Ron Washington resigned as manager of the Texas Rangers on Friday, which came as a surprise to most.
Prior to this season, the Rangers had five consecutive winning seasons under Wash including back-to-back trips to the World Series and three straight playoff appearances. Texas suffered numerous injuries to key players and is 53-87 this season. Washington said in his resignation statement that stepping down did not have anything to do with the poor season.
Upon hearing that Washington resigned for personal reasons, many speculated that the manager could be dealing a drug problem; Washington tested positive for cocaine in 2009. GM Jon Daniels was asked in a press conference Friday if that was the case and said it wasn’t.
“Ron’s given us the permission to acknowledge that this was not drug related,” said Daniels.
If drugs and the poor season are not the reasons for the resignation, then why did Washington step down?
Daniels said their relationship changed over time, and that’s about the only explanation we’re receiving.
Washington has been the team’s manager since 2007. Maybe after that long a manager can no longer get through to his players the same way. Or maybe after that long the manager and front office are no longer on the same page.
Hopefully we’ll have some clarity on the matter. It was just two weeks ago that team exec Thad Levine was praising Washington for his work in helping Josh Hamilton blossom with the Rangers, so obviously he felt pretty highly about the manager in some regards.
