Rangers hire Washington as manager

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) _ Ron Washington was hired as manager of the Texas Rangers after serving as coach of the Oakland Athletics the past 11 seasons. <br/><br/>``It's a done deal,'' Rangers

Monday, November 6th 2006, 9:22 am

By: News On 6

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) _ Ron Washington was hired as manager of the Texas Rangers after serving as coach of the Oakland Athletics the past 11 seasons.

``It's a done deal,'' Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said in an e-mail Monday.

The Rangers planned to introduce Washington during an afternoon news conference. Washington is getting a two-year contract that includes two additional option years.

Washington was chosen over four other candidates to replace Buck Showalter. The Rangers fired Showalter after an 80-82 season, their sixth losing season in seven years since last making the playoffs in 1999.

The other finalists were Rangers bench coach Don Wakamatsu and Japan Series-winning manager Trey Hillman, an Arlington native and the Rangers' former director of player development. Both had interviewed with Daniels and owner Tom Hicks last week.

New York Mets third-base coach Manny Acta and Phillies minor league manager John Russell, a former Rangers catcher who caught one of Nolan Ryan's seven no-hitters, also interviewed but neither met with the owner.

Washington, first interviewed last month, met with Hicks, Daniels and other Rangers officials during a second interview Sunday. He had also been a candidate in Oakland to replace fired A's manager Ken Macha.

Wakamatsu has been the Rangers' bench coach the past four years and still has a year left on his contract in Texas.

Showalter was 319-329 in four seasons. The New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks both won the World Series the year after Showalter left them.