Texas Rangers interview three manager candidates, per reports

The Texas Rangers have interviewed Jayce Tingler, Brandon Hyde, and Joe Espada, per the beat guys on Twitter. These are the first of what I would assume will be 7 to 10 interviews before the team decides on its finalists.

Tingler, 37, was a minor league Rule 5 pick of the Rangers before the 2005 season, and after playing in the Rangers system in 2005 and 2006, he became a minor league coach in 2007. Tingler has been working in various roles, both on and off the field, since then, including stints as a minor league manager, a minor league field coordinator, the major league field coordinator for the Rangers in 2015 and 2016, and as an assistant general manager the past two seasons. After Jeff Banister was let go towards the end of the 2018 season, Tingler was named as the bench coach for the remainder of the season. Tingler was also a focal point of the Jon Daniels/Nolan Ryan drama earlier this decade, as Ryan’s decision to name Tim Purpura the team’s director of player development after 2011, overruling Daniels, who wanted Tingler to fill the job, was a apparently a major source of contention.

Tingler is also rumored to be in one of the names the Minnesota Twins are considering for their vacant managerial job. Tingler is well regarded, though one may wonder if he’s ready for a big league manager position just yet.

Hyde, 45, is the bench coach for the Chicago Cubs currently, and has been a coach with the Marlins and the Cubs since the 2010 season. Interestingly, Espada, 43, spent the 2011-13 season on the same coaching staff with the Marlins as Hyde — Espada was the third base coach, while Hyde was the bench coach. Espada was a special assistant to Brian Cash,an in 2014 before becoming the Yankees third base coach from 2015-17. Espada is currently the bench coach for the Houston Astros.