….the episode with MY/Vizquel is strange indeed. I’m not sure you make that move trying to get fired, as much as you make that move from the stress of worrying about getting fired. However, no matter how you slice it, it seems Wash is discombobulated on what to do, and is making a left turn everytime he should have gone right, so to speak.

Theory of what Washington was thinking and where the mistake was made:

- The meltdown last night I think can be traced back to Millwoods second outing and the CJ Wilson debacle. Was pulling Millwood after 7 really a mistake or a somewhat rational decision that only seemed terrible in hind-sight?

You’re #1 starter has a second fantastic start in a row and has dominated the other team. In the team concept you want to build, on most good teams, the feeling that you should feel good to turn it over to your setup men in the eighth and close it out in the 9th. The “its early in the season” mindset cuts both ways:

1) Its early in the season, so pulling the SP after 7 is not too big of a deal with a 4 run lead, so why wear him out
2) The team will understand that once we have a lead after 7, the back end of our bullpen can shut the door against the opponent
3) As stated on this site many times, CJ has a fragile mindset. So he begins to struggle in that appearance. Its early in the season and you need his best for the long haul. Do you pull him or let him work himself out of it? He has the talent, so he has to develop the mental part. Do you make him “grow up” on the mound that night, for the good of his confidence going forward? Do you pull him and damage his confidence going forward?

Well we saw what happened. Was it because Wash made “the wrong decision” or because he made a benign decision that went horribly wrong? I think it was the latter, but with this caveat. When CJ was melting down, I think Wash and Maddux let it go on too long. I believe some of the questions listed above may have been in play, but actually a “lack of decision” in a timely manner helped to destroy no only CJ’s self confidence, but possibly the rest of the teams’ confidence in CJ or the bullpen itself. It at least planted the seed.

- The next several games went a long way in making the fandom, the media, the players, the coaches, and especially the manager wonder, with the exception of FF, if the bullpen could get anybody out. Could they pitch for 1, 2, or even 3 innings without tossing a BP session. This starts to make everybody feel that the Rangers have to build up a double digit lead to survive the game if they have to rely on the bullpen. The bullpen has been miserable and the seed begins to grow and take root.

- Fast forward to last night. Things blow up again and now they are behind and the manager doesn’t feel the bullpen can stop the bleeding. Although the Rangers can put up a 10-spot at any given time on offense, Wash betrays himself and his players by effectively “throwing in the towel”, and deciding to sit a couple guys he won’t usually sit this season. (I hate this mentality and decision more than any other he has made, as it relates to that half inning.)

Sure he informed them that Vizquel and Murphy would be going into the game to spell MY and Hamilton, which isn’t horrible in itself, but HOW he did it just makes no sense. So the Rangers decided to load the bases and hope for another miracle, and now MY is due up. Let one of your best hitters hit and see what happens. He doesn’t have to go back into the field after that half of the inning!

Let him see what he can do, then pull him out after the at-bat.

I believe that Wash was actually thinking he was making a statement to the higher-ups that something needs to be done about the bullpen, buy implying that the team is losing its confidence because of the pitching issues. The “fight” and never give up attitude was slipping fast in the clubhouse. Therefore, he makes a decision that is as bone-headed as he can make.

What would prompt him to do this? Who the hell knows? But decisions made under stress are usually ill advised, especially if your livelihood and/or reputation are on the line. The only thing worse than decisions made under duress are emotional decisions. Emotional decisions often lack enough thought/evaluation to prove fruitful in the longterm. These are the decisions we often wish we could get a mulligan on.

I believe Wash had lost it by the time all of this unfolded. I think his comments after the game regarding getting veterans some at bats is as ridiculous as his gametime scenario decision making. The level of ridiculousness from Wash last night is unmatched in recent Ranger history.

Does this mean he is out of here? There is a very distinct possibility, IF he has lost the faith of the players AND his actions are detrimental to the team moving forward. I’m sure there were some discussions last night and this morning also. All I am sure of is this: Wash either gets canned in the next 48 hours or is here for the rest of the season.

Firing Wash isn’t all of a sudden make the team play better….but it can’t get too much worse if he is here or somebody else takes over, as far as on the field performance. The mentality of the team/players moving forward is the most important factor.

Like I said earlier, the emotional rantings of many of us last night and today should not be part of the decision on whether Wash stays or goes. Most of our comments are short-sighted and not solving the problem. Some have thrown out solutions, but not many. The team will NOT just get better because Wash isn’t here, so I’d like to hear the real solution offered in many of the rants.

To be honest, it will be the players who dictate what the decision will be….right or wrong. It will come down to how they feel about Wash, and whether last night’s poor decisions will make them lose faith in him or if they are willing to keep going into battle with him.

I’m sure we’ll find out soon. (Yes, I know its long)

The problem with the team is that it looks sloppy and unfocused, is this Wash’s fault? If so, he needs to go, but if not, firing him won’t accomplish anything.

done anything at all in his time here to prove to anybody that he is a championship caliber manager? Absolutely not, So why waste time cut him loose now and move on I still think Wakamatsu should have been the manager.

Absolutely NOTHING has changed from April 2008 to April 2009.

Yes, I understand that we have different personnel and some really bright players on the verge of making an impact here, but Ron Washington’s inability to manage a game is stifling this team.

He makes questionable decisions (at best) on a nightly basis (see: Vizquel for MY, no Frankie in the 8th in DET, etc.) and it costs the team runs, and eventually, wins. With a competent manager calling the shots from the bench, I honestly think we can pull off another 5-10 wins a year just because the manager has half a clue what to do with his team in the game.

The fact remains that we can’t play defense very well (the one thing Ron was hired to do), the players look disjointed on a frequent basis, they don’t seem to have any faith in their abilities to play the game right now, and it’s a demoralizing thing to watch this team play baseball since the opening series against Cleveland. We’re not beating teams that we should beat, and that’s the one thing that was said would get Ron fired quickly.

If I’m JD or Nolan, he’d be gone in about two weeks if anything remotely resembling this type of play continues.