ARLINGTON, Texas -- Texas Rangers manager Buck Showalter's
job appears safe despite another disappointing season that will
almost certainly end without a playoff berth.
Before the Rangers began their final homestand of the season
Thursday night, owner Tom Hicks and general manager Jon Daniels
both indicated there wouldn't be a managerial change.
"There are no plans along that line right now," Daniels said.
Showalter is wrapping up his fourth season, a span during which
Texas hasn't finished better than third in the AL West. The Rangers
haven't been to the playoffs since 1999.
"I've heard nothing from (Daniels) to have me think that he
doesn't continue to support Buck as a manager," Hicks said. "We
need better pitching. That's not Buck's fault. That's J.D.'s job
and my job."
Showalter is 313-320 in Texas, where he has three seasons left
on his contract -- and a team option for 2010. He is 876-824 in 11
seasons overall with the New York Yankees (1992-95), Arizona
(1998-2000) and Texas.
With 15 games left, the Rangers (74-73) are 10 games behind
division-leading Oakland. They opened a 10-game homestand Thursday
night with a 2-1 loss to the second-place Los Angeles Angels.
There have been lingering questions about Showalter since the
Rangers faded after being tied for the division lead at the
All-Star break. They finished July with a 4-11 stretch.
"At some point, people are going to be asking that question
about me," said Daniels, at 29 wrapping up his first season as the
youngest GM in major league history. "Buck's a professional. He's
been doing this a lot longer than I have. It doesn't make it easy
to read that about yourself or to read that about people you care
about and hold in high regard."
The Rangers were home for the first time since Hicks said during
a radio interview last week that his team needed to be "mentally
tougher" and indicated that All-Star shortstop Michael Young was
"not a `captain of the clubhouse' kind of guy."
Hicks said his comments about Young have been taken out of
context.
"I certainly in no way meant anything derogatory about him.
He's the glue of our team, and he knows that," Hicks said.
Young was among several players who shook hands with Hicks and
chatted with the owner on the field before batting practice.
"He assured me he wasn't trying to single me out, the things he
said were not directed at me and he was happy with what I was
doing," Young said. "But it's like my first comments, it was not
about me, it's about defending my team. If my teammates are called
out, I take it as seriously as it being directed at me."