Chicago White Sox add Renteria, Sparks to coaching staff
The Chicago White Sox have plenty of roster decisions to make this off-season, but the 2016 coaching staff is set.
On Tuesday, the Sox announced that former Chicago Cubs manager Rick Renteria is replacing Mark Parent as bench coach and Greg Sparks is replacing Harold Baines as assistant hitting coach.
Renteria, 53, managed the Cubs to a 73-89 record in 2014 after spending the previous six seasons as a coach with San Diego. Renteria was the Padres' bench coach from 2011-13 and first-base coach from 2008-10.
Renteria also managed Team Mexico in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
"Being bilingual was just one trait of Rick's many that made him appealing to us," said Sox general manager Rick Hahn. "We actually first reached out to him about one year ago, either late last November or early December, about trying to find a way to bring him into the organization.
"Obviously, the timing was not right at that time. This time around, with having the bench-coach position open, he was a very clear fit for a number of reasons."
Renteria also was a minor-league manager for the Padres and Marlins. In 1999, he was named Midwest League Manager of the Year after guiding Class A Kane County to a 78-59 record.
"His experience as a big-league manager and a bench coach on a major-league coaching staff, as well as his managerial experience in the minors and former playing career, they were all positives in his favor, as well as his high baseball IQ, communication skills, high energy," Hahn said.
"Really, the list goes one with positives in his favor. We are thrilled to be able to add him at this time."
With White Sox manager Robin Ventura coming off three straight losing seasons and entering the final year of his contract, the obvious speculation is Renteria also is a manager in waiting on the South Side.
Hahn dismissed the notion.
"I've read about that being an issue, but the guys we actually sat down and interviewed and talked through where we were as a club, where we hope to get to, it really wasn't a factor at all," Hahn said. "In the end, we wanted to get to the strongest coach with the best baseball knowledge and the best well-rounded set of skills next to Robin, and that's what Robin wanted.
"There had to be that comfort level between Robin and the hire, which he and Rick certainly have.
"And in the end, I think the most important thing is having the coaching staff all pulling in the same direction, and that's toward making us better and making us as strong as we possibly can be, which is what Rick expressed was his desire as well.
"So internally we don't get too hung up on contract status or what's going to happen in the future. It's more about trying to win that next ballgame and putting us in the best position to win. We feel like we have made the organization stronger with these two additions today."
Sparks, 51, spent the last 19 seasons in the Oakland Athletics organization. He was the A's minor-league hitting coordinator last season and from 2004-11, and he was the hitting coach with Class AAA Sacramento from 2012-14 and Mesa in the Arizona Fall League in '14.
Todd Steverson also worked in Oakland's organization before being hired as the White Sox' hitting coach after the 2013 season.
"That was very important," Hahn said. "We like the idea that Greg has a history with Todd and understands Todd's program and what Todd is trying to teach, that there will be that continuity of message and instruction between Todd and Greg regardless of which one is working with a hitter at any given time."
Sparks' father, Joe, was the Sox' first-base coach in 1979. Greg was a batboy for the Sox during the '79 season, including Disco Demolition Night.