MLB Texas Rangers - Firing Fixes Everything

The Texas Rangers baseball team is full of talent. Josh Hamilton (the new face of the franchise with Michael Young stepping aside) has brought attention back to the diamond in the Lone Star State by putting on a heck of a show at the Home Run Derby in the 2008 season. When that happened about two and half months ago the Rangers season looked pretty promising, and the Cinderella story that was Josh Hamilton had everyone smelling roses in the Rangers locker room.

Now the 162 game regular season has come to a close, and Rangers fans are left with yet another bitter taste in their mouth. A Losing record. 79-83, to be exact. Don't even try to tell me that finishing second place in the division is a major accomplishment. The Angels finished 100-62, so we're a long way off from catching them. The Oakland A's declared this a rebuilding year anyway, and they finished with an almost identical record as the Rangers. And Seattle, well... They have their own issues to deal with.

So, how do we fix things? How do we fine tune this beast of a lineup that has the likes of Ian Kinsler, arguably the best second baseman in the American League, hitting at the top of the order, one of the best clutch hitters in the game hitting behind him in Michael Young, and then you have Hamilton, Milton Bradley, Hank Blalock, Chris Davis, Nelson Cruz, David Murphy, and about 30 different catchers that would be starting on any other team? Even I get scared when I see that lineup.

Fix the pitching staff? Go out and sign an ace starter, like Ben Sheets? Sure, sounds good. But, remember what happens to "ace" starters when they come to Texas? Need I remind anybody of Chan Ho Park? What about Kevin Millwood? His experience here hasn't been too likeable either after coming to Texas completing an ERA-leader year in Cleveland.

OK. So, since we're so afraid of messing around with the roster, lets blame the coaches. Let's just say that Ranger fans aren't very appreciative of the job Ron Washington has done for us thus far. In my opinion, he mismanages his pitching staff too often, and he does odd things with the lineup that no other manager in the league would even think of doing, like putting Chris Davis in the 7^th spot in the lineup for pretty much ever, despite his awesome production. You don't spread your power hitters through the lineup. You clump them together. That way, the guys that hit for average are on base, and you have a good 2, or 3 chances to hit the ball a really long way, and put a big dent in the lead. That's the way Buck Showalter did it, and that's the way the Texas offense needs to be run, especially in the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, one of the most hitter-friendly parks in the game.

Wait a second. No. It's not Washington. It couldn't be! Yep, let's keep him around (the guys in charge) and fire the little guys. Art Howe (bench coach/infield instructor) and Matt Walbeck (third base coach/catching instructor) were fired recently. Walbeck because he "didn't mesh" with Ron Washington all too well, and Howe because the team just felt like they need some fresh voices in the clubhouse. Howe has been there for a year. How old could his voice be to those guys? Common...

Earlier in the season, they fired their pitching coach, Mark Connor, hoping to spark the pitching staff to pitch better. And what happened? Nothing. Change was stagnant at best, and Connor was meaninglessly left without a job. The players even expressed their remorse for the decision to let Connor go. So, there you have it. The Texas Rangers solution to all of their problems is to fire everyone, except for the guys running the show. As a life-long Ranger fan, I couldn't be more disappointed with the administration of this baseball team, and I'm finding it harder and harder to mend my heart after each season when they pull stuff like this, because I end up realizing that next season in all actuality probably won't be any better.