How safe is Ron Washington and Jon Daniels?

Wash out

The Texas Rangers lost again last night 11-3 after a fourth straight inspired pitching performance (clearly, "inspired" is being used liberally here ... but, nonetheless, Matt Harrison, Kam Loe, Scott Feldman and Vicente Padilla have all pitched well over the last four games and they have only one win).

It's their 11 loss in their last 13 and things are falling apart rapidly.

So the question is how safe are the jobs of Ron Washington and Jon Daniels?

Remember, it wasn't that long ago (April) that me and everyone I know predicted the firing of Ron Washington. Allegedly, management was about to pull the plug when they discovered it was his birthday (April 29) and then they had to wait for the team to come back from a road trip. In the meantime, the Rangers started to win. In fact, they continued all the way through July ... in fact, it was Aug. 6 against the New York Yankees. After taking the first two of the series, the Rangers lost, 5-3, and thus the slide has continued.

Did the three-month stretch save his job? I doubt it. Even when they started winning, the message from management was that they would bring the subject back up at the All-Star break.

There's a certain lack of focus for this team. Last night, it was Brandon Boggs and the fly-out error. Bad at-bats coupled with poor relief pitching.

Several things may save Washington: The way he handled the C.J. Wilson issue may have won him brownie points with president Nolan Ryan; the fact that the team did step up and win when his job was on the line; the fact that pitching coaches Mark Connor and Dom Chiti have already been fired; and the hideous amount of injures (Hank Blalock, Ian Kinsler, Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, Eric Hurley, Milton Bradley, David Murphy, et al.).

As for Daniels, it's a different story. He seems to be safer than Washington, but is he really. There's talk that Ryan wants to start bringing in his own people to manage this team. Clearly, some of Daniels' moves have been golden (Murphy, Bradley, Eddie Guardado, Josh Hamilton, Matt Harrison, Neftali Feliz) and his drafting has been darn near superb (Chris Davis, Tommy Hunter, Justin Smoak, Blake Beavan, Mike Main). But it's the bad moves that might kill him.

Last night was a glaring issue. The Rangers faced Tigers righty Armando Galarraga. He was had by the Rangers in the Alfonso Soriano trade to Washington. He was great in the minors last year and was called up in September to minimal success.

Over the off-season, the Rangers take a flier on free agent Jason Jennings. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Rangers traded Galarraga to the Tigers for outfielder Michael Hernandez, who the Rangers released. The day that trade was made, I started the "Fire Jon Daniels!" campaign on Feb. 5. It was a dumb move then and still is.

Now Galarraga sports a 12-4 record with a .219 BAA and a 3.17 ERA. That would look good in a Rangers uniform.

Can Daniels continue to weather the storm? With so many former Rangers doing so well, I don't know if he can. Frankly, we all knew he wouldn't last. He was so young that it was expected of him to make mistakes, but also to hit on some, too. But those misses would always define him.

The prospects he traded for and the guys he drafted will shine under new management.

My prediction: I think Ryan is itching to make changes in the franchise, from top to bottom -- from managers to scouts to minor league guys. Daniels seems a little safer, but should the Rangers continue on this current slide, I could see both gone in October.