White Sox GM Rick Hahn said today that the club will retain skipper Robin Ventura for the 2016 season, as Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com was among those to report on Twitter. Though Ventura was already under contract for next year, there had been plenty of speculation about his job security after a disappointing campaign.
Hahn did confirm that bench coach Mark Parent has been fired from his position, as Hayes earlier reported (Twitter links). The rest of the staff will remain intact except for assistant hitting coach Harold Baines, who has decided to move into a different role in the organization.
Ventura has compiled a 295-350 win/loss record since taking the helm before the 2012 season. He directed a winning club in his first year, but has overseen sub-.500 efforts in each of the last three.
Increased spending and heightened expectations couldn’t prevent another middling season, leaving Ventura seemingly at risk. But Hahn explained that he still believes the former All-Star third baseman can lead a team to a championship, as Hayes tweets.
The White Sox already seem to have a pretty clear idea of what they’d like to do with next year’s staff, MLB.com’s Scott Merkin reports (Twitter links). Adding a coach with a Latin American background is one priority, and the team may prefer that its new bench coach have managerial experience. One name that appears to be getting some consideration is Raul Ibanez, according to Merkin, though it’s not clear what role he’d be in play for.
citizen
sure blame the bench coach and baines when its all ventura’s fault.
jd396
I think at some point Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn have to come under some level of scrutiny from Reinsdorf.
stl_cards16 2
Seriously? The future outlook of this team has improved greatly since Hahn took over. Just because he didn’t tear it all down and tank intentionally, doesn’t mean he shouldn’t get a few years to see what he’s building come to fruition.
jd396
Just because he didn’t tear it all down and tank intentionally doesn’t mean that the ChiSox organizational leadership makes a great deal of sense to me.
petrie000
which is why Hahn should stay and Kenny Williams should be given his walking paper. that team has stagnated since 2005.
jd396
Yeah, KW stumbled backwards into a championship one time and I get the feeling Reinsdorf still thinks everything he touches turns to gold.
nrd1138
Yeah he lucked out a bit in 2004-2004, and the problem was he thought that is the way to keep winning. He thinks he is the smartest guy in the room, or must have thought that, when he traded the heart and soul of the 05 White Sox in Rowand for Thome (along with a ‘nobody’ pitching prospect with the name of Gio Gonzalez-Brilliant KW) . Thome is a good DH at the time, but was not worth giving up Rowand, or Gonzalez for that matter, not Philly was desperate to move him because of Howard.
jparty42
I’d give Hahn a chance because I believe he isn’t truly able to do everything he would like. I would be gone with Jerry reinsdorf, Kenny Williams, robin Ventura, all scouts, all minor league personnel, all advanced metrics personnel, the whole organization needs to get with the times. It’s frustrating to watch so many other teams develop young players and effectively acquire the right FA. Yes there are teams like the sox who fail too but model your organization off of successful teams who show consistency.
ilikebaseball 2
I get the feeling Reinsdorf doesn’t put much stock in managers.
stymeedone
All of a sudden, Detroit’s decision to keep Ausmus doesn’t look as bad.
nrd1138
Well here is to looking forward to 2017 after they finally realize that Robin is a horrible manager. To me it is looking as if 2016 is another lost season.
BlkIrish
Can’t wait for another epic failed 2016 season, thanks Jerry!
jparty42
I loved watching Ventura man 3B as a player for a good 90’s white sox team. However he is no coach. White sox continue to fail there fans, yes we do exist trolling cub fans. I want a coach who can help player development and enforce better fundamentals team wide. Robins inability to manage situations effectively is apparent. The white sox need an over haul in the front office and ownership before we can even think about achieving anything in the future. Thanks Jerry for the World Series in 05 and all of the bulls titles as we will never forget you for being a part of those. Jerry needs to stop being loyal and run both organizations as a business, enough with handing out jobs to former players who have run each organization into a wall. The Bulls just like the white sox have issues that are holding them back and that starts at the top. The Bulls are way closer to winning a championship but there window has grown smaller and smaller per year. The point is who Jerry hires isn’t making the right moves to put the organizations over the hump to achieve the next step.