According to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via Bucs Dugout), Pittsburgh Pirates’ bench coach Jeff Banister will interview for the open managerial spot for the Texas Rangers. This is the second time we have heard Banister’s name mentioned for a managerial opening. He was interviewed by the Houston Astros, who decided to go with A.J. Hinch.
Banister has never managed in the big leagues. He has spent 29 seasons with the Pirates, managing five of those seasons in the minors. He has also managed two years of winter ball and he is about to begin his second season of managing in the Arizona Fall League.
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball.
When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.
Hope he does not say in an interview that he learned a lot about field managing from Hurdle.
Ha ha….Now now leadoff, be nice.
He obviously feels he’s ready…I hope he gets an opportunity and we’ll hopefully make the right decision on who to bring into the dugout next for the Buccos.
Wouldn’t be surprised to see these kinds of stories with NH being the one other franchises are trying to get.
GMs rarely move on. If Neal did decide to move it would be a real indictment of Nutting . In time Pirates will lose some coaches. Thats a good thing because it means we are successful. I wish only good things for our coaches.I see a bright future with our team. Its going to be an another interesting off season. I hope we address our needs prior to the season starting.
This would be a hard loss but a great opportunity for Jeff Bannister. he deserves the opportunity. I think soon we may see hitting Coach Jeff Branson coveted as well. He’s did some fantastic work with our hitters this year and I think he had a lot to do with Neil Walker’s breakout season and possibly Josh Harrison. he also deserves much credit for the new look Starling Marte laying off 2 strike breaking balls. Marte’s got huge upside and I predict he will have a monster season in 2015 . I predicted Walker to hit 275 with 22 Hrs last year and I was real close. hope I am right when I say Marte will hit 295 with 21 Hrs next year
Chris, the A’s Brandon Moss is publicly crediting Jeff Bannister for fixing the holes in his swing. He said that at the All-Star game this year. He said that the Pirates brass and later the Phillies wouldn’t give him another shot at the big leagues. Only Oakland would.
Why would the Pirates have given Moss another shot ? I thought they gave him plenty of time to stick, but he never, ever showed them very much at all.