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Rick Renteria out as White Sox manager, could Alex Cora or A.J. Hinch take over?

The Chicago White Sox announced on Monday morning they “have agreed to part ways” with manager Rick Renteria.

Renteria led the club to a 35-25 record and its first playoff berth since 2008. They tied for second place in the AL Central during the COVID-19 shortened season and lost their wild-card series, 2-1, to the Oakland Athletics.

Renteria, 58, was hired on Oct. 3, 2016, to replace Robin Ventura. He was 236-309 leading the White Sox and was previously a bench coach with the club. The move has an unfortunate ring of familiarity for Renteria. He also managed the Chicago Cubs near the end of a rebuilding cycle, in 2014, but was let go in favor of Joe Maddon as the team reached the cusp of contention.

The manager had one year left his coaching contract. The White Sox said in the statement the “status of the coaching staff will be determined moving forward and in consultation with the team’s next manager.”

Chicago White Sox manager Rick Renteria takes notes during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Monday, Aug. 3, 2020, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Rick Renteria will no longer manage the Chicago White Sox. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Candidates to take over at White Sox manager

The White Sox managerial job immediately becomes a very appealing one. The team is certainly on the upswing, with young talent like Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez, Lucas Giolito and Yoan Moncada having the White Sox’s contention window wide open.

This feels a lot like when Renteria lost the Cubs job, as they were on the cusp of a World Series. Many are expecting a high-profile hire, and GM Rich Hahn seemed to signal that those expectations are correct.

Two people come to mind immediately — A.J. Hinch and Alex Cora, the two World Series-winning managers who were ousted as part of the Astros cheating scandal. Hinch won the 2017 World Series as Astros manager with Cora as his bench coach. Cora then moved on to the Red Sox and won the 2018 World Series.

The Astros cheating scheme cost them both their jobs and earned them a one-year suspension from MLB. Both Hinch and Cora are suspended until the World Series, but then free to get another job within the league afterward. Their surfaces could be in-demand, as the Tigers have said they’d consider Cora and Hinch and the Cora’s old job with the Red Sox is open.

Other names for the job haven’t surfaced yet — but the White Sox did make one thing clear. Ozzie Guillen, who won a World Series as White Sox manager and is now a TV analyst in Chicago, won’t be considered for the job.

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