Jeff Banister could be heading back to Texas.
Banister, who spent 29 years with the Pirates as a player and coach throughout the major- and minor-league system, notably served as the team's bench coach from 2011 to 2014 before taking a job as manager for the Rangers.
There, Banister served from 2015 to 2018, winning AL Manager of the Year in 2015 and making the postseason in both 2015 and 2016. The team fired him in 2018 following back-to-back sub-.500 seasons, and the Pirates re-hired him as a special assistant in baseball operations in early 2019.
Now, it looks like Banister might be leaving the Steel City for Texas once again, as he has interviewed for the vacant manager position with the Astros.
After interviewing w/ @astros, former @Rangers manager Jeff Banister on what it’d mean to get the job: “It’d probably mean the world to me..I care about this community. I care about this organization..I love the fact we had an opportunity to have a real rivalry within the state.” pic.twitter.com/Ha1gUAOWp7
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) January 23, 2020
Astros manager AJ Hinch was recently fired alongside general manager Jeff Luhnow following the team's sign-stealing scandal. While nothing is sealed just yet, Banister seems a likely and qualified candidate for the job — and he certainly has Pirates pitcher Joe Musgrove's vote:
Having played with the Astros I naturally disliked everything about the Rangers. Then I go to Pittsburgh and get a chance to work with this man all last season, I would be honored to play for him. Great baseball man and a great leader! Good luck Banny??? https://t.co/BKFij0TKWO
— Joe Musgrove (@ItsbuccnJoe59) January 23, 2020
For Banister, the job would not only put him back in a position of power and influence on a talented team, but it would represent a deeper, more personal achievement for him, too.
"I care about this community," Banister was telling Fox 26's Mark Berman. "I care about this organization..I love the fact we had an opportunity to have a real rivalry within the state.”
