Former Cubs skipper Rick Renteria expected to be named White Sox manager

The White Sox have scheduled a press conference for Monday at 11:00am. At that time the Sox are expected to announce Robin Ventura will not be returning for a sixth season as manager of the team.

According to a report from the Sun-Times, former Cubs’ manager Rick Renteria will be named White Sox manager Monday.

Ventura’s contract expires at the end of the season and according to multiple reports it will not be renewed. After starting the season 23-10 and creating talk of an all-Chicago Fall Classic, the Sox will finish the season with a losing record for the fourth straight year under Ventura.

The White Sox hired Renteria to be Ventura’s bench coach for this season. At the time the speculation was that if the Sox got off to a slow start this year that Rick Hahn would have a replacement for Ventura ready to go.

Renteria is well-respected throughout the game. Renteria did a good job his only season with the Cubs. Under Renteria in 2014, the Cubs went 73-89 for the season, 33-35 in the second half. The Cubs started making the transition from an organization focused only on rebuilding to improving the team at the big league level.

Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro got their careers back on-track under Rick Renteria. And top prospects such as Kyle Hendricks, Javier Baez, Jorge Soler and Arismendy Alcantara made their debuts that season.

Rick Renteria was set to return for the 2015 season but when Joe Maddon became available, Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer went a different direction. The Cubs fired Rick Renteria and hired Joe Maddon.

The Cubs signed Rick Renteria to a three-year contract in November 2013 that runs through the 2016 season. The Cubs paid Renteria his guaranteed contract in 2015, plus insurance, when he stepped away from baseball for a season. Renteria received his salary from the Cubs this season while he was Robin Ventura’s bench coach.

According to Christopher Kamka, Rick Renteria will be the third manager to call the shots for both the Cubs and White Sox, joining Frank Chance, who was hired but did not manage a game due to poor health, and Johnny Evers.

Rick Renteria did a lot in his one year with the Cubs to help point the clubhouse culture in the right direction. The White Sox have as much work to do in order to turn things around as the Cubs did three years ago. Renteria is a good, safe choice for an organization that has struggled for the majority of the last decade.

• Full Report from The Sun-Times

Follow Chicago Cubs Online on Twitter: @TheCCO and @TheCCO_Minors