Let a pretty serious Rangers fan for years now ramble a bit...
Washington isn't a "motivator" type. In fact, he totally turned the clubhouse over to the players when he got there. He expects them to police themselves. He is a naturally likeable, enthusiastic guy in his unpolished way, but he's not the drill sargeant type. That would be the guy before him, Buck Showalter.
One thing both Washington has emphasized from the start is playing fundamental baseball. He's said a million times that "We have to pitch it and catch it -- the hitting will take care of itself." The Rangers this year also lead the majors in productive outs. This is a huge change from the old Rangers that just tried to outslug the other team and bash more home runs than they did. That would work some years in the regular season but always failed in the postseason against better teams.
A few years ago, Mark Teixiera was a great young talent who was also a selfish clubhouse lawyer that wouldn't buy into Washington's team-first attitude. They shipped him off for players that included Feliz and Andrus.
Of course GM Jon Daniels started putting this thing together before Nolan even came on board a couple of years ago. He sold then-owner Tom Hicks on a plan to acquire draft picks, draft young pitchers, and stock the farm system overall. I don't know if that kind of long-term plan would ever work here (or in New York for the Yankees, either). But again, it comes back to what wins, and that's the fundamentals of pitching and defense. It's funny how for years, people insisted that no one could ever pitch in the Rangers home park. But with a dedication to getting good pitchers and killing the mental block that it's impossible, no one says that now.
I still think young talent is the way to go, like with this Rangers team. You have a couple of older vets like Vlad, but most of these guys are young and on the rise. The Yanks are the ones with all the older, high-priced vets.
In short, it's a team with a bunch of young talent that focuses on the time-tested fundamentals, not being flashy like the old days. They're also now owned by a baseball legend who knows what wins and has in place the proper organizational structure. How much does that sound like the Cowboys?
