The last-place Texas Rangers are making a change in the dugout.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Rangers have fired manager Jeff Banister with ten games remaining in the season.
Banister out as #Rangers manager, source confirms. First reported: @Evan_P_Grant. No word yet on interim replacement. Bench coach Don Wakamatsu logical candidate.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) September 21, 2018
The Rangers confirmed the news shortly thereafter.
The Texas Rangers announced today that Jeff Banister has been dismissed as the team’s manager. Bench coach Don Wakamatsu has been named interim manager for the remainder of 2018 season effective immediately.
— John Blake (@RangerBlake) September 21, 2018
Benister went 325-313 in a four-year tenure as Texas manager. That included two playoff appearances, though the Rangers failed to win a series in either year. He had one year remaining on his contract and after a 64-88 season, the Rangers clearly saw fit to simply move on now and get the building blocks in place with a new manager ahead of their move to a new stadium in 2020. As Banister was one of the managers with shaky job security, this doesn’t come as a huge shock.
