Who should be the next Rangers manager? One player floated his ideas

Only two games to go. Not that anyone’s counting.

The Texas Rangers aren’t exactly finishing with a flourish, either.

They have lost 4 of 5 games on this season-ending road trip, and five of their past seven, nine of their past 13 and 31 of their past 48.

They can’t win 70 games this season, but they can lose 95. That would match the injury-wrecked 2014 team for the second-most in the past 33 seasons.

The good news is that the Rangers won’t have a very high bar to reach to be better next season. The bad news is that it might be too high.

Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a 12-6 loss Friday to the Seattle Mariners.

1. The managerial search is taking shape. Sure, general manager Jon Daniels has a list of candidates he and his staff are trying to pare down, but he’s not revealing any names other than interim manager Don Wakamatsu.

The Star-Telegram did its list of potential candidates last weekend, and one player, who didn’t want to be identified, said that three of his top four were on the list. A fourth was on a supplemental list.

Carlos Beltran, Raul Ibanez, Sandy Alomar Jr. and Wakamatsu.

The first two are former players not far removed from the game. Beltran, who played for the Rangers to finish the 2016 season, didn’t retire until after last season.

Alomar, another former Rangers player in 2005, is a respected first-base coach for Cleveland. Added bonus: He lives in Dallas.

Wakamatsu, the player said, is easy to talk to and has a great way of explaining things. If geography is a factor, Wakamatsu lives in Keller.

Daniels didn’t give any insight into the list the Rangers are working on or what traits they are seeking in candidates. The guy who gets the job will have to be patient, and endure a bumpy season or two, maybe more, before the Rangers are contenders again.

Would Beltran have that kind of patience? Would Job?

Circle back in a week or two on that one.

2. Martin Perez threw 10 pitches in the first inning, which included a walk that was quickly erased by a double play.

He threw 45 pitches in the second inning, which he could not finish. Included was 10 pitches to the final batter he faced, who ended up walking to force in a run.

That walk was the fifth issued by Perez, meaning he walked as many batters as he recorded outs. Granted, he didn’t get a lot of help as Ronald Guzman couldn’t flag down a foul pop-up and as Nomar Mazara a flyball the batter after Perez left. Both would have ended the second inning with only two runs in instead of the seven (two earned) that ended up scoring.

It was yet another frustrating start for Perez and for those who still believe that Perez is just a coaching tip or a heart-to-heart or a aw-the-hell-with-it moment that turns things around (Nelson Cruz had one of those).

Perez was really wild, which isn’t usual. His fastball also hit 97 a couple times, which also isn’t usual. The performance was just a new way in which he wasn’t good, which has been usual this season.

It’s been chronicled the past month since Perez was sent to the bullpen. The Rangers aren’t going to pick up his $7.5 million option, but would consider re-signing him for less. Much less.

Perez doesn’t want to go anywhere, but he also wants to be a starter.

The Rangers need starters in 2019.

Yes, there’s a chance, but it doesn’t look like much of one after his final start of the season.

“I don’t think about that,” Perez said. “Tough season, man. When you have a tough season, you have to learn from it and come back next season and put everything together.”

3. Daniels rejoined the team at Safeco Field after spending Thursday in San Diego at the Don Welke On Deck Classic, a doubleheader featuring Rangers and Padres prospects at Petco Park.

It was the second year for the games, but the first year with its current title after Welke, the former Rangers and Padres scout who died last week.

Daniels said that several prospects made an impression as the Rangers swept both games. He like the way second-rounder Owen White pitched. First-rounder Cole Winn threw a scoreless inning, and fourth-rounder Mason Englert, from Forney, tossed two scoreless innings.

Offensively, center fielder Bubba Thompson was “electric,” Daniels said. The 2017 first-round pick hit a home run in the second game. That’s not easy to do at Petco.

The problem with all the names Daniels rattled off, and he rattled off about a dozen, is that none of them played above Double A this season. The prospects who have a chance at playing for the Rangers next year Taylor Hearn, Jonathan Hernandez and Joe Palumbo — were at Double A this season.

See why that new manager is going to need a lot of patience?

This story was originally published September 29, 2018 at 12:57 AM.