Rangers president Nolan Ryan and general manager Jon Daniels tried to dispel any notion that manager Ron Washington's job was in jeopardy just 12 games into the season.
"I think Ron's fine," Ryan told reporters Monday. "I don't see anything that concerns me. I think that he's done a good job." The Rangers enter a seven-game road trip 5-7 through their first dozen games during a stretch that seemed to promise a good start. The Rangers faced Cleveland, Detroit, Baltimore and Kansas City in the stretch, with nine of the 12 games at home.
Poor April starts have been the one constant of Washington's tenure in Texas. His clubs are 25-40 in his three Aprils in Texas. The Rangers are winless in their three road games to this point and have lost seven of their last nine after sweeping Cleveland to start the season.
"You have to look at the overall picture; you don't just look at the record," Ryan said. "If you ask me where I would like to be today versus where we are, I would like to see our record flip-flopped. Do I think that's Ron's fault that we're not over .500? No, I really don't. When you analyze the ballclub and the performances, I think you can see where we've fallen short in games we've lost."
Daniels said: "Ron's our manager. I read a lot of stuff, but there's been zero discussions internally to the contrary. We believe in this team. We believe in this staff."
Washington was nearly fired last April, but the Rangers rallied late in the month and carried the rally though much of the summer until ineffective pitching and injuries caught up with them.
