Rangers division rival manager could be next after Derek Shelton firing

"Managing is easy, anyone can do it, tell 'em Wash." "It's incredibly hard."

Derek Shelton learned that lesson this week after getting relieved of his duties as the Pittsburgh Pirates manager after starting the season 12-36 in his 6th year.

The next person up might be former Texas Rangers manager and current head man with the Los Angeles Angels, Ron Washington. Washington is in his second season with the Angels and in that timeframe they are 43 games under .500.

After a 63-99 season in 2024 where the team finished last in the American League West, fans weren't optimistic for the year but were presently surprised when the team showed massive spark in the first couple of weeks this year.

Ironically their downfall began during a mid-April weekday series in Arlington against the Rangers after being swept in a three-game set. Since then they are 6-13 in their last 19 games and are currently last in the AL West.

The Shelton firing this early in the year wasn't as shocking because since Shelton took over, Pittsburgh has finished either fourth or fifth in the National League Central. And even the players expressed their lack of shock for the dismissal of their now former manager.

The Angels are 37 games into the season and are 15-22, 7 games back in the division and the second-worst run differential in the American League at -64, which is also the fourth-worst in the league.

Washington was never hired to be a long-term solution for the Angels. He is 73 years old and in the final year of his two-year deal that he agreed to after Los Angeles' fired Phil Nevin. The team's struggles could escalate the move to get them a jumpstart as they search for a manager to lead the team into a fresh start.

We as Rangers' fans can't be throwing stones at glass houses though. There still remains a slight chance that Bruce Bochy gets let go before the 2025 season comes to a close. Bochy is in his final year of his contract and the team is struggling.

Texas already dismissed their hitting coach Donnie Ecker on May 4, so realistically the next option if things don't turn around is Bochy. But time will tell, managers come and go and we can never truly predict what will happen next.