ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers have a number of roles to fill on their staff this winter, including a bench coach, hitting coach and farm director.
Sources confirm with InsideTheRangers.com that the Rangers have hired Josh Bonifay as the new farm director for the club. The Dallas Morning News reported the news first on Thursday night. The club has not confirmed or announced the hiring.
Bonifay, 43, is a familiar face with the Rangers organization. He spent the 2017 season as part of Jeff Banister's staff, serving as the major league field coordinator. Since October 2018, Bonifay has been with the Philadelphia Phillies as their director of player development. In August, Bonifay was informed he would not return in that role, but was offered an opportunity to remain in Philadelphia on the pro scouting staff.
In the club's postseason press conference, general manager Chris Young outlined what the Rangers were looking for in a new farm director.
"First and foremost, someone who meets our culture and values who can implement some of our systems and processes in a manner that connects with both players and staff," Young said. "The ability to lead, certainly, manage a lot of different personalities, and have continuity—top to bottom, bottom to top—within the organization of how we are developing players, how we are maximizing their true potential, and also our staff's potential."
The Rangers are coming off a season where the minor league system took a significant leap forward in the eyes of many evaluators. Both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America elevated the Rangers from the bottom third of Major League Baseball in preseason organizational rankings to No. 11 by midseason. There is a lot of momentum heading in the right direction, which made the farm director position a critical hire for the Rangers this offseason.
Make sure to like SI's 'Inside The Rangers' on Facebook
More must-reads: