Most of the chatter before today was that interim manager Tim Bogar was the favorite to take over as the next Rangers manager. Now Ken Rosenthal reports that it’s Pirates bench coach Jeff Banister:
Sources: #Rangers to hire #Pirates’ Banister as manager.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) October 16, 2014
Banister has been the Pirates bench coach for the past four seasons. He has been with the Pirates since he was drafted by them in 1986. He got one major league at bat with them and it was a hit. So he has a career 1.000 batting average. Which is pretty sweet.
After his playing career ended at the end of the 1993 season he became a full-time coach and manager in the Pirates system and has held various positions in the organization since. The Rangers job will be his first for anyone other than the Pirates.
In an age where teams are hiring former big leaguers with no experience, the Rangers have gone decidedly old school here and hire someone who not only worked their way up through the system, but lived, breathed and basically became one with the system over decades.
