The Rangers' pitiful start has nothing to do in form or fashion with Johnny Oates. But a team can't get rid of players who have huge, multi-year contracts. At this time of year a club like the Rangers can't trade for anyone who would be a necessary improvement. The players who would make an improvement don't become available until after the All-Star break, when teams have fallen out of the race and are looking to dump payroll. So if a club needs to make a change and can't do it on the roster, everyone looks to the manager.
Coming into this season, there is no way the Rangers' pitching could hold a candle to their offense. Everyone felt great about the Rangers as an offensive team, just as everyone -- especially Oates -- understood pitching was going to be their weakness. It's not like they were totally hopeless. Kenny Rogers, Rick Helling and Darren Oliver have all had good years. Johnny and the Rangers needed all of those guys to click right away, and that didn't happen. Which is not to say it can't or won't. Everyone is talking about how this club needs pitching. Well, no kidding. But it ain't growin' on trees.
People forget the sorry state the Rangers were in before Johnny came along. He is one of the most moral and ethical people in the game. There's nothing Johnny would have liked more than to stay in Texas and lead that club to a world championship. But he did what he thought would be best for his team, not for himself. Not many managers would do what Johnny did Friday.
Buck Showalter, who managed for seven years in the big leagues, is an analyst for ESPN's Baseball Tonight and Baseball Today. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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