The Oakland A’s have stealthily surged, winning 18 of their past 22 games and have ultimately taken over the Rangers by a half game atop the AL West. Meanwhile, the Rangers find themselves at the lowest point of the season thus far.

Over their past 17 games, the Rangers have gone 7-10 and have been outscored by a total of 79 to 64 during that span (the blowout in Boston certainly did not help the team’s run differential here, so keep that in mind).

Dare we remember to forget this solemn stretch of baseball?

Absolutely.

The simplicity of the nuances of the game of baseball may indeed be simple beyond comprehension. Between every game, between every run, between every play and between every pitch, the game of baseball is a complete roll of the dice.

Over the duration of 162 games, those millions of rolls of the dice tend to accumulate and accurately illustrate the true nature of a baseball team through its win-loss record. Considering that at the moment, the Rangers’ season presents more tomorrows than yesterdays, there is plenty of time to awaken from this meandering slumber and accumulate a greater total of rolls of the dice.

The current situation, regardless of its worrisome evinces, is not indicative of the whole nor the expected sum of the team. In general, the dice are fickle. Just take the current run that the A’s are on as an example. There is zero chance that Oakland can keep playing at this high of a level and on the contrary, it is extremely unlikely that Texas continues to struggle in this current fashion.

Now that we have established that Mr. Sandman has indeed neglected us during this solemn stretch of baseball, it is prudent that I explore something that has been bothering me for the past couple of seasons, but has only surfaced as a main point of concern in 2013.

That concern is Ron Washington’s in-game management decisions (or lack thereof).

I am absolutely certain that every team’s manager makes questionable decisions, but I am also very sure that other team’s managers do not make such a high frequency and magnitude of questionable decisions as Ron Washington.

At the moment, it is currently impossible to quantify to what degree managers affect a team’s win-loss record, but it is not too presumptuous to assume that if such a metric did exist, that Ron Washington would find himself at, or near the very bottom amongst the worst managers in baseball.

That is not to say that Washington is not an excellent motivator and coach, but strictly how his in-game decisions and tendencies would affect a team’s win-loss record.

For the most part, when the Rangers have won, it seems as if Washington’s managerial flaws have been obscured, but when the Rangers lose, Washington’s tactics draw deserved dissension.

So I ask you, at what point does Washington’s in-game decision making become a burden to the club, if his decisions have not already been a burden and continue to be so?

I am not the type who places concern on topics that are not deserving, but Ron Washington is certainly a topic of concern going forward.

I can only hope that Mr. Sandman is the culprit behind me witnessing Ron Washington having Jurickson Profar bunt in a tie game with nobody out and Elvis Andrus on second base…

Wait, what?

Okay, enough caustic derision.

In actuality, the 2013 team is not perfect (no team is), but the Rangers are far from needing to do anything. Rather than fall victim to the media pundits and their compulsively heedless propensity to identify and/or regurgitate “story lines”—the things of ESPN Sunday Night Baseball broadcasts, refer to the facts.

As I have already mentioned, the Rangers are in a position in which the team does not need to do much of anything different in order to legitimately compete. As a matter of fact, the Texas Rangers still remain as one of baseball’s most well-rounded organizations. Sure, a trade or two is a want at the moment, but it is certainly not a need. Teams in desperation have needs, the Rangers are in a position of wants.

Despite being an annual buyer at the trade deadline for the past three seasons, the Rangers still boast a unanimous top ten farm system. Despite losing such arms as Colby Lewis, Neftali Feliz and Matt Harrison to the DL, the Rangers’ pitching has posted the 4th best FIP in MLB at 3.64 (7th best xFIP). Despite losing major contributors to the offense during the offseason, the Rangers’ offense has posted the 10th best wRC+ in MLB at 102, along with scoring the 10th most runs in all of MLB. Despite every narrative that has been spun by these media pundit spiders with the intentions of snaring readers and followers within their webs, the Rangers are doing just fine.

The grandest of all illusions is convincing the audience of a farce. For the most part, Rangers fans seem rather convinced that the team has an abundance of needs. For the most part, Rangers fans are seized by this radical notion. Disappointingly for this fraction of Rangers fans, they have fallen victim to narratives—the grandest of all illusions, except there is nothing subtle or magical about this trick.

In reality, the 2013 team has competed admirably to this point. Reinforcements are soon to come. The farm system is as deep and loaded as it needs to be in order to accomodate the impending wants. 

Relax, the Rangers are fine.

Photo Courtesy of Yardbarker

The Rangers are starting a three game series against the Red Sox tonight and I have some thoughts going into this game. Every now and then I will be posting my thoughts and musings for Rangers fans to read and comment on. Agree or disagree, I hope to hear from you.

Ian Kinsler is the second baseman of the first place Texas Rangers, there is no disputing that. We all k ow the loyalty than manager Ron Washington shows to his veteran players, and it is going to be no different in this situation. That does not mean, however, that Ian Kinsler is the Rangers second baseman of the future. He is not. Jurickson Profar is. In the same vein that Michael Young moved to make room for then young phenom Elvis Andrus, Ian will be doing the same thing. In 2014. Not in 2013. Profar will get sent down upon Ian’s return, but don’t lose heart Rangers fans, he will be back this season.

Leonys Martin has seen most of the playing time in the past few weeks at center field, and for the most part he seems to be relishing that role. So what does that mean for Craig Gentry? Well, right now the Rangers have 5 outfielders: David Murphy, Leonys Martin, Nelson Cruz, Jeff Baker, and Craig Gentry. Cruz will not be back in 2014, and neither will Craig Gentry in my opinion. The Rangers should look to move Cruz during this season and see what they could get for him. The Rangers could use an insurance starting pitcher or a couple of pitching prospects. I think Cruz at the head of a package could bring that. Cruz can bring a huge bat to the middle of a contending line up. If the Rangers plan on moving Kinsler to the outfield, right field would be the most logical place for him, and that means no Nelly. Just something to think about.

The Rangers have a three game set against the Bo Sox, which is underway right now. This is going to be a tough road trip for the Texas Rangers, playing Boston and Toronto, and for some reason the Rangers always seem to have trouble in Toronto. Maybe that will change this season. We will have to wait and see.