The Texas Rangers interviewed Dusty Wathan and Don Wakamatsu as part of their search for a new team manager, per the beat guys. Both individuals had been expected to interview.
Wakamatsu, a long time bench coach who interviewed for the Rangers manager job after the 2006 season, ultimately being passed over for Ron Washington, was a manager for the Mariners from 2009 until late 2010. The Rangers brought him on as Jeff Banister’s bench coach for 2018, and he took over as interim manager after Banister was fired late in the year. Wathan, meanwhile, is a long-time minor league manager in the Phillies system who joined new manager Gabe Kapler’s coaching staff this year.
The Rangers have interviewed eight candidates — along with Wathan and Wakamatsu, Texas has interviewed Jayce Tingler, Joe Girardi, Brandon Hyde, Joe Espada, Rocco Baldelli and David Bell. It isn’t clear if there will be more interviews, or if this is the group the finalists will be selected from.
Of note is that the beats say that Tingler will be on the major league staff in some capacity this year, whether or not he gets the nod as manager.