White Sox, Diamondbacks and Rockies: What to Expect from the New Managers
Chicago White Sox
The White Sox haven’t had a winning season since 2012 and haven’t been to the playoffs since 2008. Their previous manager, Robin Ventura, got off to a good start with the team when he guided them to an 85-77 record and a second place finish in 2012. They were just three games back of the Detroit Tigers and Ventura finished third in AL Manager of the Year voting. The team plummeted to a 63-99 record the following year and then won between 73 and 78 games in each of the last three years. Ventura decided not to return after last season.
With Ventura stepping down, his bench coach, Rich Renteria, was named the new manager for the White Sox in early October. With his hiring, he joined Johnny Evers of “Tinkers to Evers to Chance” fame as only the second man to manage both the Cubs and the White Sox. He also became the only current Latino manager in MLB.
Renteria is a former big league player who played for three teams in five seasons and finished with a career batting line of .237/.285/.322 in 184 games. He managed four years in the Florida Marlins organization from 1998 to 2001 then four more years in the San Diego Padres organization from 2004 to 2007. In his eight years of managing in the minor leagues, he took three teams to the playoffs.
In November of 2013, Renteria was hired to manage the Chicago Cubs. In his first game as a big league manager he made history when he was the first manager to challenge an umpire’s decision under the expanded video review rule. He lost his challenge. He was also the first manager ejected from a game that year.
When Renteria was hired to manage the Cubs, they were coming off four straight last place finishes. They had gone 61-101 and 66-96 in the two years before Renteria arrived. He guided them to a 73-89 record, but they still finished in last place. The core of a contending team was there and it looked like Renteria would be the one to guide them as they grew into a contender.
Then, suddenly, he was out. Joe Maddon resigned from the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cubs took advantage of the opportunity to hire him. Renteria was fired on October 31, 2014. Maddon, of course, guided the Cubs to a 97-65 record in 2015 and a 103-58 record this year as the Cubs won their first world championship since 1908.
Renteria is in a similar situation with the White Sox that he was in with the Cubs. The White Sox don’t look like contenders at the present but they made some terrific trades in the offseason to restock their farm system. They were ranked the sixth-best farm system in MLB by Call to the Pen’s own Benjamin Chase. Top prospects include infielder Yoan Moncada (#1) and pitchers Reynaldo Lopez (#10), Lucas Giolito (#12), and Michael Kopech (#22).
To acquire those prospects, the White Sox had to trade their ace, Chris Sale, and their best position player from last season, Adam Eaton. Other players who could be on the move include starting pitcher Jose Quintana and first baseman Jose Abreu. This means the team Renteria is taking over will likely struggle in 2017 and 2018, but when Moncada and their pitching prospects reach the big leagues, they should be a force in the AL Central.
As the team is currently constructed, they are projected by FanGraphs to go 71-91, which is the worst projected record in the American League. If they trade away Quintana and Abreu (and possibly others), they’ll be even worse. Rich Renteria is likely to have another losing season or two on his record but hopefully he’ll be kept around long enough to see the White Sox’ prospects reach the big leagues and become contenders.