Ron Washington was named the Rangers' new manager today. It states to obvious to say that it's too bad he's leaving the A's. Washington was given nearly all the credit for turning Eric Chavez into the dominant defensive player that he is, and got good marks for his work with all the infielders. He's also a fan favorite, at least as evidenced by the reaction on the A's message board at scout.com when it started to become clear that the Rangers were going to be making him an offer.

As with all new managers, it remains to be seen how he'll fare in that role, and this might be his one shot at the manager post, particularly considering that he'll turn 55 at the beginning of next season. Bob Geren, by contrast (likely to be named the A's manager sometime toward the end of this month, I'd guess), turned 45 a few months ago. That's the difference between playing your final game at the age of 37 (Washington) and 31 (Geren).

Interesting factoid about Geren, by the way, is that he was the player to be named later in the winter, 1980, trade that involved, among others, Rollie Fingers, Gene Tenace, Terry Kennedy, and Steve Swisher (father of A's first baseman / outfielder Nick).