Banister, Girardi emerging in AL Manager of the Year race
Among this year’s Baseball Writers’ Association of America awards, the American League Manager of the Year might be the most difficult to determine.
Often, “Manager of the Year” is interpreted by the BBWAA as “Turnaround Artist of the Year.” As voters, we’re drawn to managers who preside over the most dramatic year-over-year improvements. To that end, Toronto’s John Gibbons, Minnesota’s Paul Molitor, and Houston’s A.J. Hinch have been viewed as frontrunners since early in the season.
However, the Rangers’ Jeff Banister and Yankees’ Joe Girardi have emerged as strong candidates under somewhat different circumstances.
With Banister, it’s important to remember that the Rangers — not the Astros — finished with the AL’s worst record in 2014. By that score, then, the Rangers have experienced the greater turnaround from ’14 to ’15.
Banister, a 51-year-old in his first big-league managerial job, has squeezed every ounce of performance from a team that lost ace Yu Darvish for the season during spring training. He’s needed 12 different starting pitchers; to date, only two of them — Colby Lewis and Yovani Gallardo — have thrown more than 130 innings for the Rangers this year.
Banister earned the instant respect of veteran Prince Fielder, who reversed a longstanding insistence on playing first base every day. Fielder realized the team would be better off with him at designated hitter and Mitch Moreland in the field, and he told Banister as much. That’s the sort of thing that happens when a manager creates a positive environment.
Meanwhile, Girardi helped the Yankees’ aging, expensive roster answer many questions in the affirmative.
Would Alex Rodriguez be productive during the season in which he turned 40? Could Carlos Beltran stay healthy and contribute down the stretch? Would Mark Teixeira bounce back from a disappointing 2014? Masahiro Tanaka’s elbow ligament? Michael Pineda’s consistency? A bullpen that lacked a proven closer?
Girardi locked in a “yes” to each of those topics, with A-Rod’s sensational season the most unforeseen outcome of all. And Girardi did it while watching 17 different players make their major-league debuts with the Yankees — the most of any team in the majors as of last weekend, according to STATS LLC.
Yankees managers rarely are sentimental favorites when it comes to end-of-year honors, but Girardi deserves strong consideration from the BBWAA — as does Banister, whose Rangers could meet the Yankees in the AL Wild Card Game . . . if they don’t pass Hinch’s Astros before then.
