Now that the Texas Rangers have resolved their first order of business this offseason, the team is working to finalize the rest of Jeff Banister‘s coaching staff. Two of the biggest questions that remain center around the fates of hitting coach Dave Magadan and pitching coach Mike Maddux.
Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports that the team is hoping to resolve things on both fronts within the week.
Magadan still has a year remaining on his contract with the Rangers, as Grant notes, but he’s already started to attract some level of interest from other clubs – particularly being linked in recent days as an option for the Oakland A’s or the Los Angeles Angels (should their hitting coach, Dave Hansen, take the A’s job). He and Banister will reportedly meet on Wednesday in Arizona.
As for Maddux, his situation appears a little murkier. His existing contract expires in roughly 10 days, but there has been little speculation about where he might land should his tenure in Texas be at an end. There is no doubt that he’ll have opportunities should he end up on the open market.
Early on in the process it appeared as though the Rangers stood a chance at maintaining a high level of consistency to their coaching staff, but that no longer appears to be the case. Tim Bogar, the bench coach and then interim manager last season, has left the organization. Magadan and Maddux could subsequently follow. These changes all happening just two months after the somewhat unexpected resignation of Ron Washington.