"It Wasn't Anything I Did Wrong, He Didn't Do The Job" - Angels Manager Ron Washington Threw His Player Luis Guillorme Directly Under The Bus Last Night
Archie Carpenter. Shutterstock Images.Before we get into the case of Ron Washington Vs. Angels Players, let's examine the evidence.
Here's the play in question. Luis Guillorme (who has been with the team for FIVE TOTAL DAYS) was asked to lay down a bunt in a squeeze play in a one run game in the 8th inning.
Here is Ron Washington's press conference after the game talking about this play.
Well that was a quick deliberation. Ron Washington is guilty. Case closed.
What the fuck? Ron Washington thinks that pitch was a strike? It was a foot outside! It was absolutely Washington's fault that play became a disaster. Why is he calling for a bunt with the bases loaded? Especially with a pitcher in JoJo Romero that threw 31 pitches and only 15 were strikes.
Does Ron Washington just hate Luis Guillorme? Guillorme has only been an Angel for 5 days. Did Guillorme just show up to the clubhouse reminding everyone that Wash had to quit his last job as manager of the Rangers because he was having an affair? Maybe he took a huge shit in Washington's office? Said he hated how Wash was portrayed in Moneyball? I doubt any of that happened but it's the only explanation I can have for throwing a player under the bus like this. You know you are being unfair when the media is giving reasons why the player didn't do anything wrong.
I don't think Ron Washington has been a bad manager in his career. I do think he was a terrible hire. In fairness, he has been to two World Series and up until last season was probably the greatest manager in Rangers history. But he also is 72 years old and hasn't managed since 2014.
Despite Arte Moreno who keeps trying to fool himself that this is a good team, the Angels are terrible. If any team could use a young manager that can grow with the younger players, it's the Angels. I'm guessing the thought process was that Washington could be more of a mentor than a manager at times. But it's clearly not working and I know Guillorme is new to the team but he is a veteran and I doubt this is going to instill much confidence in the locker room.
There is no team in the AL with a worse team ERA than the Angels. Mike Trout won't be back until July at the earliest. I get that Wash is frustrated but he's been around baseball forever. He had to have understood what he signed up for. But if I'm Luis Guillorme and Ron Washington asked me to lay down a bunt again, it would be really tough not to tell him to go fuck himself.
