NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA HEY HEY HEY GOOD BYE

 October 14, 2020

In a stunning move, the White Sox let go of Manager Ricky Renteria. The party line from General Manager Rick Hahn was that they had a discussion and mutually accepted his release. However, I can’t imagine Renteria didn’t want to come back to manage what should be a World Series contender in 2021. In plain English, he was fired. I’ve said all along if the White Sox were going to win championships, Renteria needed to go.

Renteria made a myriad of bad moves that cost him his job. Foremost was his mishandling of the bullpen. What might have been the nail in his coffin was a must win game 4 in the last Cleveland series. Leading 4-1 in the seventh, rather than bring in Garrett Crochet, he puts in a struggling Jimmy Cordero who promptly loads the bases. After recording two outs, Renteria made the colossal mistake of bringing in Carlos Rodon. Freshly off the IL and never having pitched in this type of situation, he gives up two hits and the lead.

There are line-up issues as well. There is no justification for keeping Edwin Encarnacion in the run producing number 5 slot in the order. He was a rally killer who wound up with the worst average (.152) in the major leagues. Same could be said about Nomar Mazara. Renteria continued to start him in right field when Adam Engel was a much better option. I can’t explain why he had his best hitter batting fourth. Yasmani Grandal was out of position batting third and many times Jose Abreu had to lead off in the second inning.

The managerial position is a plum job taking over a team ready to win. A.J.Hinch, former manager of the cheating Astros, and Alex Cora, architect of the scheme are being named. Cora also managed the Red Sox under a cloud of suspicion that they were cheating. There is no way I would hire either. Sandy Alomar who has checked all the boxes and pretty much managed the Indians last year, is another candidate but doesn’t excite me.

I heard that Tony LaRussa may be interested in the job. He is a proven winner. Even at 76 years old he would be a great communicator with his players. If not LaRussa, Bruce Bochy who managed the San Francisco Giants and took them to two championships wants to manage again. I haven’t heard Mike Scioscia’s name come up however, he was/is an excellent manager who may want another shot.

The Blackhawks parted ways with two time Stanley Cup winning goaltender, Corey Crawford. Crawford was a player who came back from COVID-19 and was brilliant in the two playoff series. There were no talks or negotiations when Crawford was offered a take it or leave it offer. Crawford left it and was immediately signed by the Devils. The problem is you have no replacement. Like the Bears, you will have competition with second stringers to see who will get the bulk of the time in goal.

On offense you think about the terrific Patrick Kane and Jonathon Toews.  Rookie Domonik Kubalik scored over 30 goals. In my opinion their next best offensive player was Brandon Saad. In a move motivated by money, Saad and Dennis Gilbert were traded to Colorado. The Hawks received two young mediocre defensemen. They are no better than Ollie Maata and Slater Koekkoek who are no longer with the team. General Manager Stan Bowman is excellent in handling the salary but must be held accountable for his moves that will once again keep the Hawks out of the playoffs.