White Sox hire Rick Renteria as bench coach
By Rob Wash
Making headlines after the 2014 season, at the time, Chicago Cubs manager Rick Renteria was abruptly let go when his team decided to jump on the Joe Maddon bandwagon.
It was a sad moment for a guy who was becoming a fan favorite as well as a player favorite. After the Cubs and Renteria parted ways it was uncertain whether the 53-year-old manager would be able to find a new organization to call home.
Fast-forward one season and Renteria is back to making headlines in Chicago. The Chicago White Sox announced via today’s press release that Renteria would in fact be headed to the South Side, confirming recent speculation.
Since Mark Parent was dismissed two days before the end of last season, the White Sox had been on the search for a new bench coach to, hopefully, revive manager Robin Ventura’s coaching staff and it looks like they’ve found their man. Renteria is no stranger to acting as a bench coach. Prior to managing the 2o14 Cubs, Renteria was the bench coach in San Diego for the Padres from 2011-2013.
For the White Sox this could be an incredible hire as they really were in need of a Latino speaking coach. This is one of the things that Ventura was lacking with a team that is a majority of Spanish speaking players. Guys like Jose Abreu, Avisail Garcia, and Melky Cabrera might finally feel more comfortable around a guy like Renteria.
Renteria is hardly a consolation prize, despite the fact that the White Sox wanted to discuss this position with Sandy Alomar Jr. Alomar declined to interview out of respect for Ventura.
No one knows for sure if the White Sox are looking for Renteria to eventually supplant Ventura as manager, or at the very least serve as an insurance policy. Hahn has hinted that Ventura’s future is resting upon on how the team performs in 2016.
However, if there was to come a time where the White Sox wanted to move on from Ventura, Renteria would be the ideal choice for the job. Having been a bench coach with the Sox for at least one season he will have a much fonder understanding for the club and the transition to manager would be almost seamless.
Whatever the future holds, it is good to see Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams taking action early and securing their first offseason target. One can only hope this is a sign of things to come during the rest of the offseason and beyond.