White Sox manager Rick Renteria is in his third season on the job, and it’s likely he’ll have three straight sub-.500 campaigns to show for his work once the year concludes. After combining for a 129-195 record from 2017-18, this year’s Renteria-led White Sox have gone into a tailspin and fallen to 42-51. The rebuilding club was surprisingly just one game under .500 through 83 contests, but it has dropped nine of 10 since then, including all seven of its post-All-Star break matchups. Most of the second-half defeats have come at the hands of the abysmal Royals, who completed a four-game sweep of the White Sox on Thursday.
As poorly as things are going right now for Chicago, its struggles aren’t going to lead to a new manager. Not only is Renteria’s job safe for this year, but it doesn’t seem the White Sox will be going in another direction in the dugout anytime soon.
General manager Rick Hahn heaped praise on Renteria on Thursday, saying (via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times), “As we said at the start of this process, we believed Ricky was the right man not only for the early stages of it but also for when the time arrived that we were ready to contend for championships.”
Hahn went on to credit the 57-year-old Renteria’s “strengths as a teacher, as a communicator, as someone who helps forge a new culture” – all of which have been important during the team’s rebuild, the GM believes. But once the White Sox move past the rebuilding phase, “[Renteria’s] ability to put the players in the best position to succeed and to maximize the win potential of our -rosters will be moved more -towards the forefront,” according to Hahn.
It certainly wouldn’t be fair at this point to judge Renteria on the team’s win-loss mark under his stewardship. He simply hasn’t had the horses to compete since succeeding Robin Ventura as the White Sox’s manager. Soon after Renteria went from Ventura’s bench coach to his replacement, the White Sox opted for a teardown, trading stars Chris Sale, Adam Eaton and Jose Quintana from December 2016 to July 2017.
The blockbuster deals the White Sox pulled off a couple years ago have begun to pay significant dividends at the major league level. A few of the premium prospects from those swaps (Yoan Moncada, Lucas Giolito, Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease) have either established themselves in Chicago or stand legitimate chances to do so. How much credit should go to Renteria for that is up for debate. What’s clear is that he’s getting much more of a chance on the South Side of Chicago than he did on the North Side. He previously helped oversee the end of the Cubs’ rebuild as their manager in 2014, when they finished 73-89. The Cubs then moved on from Renteria in favor of Joe Maddon, who has steered a talent-laden team to four straight playoff berths and a World Series title.
Good I hope they stick with him until all these good players reach the majors so he can prove what he can do with this team. Guys like Joe Maddon are overrated. I personally think there is no excuse for how the Cubs have under performed under Maddon the last 2 yrs. He took all the credit when they won the world series and now it’s not his fault because you havent gotten me the best players. Well then find a way to get the most out of them
I don’t recall Maddon taking credit once or complaining that he hasn’t been given the best players. If he ever guides the white Sox to a WS title I think you’re view of him would change.
Maddon has been one of the most overrated managers im the last 20 years.
Hahahahaha!!! So stupid.
True.
I am more impressed with what maddon did while in Tampa bay. Regardless he is one of the better managers in the game today. As always there are some cub fans who want joe gone.
Some Cubs ‘fans’ actively pine for the days of the ‘loveable loser’ moniker and hate everyone involved in destroying that part of their fan identity
Why I don’t know, but winning the World Series left many of them bizarrely bitter towards the team itself
100% correct.
That 100% comment was in regards to @pageian, not the OP.
I can’t stand Maddon… his ego trying to match Tito’s moves in the series, really should have cost them it…. and am no fan of the cubs… but this take is pretty extreme..
they won 92 and lost in nlcs to a better team and were 1 game off of most wins in NL last year… hardly underachieving as its not like they were clearly more talented than everyone else and bombed out…. they werent even the most second or third most talented team the last two years.
Maddon is a self-satisfied egotistical blowhard no doubt… he’s the teacher in high school who everyone thinks is the coolest guy around… he’s not Mr. Maddon… he’s Mr. Mad… or Maddog… who you come to realize as an adult is a total tool.
Which actually makes him a great teacher for young people… just like maddon is great for young players… but when you grow up… like the cubs or rays guys did… that cool joe factor becomes tool joe and just doesn’t play so much anymore.
No shame in it… right man for the right time… plenty of world class skippers who couldn’t have guided a team that young to a WS, but prob could have done a better job than him the last season in a half… which makes which better?
Thank you Johnny Superscout
Ah yes. Another White Sox post that their fans make all about the Cubs. Go Cubs! #flythew
Haha, what else is new. Their thirsty, transparent obsession would be funny if it weren’t so pathetic. I was about to scroll past, then I thought .. “I bet the comments will bring up the Cubs” sure enough, the FIRST comment proved me right.
Hey Pot, how’s Kettle doing?
Anyone else think this bryzzo2016 is a big …?
For real? I see nothing but Cubs fans on here talking about Maddon
Are you trying to say Joe is a ‘cool CAT’, man?
@ kidaplus Check and see how many times Tampa has made the playoffs since he left there. 90+ wins eight of the last ten years…with Tampa and the Cubs—just think about that—- Tampa and the Cubs. Everyone has an opinion—some people just don’t base them on facts. Let’s assume Maddon leaves after this season. Check back and compare which five seasons were better—the five with him or the five following him. I have an opinion, but I will wait five years and let the facts tell the story. Joe Maddon will truly be appreciate long after he’s gone.
Let’s be fair though. The Cubs are not great because of Maddon. They have a strong core of homegrown talent with heavy free agent/trade spending.
Say what you will about the Cubs, but being top 5 in payroll SHOULD be 90 wins every year.
Maddon has nothing to do with this. Can we keep a White Sox article about THE WHITE SOX please
Joe Maddon is relevant to this article and the comment discussion. He was the manager chosen to replace Rick Renteria on the North Side of Chicago when the Cubs were transitioning from rebuilders to contenders.
Renteria was important to the Cubs process during his abbreviated one year stay in 2014. He righted many of the problems that previous manager Dale Sveum created during the previous two years of the rebuild including overseeing bounce-back seasons from Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro. Renteria was also on board when some of the Cubs top prospects were beginning to emerge from their vaunted farm system.
Renteria was praised by the Cubs front office for the work he put in during 2014. They simply felt that they couldn’t pass on Joe Maddon when he became available during the subsequent offseason after opting out of his contact with the Tampa Bay Rays.
It was a cruel twist of fate that cost Renteria his job with the Cubs following the 2014 season. It would be a “cruel and unusual punishment” for Renteria to lose his job with the White Sox now, especially to Maddon who could potentially lose his gig with the Cubs this offseason if they flounder down the stretch or in the postseason.
Yes I’m very aware. Thank you for the Wikipedia excerpt. Still has nothing to do with maddon. This is about the Sox
I don’t need a “Wikipedia excerpt” pal. I live and die Chicago baseball and have been doing so since the early 1960’s.
Maybe I’ll change my username to something more akin to yours, perhaps chicagofan1955! If nothing else, that should make kyleschwarbersmom happy. lol
You need a Ray Rayner double-billed Sox-Cubs cap.
I actually concocted one of those as a kid. My wife is an excellent seamstress among her other outstanding qualities. I think I will ask her to make me a more fashionable cap than the one I made. Thanks mom!
Btw: I have been promising my two dogs a nice goose when I walk them daily. They can never manage to catch them at our local bioswale. Perhaps I’ll find them one that resembles Chelveston the Duck who always looked more like a goose to me anyway.
You don’t win over 1,000 games by luck. He had a low payroll rays team make World Series and broke curse with Cubs. He did some questionable things in game 7 but still won. Players win ballgames more than managers anyway .
Yes. Fortunately for Joe Maddon he had luck on his side in the 7th game in the Cubs first World Series title in 108 years. Had the players not bailed him out of that debacle chances are he’d have been long gone before his 2019 lame duck season.
Chicago’s version of Hue Jackson
Watch your back, Rick, Maddon will probably be available again at the end of this season…
People who blame a manager for losing games during a rebuild doesn’t understand baseball, or sports in general. A manager’s job is to teach, mentor and evaluate during a rebuild. Winning games is not the primary goal, because the team is not equipped to win yet. It’s a process.
Yep. Hahn’s comment was spot on.
Why haven’t the Sox scoured the message boards to hire you for your vast wisdom is another ones guess, ChiSoxCity. Your talents are wasted here! Go! Go! The city needs you!
Putting Jon freaking Jay in the 5 and 6 hole is the dumbest thing ever, and that alone is a fireable offense. Those are RBI and HR producing spots. Not something for a guy whose specialty is hitting 58mph flairs off the left field line 10 feet past the 3rd baseman.
How much does Jon Jay have to pay to live in your head? Hopefully it’s not rent-free. You are obsessed with him. I think you may actually be in love with him. He’s not interested. Move on.
He sucks. That is all. Sorry to point out the stupidity of a manager batting a guy in the 5 hole with the power of Ozzie Smith.
Let me bring you up to speed, this club isn’t exactly overflowing with middle of the order hitters right now. Renteria pulls questionable moves fairly regularly, but that’s not one of them.
It’s very questionable. You don’t put a weak, singles hitter in the 5 hole. He’s moving down to 7th tonight. Maybe by September Renteria will have him batting 10th where he belongs.
Small sample, but Jay has same OPS+ as Jimenez. Only, McCann, Anderson, Abreu and Moncada are higher. And with no Anderson or Jimenez, Jay pretty much is best option, unless you want to move him to leadoff and Garcia and his five homeruns to 5th.
What stud on the roster should be batting fifth?
Don’t feed me that crap. The 5 hole is about slugging and getting runs in. Jay has 0 HR and 5 RBI. You can polish a turd all you want. It’s still a turd. If they don’t have a legit 5 hole hitter, then find one in the minors and give him a chance. The season is lost.
Again, who do you suggest?
Again, read my post. Bring someone up from the minors. Not my job to suggest. I just know he sucks. Why would anyone waste $4M on a 34 year old POS on a team with no chance of making the playoffs? This is why teams suck for years. Signing guys like Jay and Alonso. End of story.
The stupidity is the fan that believes teaching, mentoring and evaluating should be down at the major league level! Winning games is the primary goal on ALL levels because it’s a mindset and expectation that you set.
Agree with you 1000%. Renteria is not the answer for this team. I cannot see any other MLB team giving hiring him as manager.
This organization does a horrendous job at teaching fundamentals. Just look at the 10 years.
The stupidity here is not realizing that those types of managers are needed more than ever at the MLB level with teams frequently tanking and then undergoing prolonged rebuilds.
But yet we take 1 and 2 year fliers on the Alonzo’s, Herrera and Jay’s of the world.
Every team does this including those that undertook successful rebuilds like the Cubs and Astros. Sign short term veterans on the fly and then hope they have trade value at the summer deadline. Flip and fly!?
Clearly the White Sox had an additional agenda when they traded for Yonder Alonso and signed FA Jon Jay last winter. It didn’t close the deal for Manny Machado which may ultimately turn out fortuitous since Yoan Moncada looks like the real deal at 3B. Signing Machado also could have cost SS Tim Anderson his job at some point.
As a White Sox fan I’m more than happy to roll with a future infield of Moncada at 3B, Anderson at SS, nick Madrigal at 2B and Andrew Vaughn at 1B and then spend the Machado dollars on some pitching and securing their future catcher.
The reason you sign vets like Jay to short term contracts during a rebuild should be obvious. Unfortunately, the average fan today lacks vision. Everything has to be “now, right now”. The White Sox are currently in the process of re-creating itself. The last two seasons (and probably the next as well), is about identity. Finding talent, and figuring out who you are or want to be as a team/organization. The next phase will be about roles; who hits fifth, who closes, who your leaders are, etc. So my suggestions for fans like myself is to focus on the development of our prospects and budding stars. They are the future, and they will determine how successful the team will be. Everything else is just minutiae, i.e., where should Jon Jay be hitting, etc. It really doesn’t it matter because he’s just a placeholder and a mentor for the young guys (whether actively or passively).
Headline is misleading. Of course they’re sticking with him. Nobody would want to manage the Sox. They still have 5+ years on the rebuild
They’re now on year 6
Huh?
@sloopjonb
These boys are just trying to get a rise out of us Sox fans. Just ignore them. They know they’re running out of time because the rebuild will be pretty much done this Winter, so they have to get their last jabs in before then.
Bunting aside, he has done the best he can with an oft-injured rebuilding roster overloaded with corner infielders.
Glad Hahn appreciates his ability to work with younger players. Does that mean he will give him more young guys to develop, or continue giving spots bizarrely to washed up vets?
White Sox 10th in the league for sac bunts.
Dodgers 1st. Thank you Johnny Superscout
White Sox have the DH and LA doesn’t.
The Cleveland Indians lead the AL with 22 sacrifice bunts. The White Sox have 18. Does that make Terry Francona a dope? I think not.
I will also continue to value the sacrifice bunt in an age when many proponents of advanced analytics think it’s a waste to do so. The same goes for the strategy of stealing bases and the implementation of the hit-and-run (s/b run-and hit, lol) which have also taken a “hit” in a sabermetrics era which has resulted in more HR’s and SO’s and less “hits”.
Then you are giving away runs and most people agree you want to score more runs, not fewer. It’s pretty simple. In MLB from 2010 to 2015, more than 200,000 half innings, if a team has a runner on first with nobody out the average number of runs they scored that inning was 0.859. Man on second, one out, they score 0.664. So every time they bunt they are basically giving away 0.2 runs. The same effect occurs to a lesser degree if you bunt with men on 1st and 2nd with nobody out.
You even reduce the odds of scoring one run from 41.6% to 39.7% so an argument can be made against bunting even late in a close game.
Now, these are context neutral, so they don’t take into account the quality of the hitter or baserunner and certainly doesn’t take pitchers hitting into account. A team with a lot of bad hitters (like the White Sox) may need to manufacture a run rather than count on Goins, Tilson, Sanchez, Palka, Rondon, Cordell, and Engel to string together three hits in an inning or get an extra base hit and there may be times when it is a reasonable idea. But as a blanket statement that sacrifice bunting is good and the numbers are wrong is not defensible. It is saying “I don’t believe in math.”
Run expectancy tables for reference:
tangotiger.net/re24.html
@Aaron Sapoznik
Amen! I don’t think people realize how important successful sacrifice bunts are and how many games are won because of the sacrifice bunt. If you have 2 aces pitching at the top of their game, each run is extremely important. You may only have a few chances to scrape a run from the dominant opposing pitcher.
I’m not much of a fan of advanced analytics. I’d rather have the tried and true methods, sacrifice bunts, hit and run, I love stolen bases, complete games, and the best stat, the shutout.
Most pitchers don’t know how to actually pitch, they just try to blow it by the hitters for 5 or 6 innings. I’d rather have a pitcher get 3 K’s and pitch a complete game victory than to have one get 15 K’s over 6 innings, give up 3 runs and lose. I don’t play Fantasy Baseball, so I don’t care about how many K’s a pitcher gets. I remember a time when the W-L stat actually meant something.
As for the hitters, HR’s and K’s are all that matters, it seems. I don’t like the OPS stat, too much redundancy in the stat. It would seem more accurate to just incorporate BB into the SLG stat instead of doing it the lazy way by adding OBP and SLG.
I don’t like the WAR stat either. Mike Trout’s a great player, but when the sports media try to put him in the same group as Ruth, Aaron, Foxx, Gehrig, Ted Williams, etc., by using the WAR stat, that stat is seriously flawed. He’s not even close to any of these legends. Maybe he will end up in this group in 10 years, which he needs to take it to the next level to do so, but having 1 season above .325 (.326 his rookie year), 1 season above 40 HR (41 HR), and 2 seasons above 100 RBI (111 RBI is his career high), I don’t see how is he can even be compared to Ruth, Williams, Foxx, etc.
(the Trout stats I’m using are going into this season BTW, so he might already be starting to take it to the next level)
Time to get off my soapbox. I’ll find out tomorrow if I started a firestorm with my views, especially on WAR.
That doesn’t count bunt attempts, only succesful sac bunts. AL has the DH.
True I’m sure some egghead will pull that stat out of his behind anytime now as well. lol
Ricky isn’t the problem. Ricky’s boys are the problem. Hahn needs to seriously upgrade the pitching, and not use the injuries as an excuse. Cleveland has competed for several years with injuries to their staff.
ummm yeah…. with injuries to their major league staff… who was made up of their first crop of arms… who they then had the secondary arms from that crop and a second crop to draw from to call on… Sox just got Cease up, Kopech and dunning on the shelf for a year…
if they started the year with gio, rodon, lopez, cease, dunning, legit FA 1 & 2 having all been up multiple years and then had no one to step in, then yeah, it’d be bs to use it as an excuse… but as is, who is even using it as an excuse?
Once Kopech… and dunning to a lessor extent… went down… who expected anything but this? Competing was pushed a year.
What big arms do you think were gonna sign to a team where Gio had the worst era, Moncada set the K record and the #1 arm in Milb went down for TJ after two months?
You upgrade when you know what you’ve got and what you don’t… a year ago looked like you had a whole lotta not much in yoan, gio, anderson. or catcher… all 4 all star worthy this year… robert played 45 games A ball without a HR… he’s a complete beast now, madrigal was hitting .300 in A ball now he’s hitting .370 in AA… eloy had 0 MLB AB’s… Cease 0 IP…
So maybe where it looks like they have nothing right now, might actually be places where they have something… and that’s when you upgrade…
cause a year ago the guys you upgrade with looked this team and saw nothing… so theyre not coming… a year later, they see a whole lot more… so you go fishing…
a year from now with full year of Robert, Cease, Kopech, Rodon, Madrigal … maybe dunning and vaughn at some replacing 0 WAR talent… with their well above 0 talent…
Will any of them all-star studs out the gate prob not… will they all be way better than who they are replacing? Yes… and that is a whole lot of production when you add it up and then the fish come to you…
“Ricky’s boys.” Hahahahahahahaha!!!!
At this point there’s no reason to replace Renteria. Play out the season, reassess in Oct/Nov.
I don’t think Ricky’s done a bad job. In fact, he’s done pretty good with what he’s had to work with over the past 2 1/2 seasons. But with the rebuild being pretty much finished next year, I don’t know if he’s the one to guide them to playoff/WS contenders over the next several years. Not saying he definitely isn’t, but I have the feeling his role is simply creating a positive attitude for the youngsters, teaching them the right way to play, which he’s definitely done.
Otherwise, I have a feeling he’s just keeping the seat warm for Vizquel, though I have no idea how well Vizquel will fare in MLB either. But at least the Sox are giving Vizquel plenty of MiLB experience, so he’s ready once/if they replace Ricky with him. I think they learned their lesson with Ventura by throwing him in there with zero management experience. This is just my speculation, I have no idea if the Sox are even considering ever making Vizquel their manager.
I agree with TrimReaper above, what’s the point in replacing Ricky now? If anything, I think it would be more of a detriment to get rid of Ricky now and replace him with either someone temporary or an outsider who wants to make a name for himself and ends up stirring the pot, messing with the team cohesion Ricky’s built since he became manager. This 7-game losing streak killed any slim hope at the 2nd WC, it’s not like bringing in another manager is going to immediately put them back in contention for the 2nd WC spot.
I agree, reassess the situation this Winter, and see if he’s the right one to guide them as they leave the rebuild and finally become a contender in 2020.
Agree with you about Vizquel. He’ll be the manager once the Sox are ready to compete.
Well you got Reinsdork who just wants that money! He don’t care that why the Bulls stink too. Nobody wants to play for him. They play in a dump on the Southside and minor league teams outdraw them on a nightly basis. Look at it. The Cub fired Renteria who had the team losing and in last place. They hire Joe and went to the NLCS. Renteria is a last place, cheap manager like Boylan is a cheap NBA coach who wins cellar pennants.
Some felt Renteria overachieved in 2014 with that Cubs team. They added Lester and the young players at the time in 2015 and had a ridiculous last couple months of the year. Who knows what would have happened had Renteria not been fired. But keeping that sad Cubs team under 90 losses wasn’t bad. Look at the lineup they trotted out that season.
Rick Renteria did a fine job with the Cubs in 2014. The incomplete roster he had in 2014 also took a hit with the mid-summer trade that sent two solid starting pitchers in Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel to the Oakland A’s for top prospects Addison Russell and Billy McKinney.
Joe Maddon went on to not only benefit from the subsequent offseason addition of free agent SP Jon Lester but also the trade that provided him with leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler. The Cubs continued to add more veteran FA’s the following winter in Ben Zobrist and Jason Heyward while their young top prospects were also gaining valuable MLB experience. Renteria only had a couple of those prospects in 2014, namely Javier Baez and Jorge Soler. Maddon was in the dugout when Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras, Albert Almora, Kyle Schwarber and Russell made their Cub debuts.
Exactly Aaron. And without looking it up, I think Dale Sveum was the manager in 2013.
I think Renteria gets a chance next year with a team that must add Roberts and a SP. The AL Central is winnable for the White Sox next year depending on what they do the next 6 months.
That team also played pretty well after the break and stayed engaged even after they were eliminated
As a Cubs fan I’d have been happy to keep Renteria, but Maddon was clearly the better fit at the time, which was the only reason he was fired
Bingo. No way in hell the Cubs win with him and the Sox with dump him before 2020 ends…or sooner.
Yah, nothing but the manager changed in those years… Totally Renteria’s fault the Cubs sucked while he was there.
Now if Ricky only knew how to manage a bullpen, something he couldn’t do with the Cubs either.
Easier said than done when you only have 2 good options.
Many Cubs fans have been saying the same about Joe Maddon since 2015. I’m guessing that is also a common complaint with any fan base of any team regardless of their manager since we all love to second guess. Isn’t that part of what makes baseball so great with it’s most ardent fans.
I wish they’d give him better talent. I know better players (I hope) are coming soon. We don’t know if Renteria can manage that talent yet. I will say early results have not been encouraging. His team makes the same mistakes over and over again, which seems to call into question his teaching ability. As said above, he also has no feel for the bullpen.
Time to bring back Ozzie!
Stop
If the WS ever do get any good, you know Renteria is gone and an experienced coach will be brought in to attempt to take them over the top.
Renteria oversees young, developing, losing teams. He a nice guy that develops a culture of losing. If the Sox are ever ready to compete he will then be jettisoned. Omar Vizquel may be his replacement.
More like: Don Cooper has a job for life and no serious managerial candidates would come in here and take a job where Cooper has free rein to “manage the pitchers’ like he does now.
Compare this roster to the Tampa Bay Rays..Your 14 games down in the win column from them and you could argue that Giolito cancels out Morton, Snell is better than any starter we have but he’s sub 500 right now. What other players would you take over CWS that start today that would make you think you could get 14 more wins with them on the CWS roster??!
Pham and/or Meadows would be substantial improvements over what the Sox are throwing out there in LF/DH. Lowe would be a gigantic improvement over Yolmer. Glasnow would be a substantial improvement over everyone not named Giolito. Snell’s W-L record means nothing; he’s still really good and can save your bullpen from the 3-inning starts the Sox constantly give. Their bullpen is also full of guys that I’d happily take before anyone named Bummer/Colome.
I’m short, they have quite a bit I’d take.
Jimenez/Garcia cancel out Pham and Meadows, Anderson/Moncada/Abreu are better than any 3 infielders that TB fields. Glasnow is done a month ago and Lopez has thrown more innings and has the same record as Snell basically. Bimmer/Colome one is sub 2 era and the other has 20 saves-where is the 14 game advantage-answer MANAGER!
I’m going to go against my better judgement and waste my time debating this with you.
Jimenez/Garcia do not cancel out Pham/Meadows. First of all, they haven’t been anywhere near as good. Second, Meadows has been the DH. Jimenez/Garcia would cancel out KK/Avi. Pham//Meadows is a substantial improvement over whoever the Sox have started in RF and DH all year. Add Lowe instead of Yolmer, and you EASILY make up 10 of those 14 wins. And that’s just based on fWAR, which doesn’t necessarily factor in how frequently the Sox players absolutely KILL rallies and destroy whatever momentum the top of the order gets going.
As far as pitching goes, I’m not even going to bother. The fact that you’re trying to utilize W/L to show that Lopez has been as valuable as Snel shows exactly how much you understand about pitching.
Bottom line – the only place where the Sox have any sort of substantial advantage is 3B.
Go get him Priggs89. This might be wasting all our time but I am enjoy the debate nonetheless, as I do with most of these arguments.
If they didn’t/don’t plan on moving on from Renteria during the year, what’d you expect him to say? He’s obviously not going to say, “yeah, he’s ok, but we plan on moving on after this year.” Bottom line is he hasn’t been given the talent to succeed yet. I fully expect him to be back next year, and if they can’t legitimately compete for a Wild Card spot, then they’ll look to move on.
That being said, I don’t think his “teaching” is doing much this year. The Sox are playing sloppy, sloppy baseball in the field, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen players miscommunicate and run into each other as much as I have this year. It truly is amazing that they haven’t figured this out by now.
But hey, at least Abreu finally called out the organization for not putting actual talent on the field. If he hadn’t made so many comments about wanting to be here, I’d think he was trying to punch his ticket out.
The players like Renteria and play hard for him. That alone should not be enough to keep his job through the next phase of the rebuild.
The evidence points to him being a terrible in-game tactition, sub-par teacher of fundamentals who doles out discpline in an uneven manner and throws players under the bus for mistakes he makes.
He will lose a talented team games as as well as the buy-in of forward thinking players.
Why is it that managers keep getting fired, but the GMs who hire them continue to keep their jobs?
Inexpensive swell company man. Not a good manager, but he’ll keep his job long enough to continue a losing culture when sufficient talent/pitching options arrive. Most of the key AA prospects (especially OFs) struggling with Vizquel this year other than Sheets and of course Madrigal. This FO and JR needs to prove they can go outside the loyal cronyish hires when/if needed. That can delay or undermine altogether the success of this rebuild effort.
Rutherford had a brutal start to the year but has put up some really good numbers since the start of June. Either way, Birmingham is pretty brutal on hitters, so it’s not that surprising.
Sheets has been on a tear though. Looking forward to seeing him hit the juiced AAA ball in the near future (he already should be).
Yeah, was saying a few weeks ago Rutherford turnaround coincided with Madrigal’s arrival. Not sure if they were close buddies in high A, but he and Sheets are in a nice groove. I’m crediting the little “spark plug” and his winning vibes/table setting/distracting pitchers for others on the base path.
Another 3 los9ng seasons guaranteed
Cub fan here, but not to use this piece as chance to crack on the Sox. I hope the Sox keep Renteria in the spot as this group develops. He already got dumped on by the Cubs because of Epstein’s bromance with Genius Joe – I thought Renteria earned the opportunity to manage the young talent since he contributed in whatever way manager’s contribute t0player development at the major league level. Just by way of background, I’m a Cubs fan primarily but saw my first MLB games at Comiskey Park in the 1960’s – first games were a Sunday doubleheader against the A’s in 1963.. Gary Peters, Pete Ward, Ron Hansen, managed by Al Lopez. My favorite Sox player in those years was Floyd Robinson – a smallish guy who had a few very strong seasons with the Sox before injuries limited him.
Renteria is doing a very good job handling the young talent the Sox have accrued. Injuries has hampered the progress and slowed the development of some of these players. The biggest obstacle for the Sox to overcome is lack of pitching. I would like to see Renteria manage at least two more years so that he can enjoy the success of his playoff bound team the next couple of years. The retreads we have now will have to suffice for this year and part of next. But I have plenty of confidence in Renteria and the youngsters coming up.
I think Renteria is a good manager in the regards mentioned in the article, and I get that injuries are playing a big part here. However someone.. Manager or whoever.. needs to become an ‘#$%kicker’, be a leader, and hold people accountable in a private diatribe amonst his teammates in the locker room.. Nothing public or commonplace, However, once in a while you need someone to jolt the team awake. Say what you want about Anderson, but he did that when slamming his bat down. They need another wake up call, and it should not have to be the manager doing this.
Renteria is a terd. Look at his lineups and the way he untilizes his bullpen. Sox haven’t made the playoffs since 2008 and when Ventura retired they just handed this idiot the job. They didn’t even have an interview process with other candidates.
Ricky is not a good manager. He makes incredibly poor decisions, from bullpen management to lineups to defensive positioning. I understand that he doesnt have a talented team to work with, but a talented team will win despite the manager. In terms of war, Ricky is a negative war manager, his decisions cost games.
A good manager doesnt put a team in a position to have to double switch in the American League
A good manager doesnt have his best bullpen arms specialty pitch to get 1 out and his worst pitchers come into high leverage situations.
A good manager doesn’t have his leadoff hitter bunt a runner to 2nd with 1 out.
A good manager doesnt trot out the worst offensive player in baseball in the 4 hole every day.