Rangers 1st offseason priority is hiring manager

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels never intended to have a managerial search on his to-do list after a lost season.

That instead became the top priority, something to get done even before looking for a starting pitcher in free agency or finding another bat for the middle of the lineup.

For the first time in five seasons, the Rangers played only 162 games, with not even a wild-card tiebreaker like last season. For the third year in a row, there was a champagne celebration in the other clubhouse at their ballpark as another team clinched a postseason berth.

But the club that went to back-to-back World Series in 2010 and 11 had known since mid-summer that there would be no extra games. The plan was for Ron Washington to return in 2015 for his ninth season in Texas until his sudden resignation Sept. 5 for personal reasons - not because of the results of a miserable season that ended Sunday with the 95th loss, the most since 1985.

There is a strong candidate in Tim Bogar, the first-year Rangers bench coach who as interim manager went 14-8.

Daniels plans to also interview two other internal candidates (pitching coach Mike Maddux and Triple-A manager Steve Buechele) and probably four or five others from outside the organization. The hope is to have that hire done before the World Series starts Oct. 21.

Were going through a process I think is ultimately in everybodys best interest, Daniels said. As I told Tim, at the end of the day, if hes announced as our full-time manager its going to be with a lot more behind it.

Daniels said Bogar made the most of an opportunity in a 22-game stretch in which the young Rangers won four consecutive series and gave the Oakland Athletics fits.

Texas swept a three-game series in Oakland, then took two of the first three games in the closing weekend series. The As then won 4-0 on Sunday to finally clinch their third consecutive playoff berth on the last day of the regular season.

Next for Bogar is the formal interview process, knowing that there are more factors than his record over the past three-plus weeks.

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Rangers 1st offseason priority is hiring manager