Morning Mound Visit: Rick Renteria and White Sox go separate ways

The White Sox announced that they are moving on from Rick Renteria who served as the team’s manager the past four seasons. The agreement was mutually agreed to despite the team’s emergence as a playoff contender. The White Sox went 236-309 under Renteria and made the postseason for the first time since 2005 though the run was cut short in no small part due to questionable bullpen management in Game Three of the Wild Card series.

Chicago joins Detroit and Boston as one of three teams looking for new managers. Ron Gardenhire retired from the Tigers before the end of the 2020 season, and Ron Roenicke was informed that he would not return as manager for the 2021 season. Roenicke was serving as interim manager following the firing and suspension of Alex Cora.

White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said that as of now there’s only one person the team absolutely won’t consider and that’s Ozzie Guillen. Hahn said,

Ultimately, I think the best candidate or the ideal candidate is going to be someone who has experience with a championship organization in recent years; recent October experience with a championship organization

Some have speculated that this means Cora and AJ Hinch are favorites, but their “recent October experience with a championship organization” comes with a “You know why, right?” caveat.

Hinch and Cora will both be eligible to return to a major league role in 2021, but should they? Though neither deserve to be blackballed for life—they were not the only ones responsible for their team’s transgressions—it wouldn’t feel just to see one or both get the first available jobs when there are other deserving candidates out there.

Renteria, for instance, would be a good fit for Detroit or Boston with his considerable experience managing rebuilding clubs. Hensley Meulens and Ron Wotus are both overqualified for managerial roles and neither were allowed to take over for Bruce Bochy following his retirement. Sandy Alomar Jr. has also shown he can handle the job, but he’ll be relegated back to first base coach should Terry Francona’s health allow him to return.

No matter who gets the job, the final decision likely won’t be made until after the World Series. Depending on how the next couple weeks go, there might be another candidate or two on the market.

Jay Jaffe | FanGraphs: We lost two more Hall of Famers over the last week. Jay Jaffe remembers Whitey Ford who passed away on Thursday and spent 16 seasons in the big leagues dominating hitters.

Joe Posnanski | The Athletic $: Joe Morgan, the other Hall of Famer to pass away in the last week, was arguably the greatest second baseman to ever play the game. He may not have loved advanced metrics but advanced metrics loved him.

JWilburg | DRaysBay: Because there are no off days, the seven-game Championship series will test every bullpen, and that’s especially true of Tampa Bay’s. The “stable” is the team’s greatest strength, but should the series go long, the ‘pen will be put at a disadvantage.