Ron Washington responds to Ian Kinsler, defends Jon Daniels

Those wild comments by Ian Kinsler in which he called Texas Rangers GM Jon Daniels a “sleazeball” certainly hit a nerve, and they led to a response from his former team.

Speaking from the Rangers’ spring training site in Surprise, Ariz., Daniels understood Kinsler’s anger, calling the former Rangers infielder a “competitor” and saying that’s where the comments come from. The Dallas Morning News also reports that Daniels denied pushing Nolan Ryan out of the organization as Kinsler asserted.

[Previously – Ian Kinsler: I hope Rangers and ‘sleazeball’ GM go 0-162]

Manager Ron Washington was also moved to respond to Kinsler. He defended Daniels as a GM.

“As an organization, our unity hasn’t dissipated one bit,” Washington said via the Morning News. “We’ve been united since the day I arrived here. The reason this organization is moving forward is the hard work that Jon Daniels and his group has done to try to supply us with players we can compete for a championship with.

“Opinions are just that. It doesn’t make it reality. To me, Jon Daniels has been one of the best general managers in the game.”

Kinsler, now with the Detroit Tigers, talked with Detroit reporters about the article. He said he wasn’t happy about what was written and says the story was “written for drama,” which it probably was. Still, he did not take back his comment calling Daniels a “sleazeball,” but he did say his comment hoping the Rangers go 0-162 was a joke.

“I think the quotes about the general manager were taken a little out of context. You guys will get to know me better than that,” Kinsler told The Detroit News.

There’s nothing Kinsler really needs to apologize for. He probably was being honest about his comments because he was upset with the way the Rangers handled him. There’s nothing wrong with that — he’s allowed to be upset. One point that must be considered is that Kinsler was not a huge prospect and sort of made it as an underdog, so he’s one of those people who tends to have a chip on his shoulder. Feeling slighted probably inspires him to play better.