June 27--White Sox executive vice president Ken Williams said Robin Ventura and his staff aren't to blame for the team's poor start and there's no changes forthcoming.
The discussion of Ventura's future came about after the resignation of Ryne Sandberg in Philadelphia.
"I don't know how (Sandberg's quitting) affects Robin at all," Williams said. "I mean, this talk about him is a little overblown as far as I'm concerned."
Ventura said he's "committed" to his job and feels support from management.
"Where I'm at and the people that I work with, if they didn't have faith in me I'd already be gone," he said.
Williams pointed to Ventura being a finalist for AL Manager of the Year in 2012, his first season.
Williams has been on the road trip to evaluate the team with the July 31st trade deadline coming up. He put the onus on the players to play up to their potential and said Ventura isn't the problem.
"You don't go from that to what people are talking about now because you got worse at your job," he said. "As a matter of fact he's gotten better and more adept in a lot of situations. I'm here. I didn't go to Minnesota because I wanted to shop at the Mall of America. I didn't come here (to Detroit) to buy a car. I came here because I had questions, concerns and things I wanted to address and make sure these guys still believe they can win.
"Because what's at play here, when we set out to build this club, it wasn't just putting pieces together for this year. This was built with a long-term plan, and that plan included guys like Avi Garcia improving this year, and (Carlos) Rodon moving into the rotation and Adam Eaton taking the next step.
"We faltered. That's obvious. And we've got our shortcomings, but it's not with the coaching staff."
