THURSDAY, 12:00pm: The Cubs officially announced the hire.

WEDNESDAY, 8:50pm: Renteria's deal is a three-year contract that includes two option years, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

5:38pm: The Cubs are set to name Rick Renteria as their next manager, according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter). The press conference to introduce Renteria is expected to come tomorrow.

The former Padres bench coach has been one of the frontrunners for the Chicago job for several weeks and was said to have made a very strong impression on the Cubs' front office during his interviews. However, there were several other strong candidates in the mix, including A.J. Hinch, Brad Ausmus, and Torey Lovullo. Lovullo, of course, has ties to Cubs president Theo Epstein and is highly-regarded around baseball.

Renteria spent five years playing in the majors and has been coaching since the mid-90s. There's no question that the soon-to-be 52-year-old's ability speak English and Spanish fluently also helped his case. While Renteria has never managed at the major league level, he did manage Mexico's team in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year.

Peter Gammons reported earlier today that the Cubbies would name their next manager on Thursday with Renteria as the likely hire. Gammons tweets that Renteria was a shoo-in for the job as soon as Joe Girardi re-signed with the Yankees.