The Rangers hired Ron Washington as their manager in 2007. They wanted a manager who would be the anti-Buck Showalter. They felt Washington's light approach would get guys to play at a high level after being worn down by Showalter's micromanagement.
Washington did not start out well in his first year as the Rangers manager. His team got off to a rough start, and he did not get along with Mark Teixeira.
Washington did not like Teixeira swinging for the fences. He wanted his slugger to play small ball, which did not go over well.
From there, the petulant slugger pouted after the rookie manager had the courage to call him out. Guess Teixeira could not handle taking orders after being patted in the back by everyone since his childhood days. It became a culture shock for him.
Folks wondered if Washington was going to make it in his rookie season. Teixeira was the face of the franchise, and he was a star that ran the clubhouse. Whatever he says, players had to follow. There was no question he was leading a revolt to get Washington fired.
It said a lot about the insecurity of Teixeira. The Rangers did the right thing in trading their moody star to the Braves. The team won nothing with him, and he was going to leave as a free agent. They sent a message that no one is bigger than the team in the process.
With the exception of the Braves, everyone came out as a winner in this deal. Let's count the ways:
The Rangers received a lot in return for a chronic loser in their deal with the Braves. Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Jarrod Saltamacchia, Matt Harrison and Beau Jones were the guys that the Rangers got in that trade. It was thought Harrison and Saltamacchia would be the core players on that team, but it turned out Andrus and Feliz were, and both players played a role in getting the Rangers to where they are today.
Teixeira won because he got out of a losing situation rather than being part of the solution. Sure, he failed to get the Braves to the playoffs, but he didn't care. All he was thinking about was his free agency in 2008. He made it a point to tell the Braves that he was going to explore free agency after the 2007 offseason, and it was translated as for them to go trade him before getting nothing in return.
Eventually, Teixeira signed with the Yankees after misleading the Red Sox into thinking he would sign with them. What the current Yankees first baseman did was pull a LeBron James. Rather than be the man, he decided to go play for a team that buys a championship rather than leading a to team one. It says a lot about his character and lack of courage.
Teixeira can show off his championship ring, but the biggest winner of all was Washington. Make no mistake. If Washington were fired, he would never again manage in baseball, especially with him being in his late 50s.
Rangers general manager Jon Daniels showed faith towards his beleaguered manager, and it paid off. The team improved every year under Washington, and it shows in the development of the players. The Rangers made the playoffs in Washington's fourth year with the team, which was this year.
Washington is three wins away now from leading the Rangers to their first ever World Series berth. That would be a neat story if that took place, especially in front of Teixeira.
Quite frankly, it's surprising Washington is even managing. Everyone figured he would be gone as soon as Nolan Ryan took over the baseball operations, but he made a good impression on Ryan, and here he is.
Question the Rangers manager's decision all you want, and it is hilarious that Yankees fans and Yankee bobo Michael Kay question him considering their team's manager is nothing to write home about. The bottom line is, guys play for the manager, which is the important thing a team wants out of their manager. Plus, which manager is a great strategist? And no, please don't make this writer laugh by mentioning Girardi.
With the ALCS, there is no question sportswriters want to fill the pages of the newspaper by reverting that feud. Washington addressed it with New York Daily News sportswriter Roger Rubin on Thursday, and Teixeira basically thought Washington was full of it. The former Ranger have done all he could to pretend his time with the Rangers did not exist by not mentioning his teammates and his time there.
Deep down, he can't handle the fact the team has done well without him. It's bothering him. It's only human nature to feel that way when a team does well after that player moved on, especially in the fashion he left.
With that delusional ego of his, he probably thought the franchise would never be the same after his departure. Not many Rangers fans remember him anymore. How could they? No one went to the games when he played, and the team did not have a huge following in his time there.
Obviously, when the Rangers drafted him, everyone figured he would lead them to a championship. He had the glove and the bat to show he can do it. What he didn't have was his ability to lead, especially when the going got tough.
Please don't mention he was a leader as a Yankee or he is a natural Yankee. It's easy to play that role when he can be one of the guys rather than being a guy, which was not the case with the Rangers.
To his credit, he does not go off and act like he is a star of the team. He never talks about his impact on the team. He talks about his teammates more often than not, which was not the case in New York.
With the Rangers, it was me, myself and I with Tex. With the Yankees, it's all about the other guys when he talks to the media. It's a good bet several Yankees told him how it was going to be, and he followed their lead.
He has done well in two years with the Yankees, even if he rubs people the wrong way by commenting about the antics of Vincent Padilla, Carlos Gomez and Matt Garza.
After his clumsy departure and watching him as a Yankee, count this observer for rooting for a nice story, which is the Rangers going to the World Series without Teixeira.
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