Texas Ranger general manager Jon Daniels joined KTCK-AM 1310 on Wednesday to discuss all things baseball, including the recent resignation of Rangers manager Ron Washington. Here are the highlights:
On if he could have ever conceived of a situation of baseball-lifer Ron Washington walked away from a job.
Daniels: “No not really, Norm. This was certainly not something that we anticipate on any level for this reason or ever. Like you said Wash, knowing him over the years and knowing about him beforehand and just kind of who he is and what’s important tot him in his life and how huge the game is for him and this job. To go back in time, he was a little bit of a dark-horse candidate back in’06 when we hired him. I think people were skeptical of the hire at the time and the market really grew and the industry really grew to love and respect him for who he is and what he does between the lines and the way he handles the media and the way — the whole deal. I think anybody that’s watched that over the years from whatever vantage point you have, you would not have expected something like this.”
On if it’s possible the public will never know what Washington is dealing with:
Daniels: “Man, I don’t know, Norm. You know as well as I do, in today’s information age, with the way that information moves, the competition among, and I mean that in a positive, and not in a negative way at all, the competition among media to find information, be the first to report it, social media, the whole deal — I just don’t really think things stay quiet in general. I can always anticipate that things come out and hit the daylight at some point. I’ve been part of things that never did, nothing on this scale, but I’ve been aware of things that never came to life. It’s possible, but I think you always have to anticipate that things will come out.”
On some of the darts being thrown about why Washington left, and if he was pushed out:
Daniels: “No. No. Again, it would benefit me from that standpoint, if I could clear it up because — to address some of those things – I shouldn’t say benefit me, it would put an end to some of that silliness. The bottom line is: people are going to do and say what they want to do and say, but there is zero truth to it. It had nothing to do with baseball. It had nothing to do with me. It had nothing to do with an issue with anybody in the organization. Anybody that’s suggesting it did or that they know are full of it; they don’t know what they’re talking about. They’re just trying to make waves and take their turn in the spotlight.”
