Rebuilding White Sox like foundation Renteria is setting as first-year manager
If you're wearing a Chicago White Sox jersey and fall close to 30 years old on either side, these are uncertain times.
The Sox are in a full-blown youth movement and veteran players such as David Robertson, Todd Frazier and Melky Cabrera are all on the trade block in advance of the July 31 nonwaiver deadline.
"It might be a game of who's next," Frazier said. "You never know; a flip of a coin or it might be a game of wait and see or it's a game of if they give us something, we'll do something. We've got the whole rest of the month to go and see what we're going to do."
Chris Sale, Adam Eaton and mostly recently Jose Quintana already have been traded, and the roster for 2018 and beyond is still being shaped.
More turnover is undoubtedly coming, but 55-year-old manager Rick Renteria looks to be in this for the long haul.
"Ricky, for a multitude of reasons, was and is the right guy to guide us through this process and be the steward in the clubhouse," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "One of those many reasons is his communication skills.
"The fact that he does have experience going through this process only makes it probably easier for him to communicate with the players and answer questions from players about what to expect and how this thing could unfold."
In addition to honing his teaching skills while managing eight years in the minor leagues, Renteria also managed the rebuilding Chicago Cubs in 2014.
"I think it's just the same," Renteria said. "I think that the underlying aspect of anything that occurs is that we all work for the White Sox, we all play for the White Sox. We're expecting to go out and do a certain thing on a daily basis, which is be totally committed to trying to give our best effort on a daily basis.
"At the end of the day they look at themselves in the mirror and they ask if I did everything I could today to help us win a ballgame. I think that doesn't change. I think sometimes the name on the front of the uniform changes for some of these guys, for a lot of us. But you still go about trying to do the same thing, which is compete and give a good effort."
While he is calm and composed when talking to the media, Renteria has been full of fire during his first year as manager in the Sox's dugout.
Renteria picked up his sixth ejection of the season during Saturday's loss to Seattle.
"As players, you appreciate it and you know he has your back," said Sox starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey. "He's definitely not scared of getting thrown out. That's good to see."
The White Sox aren't scaring many opponents on the playing field these days, but Renteria is setting a foundation he hopes to eventually build on with younger players.
"He demands us to play the game the right way," Pelfrey said. "If he sees something going on in the game and doesn't like something, he'll say something. I think we all know he's there for us and has our back. We're very appreciative of that, and I think as players that's the guy you want to play for. You want to go out and play hard."