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Good morning. Does anyone know what the Manager of the Year award looks like? Is there a trophy or plaque? A solid gold bullpen phone?
T.R. Sullivan writes that Jeff Banister deserves to win the Manager of the Year award and it's hard to argue with that as he took a weird, sort of broken team (both in construction and in actual broken body parts) to the best record in the American League in 2016. One problem: He won the award last year.
Levi Weaver has a recap of the last week or so in his Baseball Texas (Occasionally) Daily which includes a fun exchange between Yu Darvish and Jurickson Profar.
MLB.com's Oliver Macklin writes that Ian Desmond officially opted for free agency after rejecting the Rangers' qualifying offer of $17.2 million. This was not a surprise.
Jeff Wilson notes that three teams have already shown interest in Derek Holland though Holland has stated he'd like to remain with the Rangers.
Evan Grant looks at five areas of need for the Rangers this offseason and the available solutions via free agency.
MLB.com's Manny Randhawa notes that Jonathan Lucroy has agreed to catch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic in the spring of 2017.
Finally, Corinne Landrey looks at the historically great season Ian Kinsler had this year as he continues to be one of the best players the Rangers have ever produced despite half you buttholes hating him all the time.
Have a good day!
