afternoon, it struck me. He's managing scared.

He needs to be able to blame his veterans (the team) for failure so it doesn't fall on Ronnie. Before this season, players like Omar and Andres, Laird, Torrealba and our favorite fat boy Bengie Molina (yes, even Matt Treanor) and even Julio Borbon got lots of time (not compared to the starters, but, for bench players - lots) in the field. Remember Brandon Boggs? How about Esteban German?

Granted, this is now a "Championship-Caliber Team" with a Championship-Caliber Roster. But, still... does the manager have to get so tight-fisted with the opportunities he doles out that he burns up his regulars?

1) Nellie was poorly position AND he didn't take a good route to the ball -- W.S. Game 6.

2) Michael will figure it out - then, he'll do something Grand.

3) Ian has had bad road splits all 6 of his years. This also has the added attraction that it shovels blame toward the front office for not giving him a better second baseman.

4) Josh is a super star. He knows what it takes to win at this level. We'll let him play himself out of his funk.

5) The pitchers have got to start throwing strikes and getting hitters out!

6) And, by inference: Can't let the second unit blow games for us. It'll look bad on me.

Ron Washington hides behind his players. He changes pitchers after 6 innings because he needs to look like he's "managing". He has so many "rules" locked up in his head for how he's going to use his pitchers in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings, he's all locked up. If he leaves a starter in there and the starter fails, he left him in there too long and that looks bad on the manager. But, if he swaps pitchers out like Chiclets the last three innings and one of THEM blows up, that pitcher should'a been prepared. God forbid we should just ride the hot hand.

If he leaves a starter in after 6 or 7 innings and the pitcher succeeds, that pitcher is stretched and he gains confidence. Right now, he has Colby Lewis and the 4 kiddies. None of the four will mature on Ron Washington's watch.
_____________________________________________________________________

At bats for secondary position players by year:

2012: Regulars: 5,091 (91.1%) [.275/.336/.729]
...............Subs: 475 (08.5%) [.257/.297/.621]

2011: Regulars: 4,921 (86.9%) [.286/.346/.759]
...............Subs: 715 (12.6%) [.266/.303/.642]

2010: Regulars: 4,474 (79.4%) [.286/.346/.759]
............Subs: 1,139 (20.2%) [.233/.297/.567]

So, from 2010 to 2012, subs progressively (20.2% then 12.6% then 8.5%) were squeezed out by the manager as he settled on the guys he felt he could trust. Everyone else could pound sand.
_________________________________________________________________________

o 2012 (Core: Kinsler/Andrus/Young/Beltre/Moreland
............./Hamilton/Cruz/Murphy
............./Napoli/Soto/Torrealba):

Note: Soto + Torrealba = one catcher as they were not on the team together.

- Luis Martinez 18 (.111/.158/.269)
..Reserve catcher got 18 ABs

- Craig Gentry 240 (.304/.367/.759)
- Leonys Martin 46 (.174/.235/.605)
..Reserve Outfielders got 286 ABs (If you consider Gentry a reserve)

- Brandon Snyder 65 (.277/.309/.755)
- A. Gonzalez 54 (.241/.241/.556)
- Mike Olt 33 (.152/.250/.432)
- Jurickson Profar 17 (.176/.176/.647)
- L. Hernandez 2 (.000/.000/.000)
..Reserve Infielders got 171 ABs

The 10 Core Players ... 5,091 at bats (.275/.336/.730)
- 91.1% of the ABs
- 92.5% of the Runs
- 91.7% of the Hits
- 97.5% of the HRs
- 81.3% of the SBs

The 8! Bench Scrubs ... 475 at bats (.257/.297/.621)
- 8.5% of the ABs
- 7.4% of the Runs
- 8.0% of the Hits
- 2.5% of the HRs
- 18.7% of the SBs

The 13 Pitchers (!) ... 24 at bats (.208/.210/.417)
- .4% of the ABs
- .1% of the Runs
- .3% of the Hits
- .0% of the HRs
- .0% of the SBs
_________________________________________________________________________

o 2011 (Core: Young/Kinsler/Andrus/Beltre
............./Hamilton/Cruz/Moreland/Murphy
............./Napoli/Torrealba):

- Taylor Teagarden 71 (.155/.259/.597)
- Matt Treanor 10 (.000/.083/.083)
..Reserve Catchers got 81 ABs

- Endy Chavez 256 (.301/.323/.749)
- Craig Gentry 33 (.271/.347/.693)
- Julio Borbon 89 (.270/.305/.654)
- Leonys Martin 8 (.375/.375/.875)
..Reserve Outfielders got 386 ABs

- Andres Blanco 76 (.224/.263/.605)
- Chris Davis 76 (.250/.296/.704)
- Omar Quintanilla 22 (.045/.045/.182)
- Estaban German 11 (.455/.462/1.280)
..Reserve Infielders got 183 ABs

The 10 Core Players ... 4,920 at bats (.286/.346/.759)
- 86.9% of the ABs
- 87.6% of the Runs
- 87.9% of the Hits
- 94.3% of the HRs
- 75.5% of the SBs

The 10 Bench Scrubs ... 715 at bats (.266/.303/.642)
- 12.6% of the ABs
- 12.3% of the Runs
- 11.9% of the Hits
- 5.7% of the HRs
- 24.5% of the SBs

The 10 Pitchers (!) ... 24 at bats (.125/.125/.375)
- .4% of the ABs
- .1% of the Runs
- .2% of the Hits
- .0% of the HRs
- .0% of the SBs
_________________________________________________________________________

o 2010 (Core: Young/Kinsler/Andrus/Smoak
............./Hamilton/Cruz/Borbon/Murphy/Vlad
............./Treanor):

- Bengie Molina 175 (.240/.320/.599)
- Taylor Teagarden 71 (.155/.259/.597)
- Max Ramirez 69 (.217/.348/.689)
- Jarrod Saltamacchia 5 (.200/.200/.400)
..Reserve Catchers got 320 ABs

- Jeff Francoeur 53 (.340/.357/.848)
- Craig Gentry 33 (.212/.229/.441)
- Brandon Boggs 7 (.000/.125/.125)
..Reserve Outfielders got 93 ABs

- Andres Blanco 166 (.277/.330/.679)
- Mitch Moreland 145 (.255/.364/.833)
- Chris Davis 120 (.192/.279/.571)
- Juaquin Arias 98 (.276/.290/.637)
- Jorge Cantu 98 (.236/.279/.605)
- Ryan Garko 33 (.091/.167/.258)
- Estaban German 13 (.231/.375/.606)
- Alex Cora 7 (.286/.286/.571)
..Reserve Infielders got 680 ABs

The 10 Core Players ... 4,474 at bats (.288/.349/.729)
- 79.4% of the ABs
- 84.2% of the Runs
- 82.7% of the Hits
- 87.0% of the HRs
- 90.2% of the SBs

The 16 Bench Scrubs ... 1,139 at bats (.233/.297/.567)
- 20.2% of the ABs
- 15.4% of the Runs
- 17.0% of the Hits
- 13.0% of the HRs
- 9.8% of the SBs

The 13 Pitchers (!) ... 22 at bats (.182/.182/.409)
- .4% of the ABs
- .4% of the Runs
- .3% of the Hits
- .0% of the HRs
- .0% of the SBs

Tho'ts?

nelson cruz INJURED the inning before he missed that catch. that was one of many blunders committed by ron washington in the world series.

i just think he's stubborn and resents young players. let's impede the development of olt and profar by penciling in the second worst player in baseball for 155 games!

this is the ron washington who clashed with beane's saber philosophy and jon daniels pretty much subscribes to the same beliefs so i'm wondering why he keeps washington around. maybe he doesn't want to seem like the bad guy.

Ed:
My thoughts. God almighty that was a long post.

Sorry... the gist of the story really isn't that long... it's all the stats... you could just ignore them.

Pretty simple actually. Profar, Martin, Olt & Soto didn't hit. If they had they would have played more.

What about Gentry. He was smoking when Wash made him sit to give Murphy playing time. Granted Murphy was hot too but why in the hell does MY get to keep playing? Wash said he felt like MY was one of his best players. This is a scenario just like the rookies who didn't hit, Wash has had enough time to prove himself and he has failed. It's time to start looking for another manager. IMO, this is an obvious area where the Rangers can drastically improve their team.

it's all the stats... you could just ignore them.

Obviously most on her did just that. Geeez I thought I was reading WAR & PEACE.

You can't compare this years team to the 2010 or 2011 one, in both of those years (especially 2010) our starting 9 weren't near as good as they were this year. We had one of the most talented teams in baseball. Also in 2010 there was a lot of moving pieces around trying to get everything to work and fit together, that's why so many different people played, and came off the bench. Also in my opinion the bench in 2010 and 2011 was a little bit stronger than it was this year. The Rangers never really had a good bench player they could rely on.

I agree the bench should have been played more, but a large part of those numbers looking the way they do is because it was a different team in those years, there were a lot more parts moving around.

3) Ian has had bad road splits all 6 of his years. This also has the added attraction that it shovels blame toward the front office for not giving him a better second baseman.

Right now, he has Colby Lewis and the 4 kiddies. None of the four will mature on Ron Washington's watch.

To address your point #3, Ian Kinsler is not a bad second baseman. Since 2007 he's produced 26.2 fWAR, trailing behind only Chase Utley, Dustin Pedroira and Robinson Cano. Safe to say he's been one of the most productive players at his position.

Also, to your second point, there's no way we can possibly know that. I understand this is a conjecture-based, subjective post, but you have to take into account Mike Maddux, and the fact that players do have the will to get better on their own terms. Just to blame Ron Washington for everything that goes wrong is short-sighted, regardless of how bad he is tactically.

Also in those years we made trades bring us, or getting rid of a position player who got playing time and at-bats.

By my calculation the Rangers have given about 782 AB's to the bench this year, you can't count Napoli/Soto/Torrablea as one person, it makes a huge difference in the AB area, i considered Soto a bench player when Napoli returned from his injury.

Another note, on average an MLB team gave more than 5 AB's to 21 different players...the Rangers 18..whose fault is that? It's not Washington's? I don't think he was ever really given a very good bench this year. Olt and Profar never proved they were ready, and you could never really trust Brandon Snyder. If Olt and Profar would play like everyday players I promise you Wash would play them more.

Tp Eric:

To address your point #3, Ian Kinsler is not a bad second baseman

He was this year. AND his WAR for the psast 5 years--SO WHAT?

Fajita claims, "If Olt and Profar would play like everyday players I promise you Wash would play them more."

I'd emphatically flip this on it's head: if Wash had played this duo more...they would have looked altogether like everyday players. Profar and Olt were used in such a spotty and constrained fashion...they had no chance at all. Profar had 17 total plate appearances. What the Frick!? That's not even a dip in the pool.

The 2012 MLB playoffs have been loaded with rookies...who were either trusted by their manager...or thrown into the fire by circumstance. Our manager has a horrific history when it comes to getting results out of young players. At a certain point you've got to look at his approach.

In past years on other forums I vehemently defended both Wash and JD from critics. I can't defend Wash anymore.

This season was managerial malpractice. By his own confession he ran the team into the ground. He didn't handle the situation with Josh. He threw Elvis under the bus. He was a bastard when dealing with the media. He blew over 200 game decisions. He overbunted. He screwed up in epic fashion with Young. And he squandered some amazing young talent.

He took the most talented team in baseball and flushed it down the toilet. I vote #RONGONE.

@ Fajita

I get what you are saying, but how exactly was Profar supposed to "prove that he was ready" given that he got a total of 17 plate-appearances?

Wash never gave him an opportunity to prove anything.

That's my problem. Wash arbitrarily made the decision that Profar wasn't ready and managed under that belief. He decided that a 19-year-old couldn't be ready to play for a contender and that was the end of it. Wash might have been right - Profar might have been overmatched. But we'll never know. What we do know is that MY was horrible for most of the season and it would have been very easy to give Profar an extended look.

Wash confuses "being loyal" with being stubborn.

@Rico

His fWAR this year was 3.2, 10th out of 22 qualifying 2nd basemen on Fangraphs. So yes, even in an abysmal season by his standards, he still wasn't complete garbaged pinned up against the rest of baseball. I'm also not of the belief that one bad season makes a player bad. Tim Lincecum had a poor year but I don't think that means he's going to be bad moving forward.

Saying we need a better second baseman is foolish, and believing a player is broken after one down year is a sophomoric approach to determining talent. If history has proven anything, it's that there's variance between the samples within a season, and from season-to-season. But it all goes back to rationalists vs. reactionaries. The reactionaries are looking at next year and the year after, which is why some of them are saying TRADE IAN KINSLER TRADE IAN KINSLER HIS BATTING AVERAGE SUCKS! Rational thinkers are saying let's give it another year and see what happens.

Pretty simple actually. Profar, Martin, Olt & Soto didn't hit. If they had they would have played more.

Yes, Profar, Martin and Olt showed they couldn't hit in a combined 109 plate appearances.

Yet, Mike Young showed he could hit (and play terrific defense on top of that) and that's why he played every day.

It's just a slump! Pay no attention that players decline when they're closer to 40 than 30.

Wash has nobody to blame but himself for his "poor bench".

I see quite a difference in the quality of our subs. The first 4 months of the season Wash's options were Alberto Gonzalez and Brandon Snyder. Not exactly what you would call a strong bench. Olt and Profar didn't get here till Aug and Sept respectively.

To Eric
"Rational thinkers are saying let's give it another year and see what happens":.

By that logic one can only assume you are willing to gove MY another chance

Wrong. I've been anti-MY since 2008.

While I agree Wash should have given more playing time to the bench I find the premise of this post ridiculous.

Its clear that Wash plays his veterans because he believes they give him the best chance to win...

not so that he can blame them instead of himself when they fail.

LOL

that shit is funny

Brandon Snyder's numbers were actually not bad - for a sub. But, as soon as he hit a slump, Wash absolutely quit playing him. Then, he dumped him to the minors as soon as JD realized Wash was never gonna let him in a game again.

I keep seeing "small sample sizes" should never be used for conclusions. Did ANY of Wash's subs get enough ABs/Field Time to get out of the "small sample size"?

No?

If the regulars stayed healthy in 10 and 11 they would have had nearly same ABs as 12. Wash didn't choose to play subs, he had to b

Holy hell. Props to anyone who actually read that whole thing. Jesus Christ that was a long post.