Jon Heyman says that the Padres are doing “due diligence” on Braves third base coach Ron Washington as a possible candidate for their vacant manager job.
Washington managed the Texas Rangers from 2007 into 2014, winning two pennants and compiling a record of 664-611 (.521). Throughout that time current Padres general manager A.J. Preller was in the Rangers front office, so he is familiar with Washington and his work.
Given the young stars and rising prospects in their system, the Padres job would be an attractive one for anyone. Washington, in turn, has both that winning track record and a long and extremely distinguished coaching resume both before and after his time as the Rangers’ skipper. He’s particularly experienced in working with young infielders, where he helped turn players on both the Oakland Athletics and the Braves — including Eric Chavez, Miguel Tejada and all the way through to Ozzie Albies — into stars. The Padres, of course, have some pretty good young infielders who could be made great with the right guidance and an older one in Manny Machado who would no doubt benefit from Washington’s presence. In light of all of that it seems like a good fit.
Of course, given that Washington’s Braves are still playing in the postseason through at least tomorrow, we won’t know if that Padres’ due diligence and that theoretical good fit are reciprocated by Washington’s interest for a couple of days. He did, after all, leave the Rangers job for personal reasons, so it’s possible that neither he nor his family would be all that interested in getting back into managing. I suppose we’ll see.
