Will Rangers manage to mess it up again?

Scanning the job security situation in local jockdom, there's some weirdness to consider.

The Mavericks ousted Avery Johnson and now they have hired Avery Johnson. The new guy goes by a different name, but his NBA rap sheet says he's accused of the exact alleged basketball sins that made Avery unacceptable to the Cubans.

The Cowboys, of course, have the head coach in waiting peering daily over the shoulder of the seated head coach.

Meanwhile, the Rangers have in the dugout a dead-skipper-still-walking two seasons into his expected burial, and a manager who last week received one of the strangest "vote of confidence" messages ever uttered anywhere.

Ron Washington, we were told, might or might not have his job security addressed "at the All-Star break [mid-July]."

Congratulations, Mr. Washington. You will survive Mother's Day, Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Father's Day and Independence Day.

Frankly, I'm shocked Washington wasn't gone by May Day.

Owner Tom Hicks admitted last week on Babe Laufenberg's Channel 11 show that a managerial firing had been "very close." By the way, it still is. One long losing streak, even before July, and he can be whacked.

If I'm Ron, however, I'm insulted enough to tell the guy behind that All-Star game quote, general manager Jon Daniels, where to stick it. But that's one of Ron's problems. Apparently, he doesn't tell Daniels where to stick it.

Daniels, for the record, has already admitted he doesn't have the final say on Washington's job. Nolan Ryan will make that call, and while Nolan's patience has been tested, there figures to be a good reason he's moving slowly on Washington, particularly after a gruesome April for the Rangers.

Ryan doesn't have a managerial replacement ready to take over. And he may not until the fall. This time of year, they are hard to find. Plus, Ryan has said repeatedly he wants to be fair in evaluating all team employees. He definitely has been. Too much so, in my opinion.

Two points, however:

(1) Leaving Washington hanging out there is chicken-spit. Nolan needs to either fire this man or guarantee him the full season. Daniels made a youthful GM blunder by going public with a possible execution date. You don't do that!

(2) And if Washington is fired, then please do the right thing and also fire Daniels, who hired Ron, and the way I continually hear it, also calls the shots on roster moves, along with giving the manager orders on who should be in the lineup.

Despite what it looks like from here, and here's what it's looked like the last 18 months:

Ron was the wrong hire to start with; he's way in over his head; and he's simply a yes-man for Daniels.

I've got to admit, Washington amuses me with his survival skills. Actually, I'm about to become a "Wash" fan.

A season ago, he seemed buried by the end of May, only to have a grab-butt collection of talent respond with one of the best records in baseball over the final 3 1/2 months. That saved Washington's job at the time.

But a new season opened in April, with Nolan as the team's new sheriff, and the Rangers were the worst team in baseball for the first month. With, however, another grab-butt collection of talent, the club has suddenly rebounded. They've won five straight series. Good stuff, even if it might only delay the inevitable.

If nothing else, here's what it also looks like from here:

Washington doesn't "lose" his players; they don't quit on him; and based on the low level of talent he's working with, the latest hot streak is a credit to him doing something right.

Can you fire a manager when the team is on this kind of winning roll? Sure, if you are already convinced he's not the right man for the long term. But again, it comes down to having a long-term replacement ready to move in. Firing Washington and giving the job to someone on an interim basis would seem to be a waste of time, but it's better than Ron twisting in the wind.

Streaks, hot and cold, come and go over the long course of a season. A hot one is happening now, and it's been fun to watch (I still say Mark Connor can somehow do more with less mound talent than your normal pitching coach). But a manager has to be judged on a different scale, particularly one with barely two seasons on the job. Plus, with Washington, you have to ask how much authority he actually has when it comes to the 25-man roster or lineup decisions.

With both, the manager must always have the power to do what he wants. There will be denials that Washington doesn't have that power, but can Daniels really say he's not making some of these decisions?

Any good general manager I've ever known has this philosophy:

The day they can walk into the manager's office and dictate who to play, or to bring up or send down, that's the day the GM knows he has the wrong guy in charge of the dugout.

Plenty of times, I've thought Washington was the wrong guy. Then again, he's building a case that the blame belongs above him, and the credit should flow more his way.

Randy Galloway can be heard 3-6 p.m. weekdays on Galloway & Co. on ESPN/103.3 FM.