MLB Awards 2015: Three finalists for AL Manager of the Year
By John Buhler
Jeff Banister, Texas Rangers
When Jeff Banister took over the Texas Rangers, many were still wondering how things went so badly in 2014 with the club. Texas finished with the worst record in the American League at 67-95 and fired Ron Washington mid-season, the same man who took the Rangers to their only two World Series to date in 2010 and 2011.
Texas seemed to have their health in 2015 way more than they did in 2014, but perhaps the club needed a new voice more than anything else, saying that they could contend in the top-heavy American League West with the Los Angeles Angels, the Oakland Athletics, and the Seattle Mariners. Both Texas teams were essentially afterthoughts entering the 2015 MLB Season.
Seattle and Oakland struggled mightily, while Houston came out strong and Los Angeles played well, but there was Texas laying in the weeds ready to strike. Once the front office traded for left-handed ace Cole Hamels from the Philadelphia Phillies, then things really took off. The Rangers outplayed most teams in the final two months to capture the AL West crown with an 88-74 record.
Improving a ball club 21 games to win the division when projected to finish fourth or fifth is a big testament to the job Jeff Banister did in his first year as a big league manager with the Texas Rangers. His Rangers team played with more balance than perhaps some of Washington’s American Championship teams a few years back. Winning the AL West in his first year as a big league skipper gives Jeff Banister a great chance to win the 2015 AL Manager of the Year Award.
Next: The Case for A.J. Hinch