ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -Rangers team president Nolan Ryan said a decision hasn’t been made about the future of manager Ron Washington as the Rangers stumble to one of their worst starts in team history.
Ryan spoke to reporters for the first time since he met for several hours Friday with owner Tom Hicks and general manager Jon Daniels after the Rangers returned from a 2-9 road trip.
“I thought it was important to get the team home and see how they responded to what’s happened,” Ryan said before Saturday’s game against the Minnesota Twins. “I think it says something about the makeup of your ballclub how they respond to adversity like that.”
Texas (8-16) entered Saturday with the worst record in the American League, and matched the Rangers’ worst start since moving to Texas in 1972.
The Rangers were outscored 37-10 during a seven-game losing streak which capped their disappointing road trip. Texas snapped the skid with a 6-5 victory over the Twins on Friday night.
“We’re in the process of looking at all aspects of the ballclub,” Ryan said. “It’s just one of those periods you hope you don’t have. We absolutely had a total breakdown in all aspects of our game on that road trip.”
Daniels said on Friday he would not assign blame to one person but passed on chances to put to rest mounting questions about Washington’s job security.
Daniels again offered no assurances for Texas’ second-year manager.
“Baseball is a constant evaluation process,” Daniels said. “We’re going to keep making adjustments. That’s the players, manager, everybody.”
The Rangers also got off to a slow start in Washington’s first season. Texas was 19 games under. 500 and 17 1/2 games out of first place in the American League West.
Texas entered Saturday’s play last in the division and seven games out of first place.
“When you look over your shoulder you’re going to get caught,” Washington said. “My focus is straight ahead. So if I get tapped on the shoulder I’ll look back then. Other than that I’m looking straight ahead.”
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