X-rays on Placido Polanco’s finger come back negative

By Drew SilvaMar 18, 2012, 8:45 AM EDT
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The Phillies received a bit of good news Sunday morning when, according to Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer, X-rays turned up negative on the left ring finger of infielder Placido Polanco.

Polanco jammed the finger Saturday in a Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays while diving back to first base on a pickoff attempt. He was removed from the batting order and sent straight to the trainer’s table for monitoring. But all is well.

Polanco is considered day-to-day and should be cleared to return to action at some point early this week. The 36-year-old third baseman is 9-for-17 (.529) with three RBI, two runs scored and one stolen base through his first six spring games.

Texas Rangers fire manager Jeff Banister

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By Craig CalcaterraSep 21, 2018, 2:08 PM EDT
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The Texas Rangers just announced that they have fired Jeff Banister as the team’s manager. Bench coach Don Wakamatsu has been named interim manager for the remainder of 2018 season.

Banister was in the last year of his contract with the club, but there was an option for 2019. Rangers brass, obviously, has decided to go in a different direction following what will be the club’s worst finish in Banister’s tenure. At the moment the Rangers are 64-88 and are assured of last place in the AL West.

Banister was hired before the 2015 season and led the Rangers to first place finishes in each of his first two seasons, willing the Manager of the Year Award in 2015. The club fell to a disappointing third place and a 78-84 record last season, however and, after an offseason that neither helped the Rangers rebuild OR reload, this season the descent has continued.

Injuries and under achievement has been the order of the day for the past two years and, with the career of Adrian Beltre nearing its end and the Rangers having been passed up by the Astros as the class of the division, a full rebuild is in the club’s future. Even if that was not the case, however, recently there have been some reports about Banister having trouble communicating with his players, suggesting that, perhaps, the Rangers would move on from him even if the results on the field had been better.

Banister ends his reign as the Rangers’ skipper with a record of 325-313.