Jeff Banister named 2015 A.L. Manager of the Year

Texas Rangers manager Jeff Banister has been named the American League Manager of the Year.  Banister received 17 first place votes, and was named on 28 of 30 ballots.  Astros manager A.J. Hinch finished second in the balloting, and received 8 first place votes.  Paul Molitor finished third, John Gibbons finished fourth, and Joe Girardi fifth.

Banister, 51, was a first-time major league manager when Texas hired him last year to take over the team.  Ron Washington had been the team's manager from 2007 until late in the 2014 season, when Washington resigned over personal issues.

Banister inherited a club which had the worst record in the American League in 2014, and which was predicted by many to finish last in the A.L. West.  Despite a bad start to the year, and a sub-.500 record in early August, the Rangers silenced the doubters by winning their division, and pushing the Toronto Blue Jays to Game Five of the ALDS.

Banister is the third Rangers manager to ever win the award, along with Buck Showalter and Johnny Oates.