Here we go.

At least people now have a designated post for pissing and moaning about Wash instead of in every single place on this site.

Jon Daniels has turned up in an unusual place:

http://www.bucsdugout.com/2008/4/15/399207/worst-gm-poll-bill-smith-v

...but i want to blame somebody.

About this time last year I soured on Washington. I realize I was just looking for a scapegoat for the awful start but I really do feel he is in over his head. I do not think he has had the team ready to play to start either of his two seasons and I think at least some blame lies with the manager. But I want to recast this discussion.

We can all argue about the legion of failures for this team over the past two seasons and we can try to assign blame. But let me ask people this, what positive differences has Wash brought about. Can you think of a time when you were watching a game and thought he used a really great tactic? Can you think of an occasion when he made a really astute move with resting/starting a player. Can you name any young players who have significantly improved under his tutelage?

I would say that I do think he has the team more focused on working the count, but outside of that, I see no positives of his 18 months in charge.

about managers not making that much of a difference

but continuing to play guys who a) have no confidence, b) suck, or c) have no confidence and suck falls directly on Washington.

There is no excuse for Broussard to ever hit lefties, Byrd to ever hit (period), for German to ever pitch in a close game, and for Cat to ever play in the OF.

This team is so flat right now. I mean, other than Marlon Byrd and David Murphy, I really haven’t seen anyone on this team that truly looks fired up to play. They look extremely flat on the field, and their offensive at-bats have been pathetic. And better yet, coach Washington takes a beating every game, and while I haven’t watched every minute of every game, I’m pretty sure that yesterday afternoon 2 outs in the ninth inning was one of the few times that he has discussed things with umpires. Ron is very mellow, and a nice guy, but if this team is going to pull it together, I think there needs to be a little fire under their butts, because they just look meek and mellow right now, when they certainly have the capability of putting together a good season.

and underperforming are always the responsibility of the manager.

The team as a whole may not be underperforming in terms of wins/losses; but individual pieces certainly are: Young, Byrd, and Kinsler specifically. I would argue you could throw Laird in there, too… He has played appreciably worse since Wash’s arrival, albeit with a small sample size of excellence to begin with.

Yes, it’s the players’ jobs to execute. But it’s also the manager’s job to get maximum effort and performance out of his players. I was definitely in the wait-and-see camp last year, but so far this year, Wash hasn’t done much to give me much confidence. If it doesn’t get turned around i think you have to consider making a change at year’s end.

that assign the blame for the mental mistakes to Washington.

Washington’s job, as a baseball manager, is to get all 25 men on the roster on the same page and focused on the current game. Part of baseball is that there are statistical ups and downs. People go in slumps, pitchers have bad outings, etc. It is the manager’s job, I’d say the manager’s biggest job, to keep the team on an even keal as the team goes up and down. Individuals are prone to streaks, some more than others. Bad games and bad weeks tend to get into player’s heads. I think that it is the manager’s job to nip these tendencies in the bud. Kind of a low-pass filter on the daily variability.

Instead, it seems like this team is definitely affected too much by what happened the day before.

Judging by the start of the last two years, Washington amplifies this variabilty. He deserves a full shot at bringing this team out of this funk. But if the team responds to him by getting into more of a funk, it is time for him to go.

I’m beginning to wonder if Buck had enough of a grip on the nape of the team’s neck to not allow these sort of mistakes in the field and on the bases. I mean the two years the Rangers have come out to muff routine plays in the field and on the bases have both been under Wash’s watch.

I’m beginning to wonder if Buck wasn’t a more positive influence on this team than we realize, or care to admit.

Sure he had lost the clubhouse in 2006 and it was time for him to go when he did, but maybe we need a manager with his kind of taskmaster mentality. Warsh and Buck both insist on playing “their” guys (my biggest issue with Buck), so it’s not like we’ve improved on that score…

Just wondering aloud….

1. David Pinto. Why is a guy on a fantasy baseball website talking about a manager. Last I checked, fantasy nerds don’t draft managers.

2. We should have hired Trey Hillman. I said it last year when they hired Washington. He’s making my case for me with the Royals right now.

3. No GM is going to be 100% on trades. The Chris Young thing was rough, but let’s not forget how good of stuff every scout says Adam Eaton has. If he ever put it together, it might have looked different.

4. Michael Young is onto year 2 of not hitting at the beginning of the year. If he picks it up again when we are 10 games out and he ends up with 200 hits an a .300 average, it’s empty stats. If he wants to complain about not contending, he needs to produce before we fall out of contention. I know, everyone love MY, but .232 right now…

Just a few observations from a guy who’s been a die hard Rangers fan for 24 years now. Someone will probably disagree, but that’s life.