It didn't take the White Sox long to name Robin Ventura's successor.
The team announced Monday morning that Rick Renteria is the 40th manager in club history.
Renteria, who served as bench coach on Ventura's staff during the 2016 season, gets his second shot as a big league skipper following his one-year stint managing the Cubs in 2014, during which he posted a 73-89 record with a fifth-place finish in the National League Central.
“I appreciate this tremendous opportunity to manage the Chicago White Sox,” Renteria said in the announcement. “It is a great honor as well as a great responsibility. Over the past season as Robin Ventura’s bench coach, I have gotten to know the players and staff very well, and I look forward to helping us achieve our goals together. We want to field a team that plays smart baseball, takes advantage of any opportunity within the game, and competes hard each and every day in a way that makes White Sox fans proud of our team’s effort.
“I also want to thank Robin for his friendship and leadership over this past year. His class, professionalism and commitment to the White Sox organization is unmatched, and I enjoyed and learned a great deal during our year together.”
Ventura told reporters that he would not be continuing as manager during Sunday's postgame press conference. Ventura managed the White Sox for five seasons, posting a 375-435 record with a second-place finish in the American League Central in 2012 followed by a fifth-place finish and fourth-place finishes in each of the last three seasons.
“Rick is incredibly well respected within the game as one of the top baseball men,” White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said in the announcement. “We obviously have been very impressed by Rick over his past year as bench coach. He is a knowledgeable teacher of the game who loves to develop players and spends hours watching video looking for any nuance that gives us an edge. He is well respected within the clubhouse, and his ability to communicate in English and Spanish is a real plus as he interacts with our players.”
MLB
Renteria is the second person to manage both Chicago major league teams, joining Johnny Evers, who was White Sox manager in 1924 and managed the Cubs during the 1913 and 1921 seasons.
Prior to his first big league managerial job in 2014, Renteria managed for eight seasons in the minor leagues and spent six seasons as an assistant coach with the San Diego Padres, also managing Team Mexico in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
Hahn and Renteria will meet the media at 11 a.m. Monday. CSN and CSNChicago.com will have live coverage of the press conference.