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Rangers fire Banister amid 2nd straight losing season

Leon Halip / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The Texas Rangers are moving on from manager Jeff Banister.

The team dismissed Banister on Friday, near the end of his fourth season on the job, and will play out the year with bench coach Don Wakamatsu as interim manager.

General manager Jon Daniels said they didn't make the change hastily.

"This was not an easy decision and comes after a long period of evaluation," Daniels said, according to TR Sullivan of MLB.com. "However, we feel that a change in the leadership of our (major-league) club is necessary as we move forward. Once this conclusion was reached, I felt it was appropriate to make the move now."

Under Banister, the Rangers went 325-313 and reached the ALDS in consecutive seasons, losing to the Toronto Blue Jays both times. Banister was named American League Manager of the Year in 2015, his first campaign with the club.

Last October, the Rangers exercised Banister's option for 2019, but the team has since suffered through a miserable season (Texas is 64-88 entering Friday) that's left it in the AL West basement.

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