CHICAGO _ White Sox general manager Rick Hahn will have a news conference Monday morning to speak primarily about the club's manager for next season, and signs point to Robin Ventura not returning for a sixth season.
Ventura's contract expires after this season, and his career as Sox manager could end Sunday with the year's final game against the Twins at U.S. Cellular Field. Bench coach Rick Renteria is expected to be named as his replacement, a major-league source confirmed. The Chicago Sun-Times first reported the change.
Sox officials declined comment and deferred to Monday's news conference.
Word leaked out Wednesday that the Sox would retain Ventura if he wanted to return next year, but Ventura would not say that afternoon if he wanted to come back. He said he would speak on the subject at the end of the season because he didn't want to distract his players from their final few games.
"I said (I wanted to return) a while ago, yeah," Ventura said. "Again, we're getting to the end of the year before we're doing anything.
"Rick (Hahn) and I always have discussions, but I'm waiting until the end of the year."
Ventura has gone 375-433 since he was hired before the 2012 season through Friday, including four straight losing seasons since 2013.
Along with an up-and-down year on the field, Ventura also faced off-the-field issues this season, starting with Adam LaRoche's abrupt retirement over his son's clubhouse time during spring training and the ensuing backlash from some players. In July, he was at the center of a dispute with ace Chris Sale, who cut up team throwback jerseys because he was upset about being required to wear them even though he felt they were uncomfortable.
If the losing and drama got to Ventura, he didn't let it show publicly, most often maintaining his trademark composed demeanor.
"Every job is aggravating, and every job is enjoyable," he said. "The game of baseball is enjoyable and it's hard and it's gut-wrenching, all those things. Every year you go through that."
Renteria was hired in November to serve as the bench coach to Ventura after a year out of baseball. Renteria went 73-89 in his lone season as Cubs manager in 2014 before Joe Maddon replaced him.
Before that, he spent six seasons as a major-league coach with the Padres and was a manager in the Marlins' and Padres' farm systems for eight seasons.
Renteria deflected questions this season about a possible return to managing, saying that he wanted to focus on his job at hand helping Ventura.
"I came out here to do the job I'm doing right now," Renteria said in July while the Sox played at Wrigley Field. "I've always believed that whatever goes on after that kind of takes care of itself. You can't really control those things, and that's how I'm viewing it. I'm happy to be doing what I'm doing right now, and whatever comes in the future comes in the future."
Upon hiring Renteria last year, Hahn listed several qualities he thought made him a good addition to the staff, just one of which is being bilingual.
"He was a very clear fit for a number of reasons _ 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," Hahn said. "They were all positives in his favor, as well as his high baseball IQ, communication skills and high energy."
Ventura, the former third baseman who played 10 of his 16 seasons with the Sox, was hired before the 2012 season by executive vice president Ken Williams even though he had no managerial experience. The Sox gave Ventura an extension before the 2014 season, showing their support as the club looked to rebuild.
"I do not expect him to be Tony La Russa on day one," Williams said upon Ventura's hiring. "But I know this _ I know in our estimation, the fit is such that all of that can come together and we ultimately would be better off down the line than we would be, in my opinion, if we took a different direction."
While Ventura's bullpen management and in-game tactical decisions frequently were questioned during his tenure, Hahn often cited his dealings with players and his even-keeled approach to managing as strengths, something that helped him guide the team through the LaRoche and Sale incidents.
Several players also praised such skills, though Ventura's demeanor often didn't sit well with fans who wanted to see more fire as losses piled up.
"When you understand the game and you make it fun like that, it's great to play behind, it's great to play for," third baseman Todd Frazier said at the beginning of September. "It's just unfortunate we couldn't get something going this year to take care of business. As great of a manager as he is, it would have been nice for him."
