Ron Washington gives his take on the Texas Rangers’ 2014

Texas Rangers’ manager Ron Washington made an appearance on a local radio station to talk about what he expects from his club in 2014.

When asked about the impact of the loss on Derek Holland, Washington said that it definitely has an impact, but it also allows another player to step up. As for the knee issue for Holland being caused by his dog, Wash jokingly asked why Wrigley (Derek’s dog) didn’t get out of the way.

Wash was also asked about the players that he expected to step up in Holland’s place.

"We got guys in that bullpen that have started before in their career…there’s three or four relievers that…have started before. We want to look in our organization first, but that doesn’t stop us from looking outside of the organization. We got Tepesch…we got Scheppers…we got Ross…you never know who will be the one to step up."

When asked about possibly limiting Alexi Ogando’s innings in order to keep him around for a full season, Washington said that could be an option, but he believes in Ogando and the stuff he has out there. He did mention that the club knows Ogando’s worth as a reliever and that that could be a plan to fall back on.

With regards to infielder Jurickson Profar, the Rangers’ skipper said that Profar is a different guy when it comes to playing the field and that the only thing Profar will have to worry about is fighting. He mentioned there would be some adversity, but that the coaching staff in Texas would be more than willing to help him through that adversity, but as long as Profar, who Wash said was called up last year out of necessity, gave an effort, he would be okay.

He was also asked about what to do as it relates to free agent acquisition Shin-Soo Choo and his problems versus left handed pitchers. Wash responded by saying that he would not platoon Choo and that they would just hope and work with him on getting his problems worked out.

What was Wash’s opinion on the massive contract that Masahiro Tanaka signed with the Yankees? ‘It’s the Yankees. Is anyone surprised?’

Ron does believe that the AL West is a very balanced division and should be as competitive, if not moreso, than the AL East. He believes that the Rangers will fight and be in it until the end.

The subject of his contract came up, and the fact that he hasn’t been extended yet. Washington simply replied that he was neutral and that for the moment, he has a job and will do what he can to help the Texas Rangers win as many games as possible. He believes that the rest of the details will work themselves out.

As it stands, Washington is in the final year of his contract. General Manager Jon Daniels has gone on record as saying he would like to see Washington’s work in Texas continue and has also said that he would be willing to work out an extension with the man who has led the Rangers to more wins than any other manager in team history.