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The Texas Rangers made the World Series twice in manager Ron Washington‘s tenure. With four straight 90-win seasons, the Rangers do not have any hardware to show for it and after Monday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in the 163rd game of the season to get into the Wild Card playoff, Texas cannot even make the playoffs after winning 91 games.
The Rangers battled through adversity this season with the suspension of Nelson Cruz for 50 games with his involvement with the Biogenesis clinic. Despite that, the Rangers had a chance of making the playoffs, but Texas cooled off in the last month of the season, finishing under .500 after winning 20 games in August. Texas also made a huge trade by acquiring Matt Garza for the stretch run, but that did not work.
With all of the wins and nothing to show for it, should the Rangers consider firing Washington? If the team is not winning games that matter, a change of leadership might have to come.
There is no doubt that the Rangers are competitive and they can win ball games, but it also has been proven that the team cannot win when it matters: losing 4-1 in the 2010 World Series to the San Francisco Giants and losing 4-3 to the St. Louis Cardinals after having a 3-2 advantage in the following year.
It may not be what Rangers fans want to hear, but something has to change. You can only tweak the team so much to win and when you lose big games consistently, something is wrong. Washington should be put under a microscope and if a championship does not come, he will be on his way out.
Ryan Gaydos is a MLB columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, “like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
