CHICAGO – APRIL 21: Bench coach Rick Renteria #17 of the Chicago White Sox looks on against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the eighth inning on April 21, 2016 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois. The Angels defeated the White Sox 3-2. (Photo by Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Rick Renteria is reportedly going to be the next manager of the Chicago White Sox, replacing Robin Ventura.

Ventura is one of the most recognizable former White Sox players of the modern era.

There’s Frank Thomas, of course. But after Thomas, there’s a very small group that includes Ventura, who sits 13th on the all-time White Sox WAR leaderboard. Ventura’s playing career with the White Sox spanned from 1989 to 1998, coinciding with a few fun teams and the proliferation of Big Hurt Baseball.

But most importantly, that era is right in the nostalgia wheelhouse for fans of a certain age. There’s an entire generation of White Sox fans who probably either grew up rooting for Robin, or spent time in their 20s, 30s, or 40s cheering for him. Those fans, 18 years after his final game on the South Side, now make up a significant portion of the ticket-buying, televised game-watching fanbase.

So when Ventura was named manager five years ago, it was always going to be a move that bought time for the team. There was a new figurehead, a name fans could rally behind, a face to put on a season-ticket marketing campaign. They even went 85-77 in 2012, Ventura’s first season. It would be Robin’s last winning record. As the White Sox struggled to make the postseason, trapped between an all-out rebuild and a desire to try to win a superficially mediocre division, the infatuation with Ventura began to wane.

CHICAGO, IL - APRIL 23: Robin Ventura #23 of the Chicago White Sox before the game against the Kansas City Royals on April 23, 2015 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jon Durr/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL – APRIL 23: Robin Ventura #23 of the Chicago White Sox before the game against the Kansas City Royals on April 23, 2015 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jon Durr/Getty Images)

There was no rebuild to placate fans, a la their Chicago neighbors to the north. And the division turned out to be a bigger challenge than anticipated, as the Royals emerged as a legitimate contender and World Series champion, with Cleveland enjoying similar success in 2016. Ventura had zero managerial experience, at any level. He’d never even coached.

And so, with Rick Hahn having taken over general manager duties from Kenny Williams, it seemed inevitable that the White Sox were going to have to make an incredibly difficult decision. How do you part ways with an icon of the franchise without alienating the icon?

They settled on perhaps the most elegant solution available, letting Ventura manage out the string this season, the final year of his deal, and then not bring him back. It’s apparently as amicable as can be. The transition might be more smooth, thanks to the new manager having been in the dugout this past season as Ventura’s bench coach.

Rick Renteria was due a break.

He’d thought he’d already gotten it back in 2013, when the rebuilding Cubs fired Dale Sveum after two losing seasons. That wasn’t all, of course. Sveum had chafed during the rebuild, taking out his frustration with a purposefully undermanned roster on the prospects he was supposed to be developing. A baseball lifer, Renteria was a middling major league player, but had embarked on a coaching career in 1998. After that, he coached or managed his way up from the minors to the Padres bench coach position in 2011, which he held until he was offered the Cubs managerial job prior to the 2014 season.

Renteria proceeded to do a serviceable job, connecting with players of various backgrounds and ages (Renteria is bilingual), and generally doing a passable job in his first season in charge of a big league team. But he wasn’t perfect. Various in-game issues included bullpen management and other strategic inefficiencies. Most of the time, that’d be written off as something that could be improved over time, as the Cubs were still likely a few years from competing.

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 15:  Manager Rick Renteria #16 of the Chicago Cubs before a game against the New York Mets at Citi Field on August 15, 2014 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. The Mets defeated the Cubs 3-2.  (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 15: Manager Rick Renteria #16 of the Chicago Cubs before a game against the New York Mets at Citi Field on August 15, 2014 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. The Mets defeated the Cubs 3-2. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Then Joe Maddon became available.

The Cubs, presented with a sure-thing superstar manager, courted Maddon. Maddon said yes. And so they let Renteria go for no fireable offense beyond “not being Joe Maddon,” which is a tough standard and the Cubs knew that. Renteria was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He took 2015 off, and then joined the White Sox as bench coach prior to the 2016 season.

And now, with the White Sox looking to move on from Robin Ventura, Renteria is seemingly in the right place at the right time.

He’s everything Ventura wasn’t as a managerial candidate, with nearly two decades of coaching experience, including a fairly successful year (a 73-89 record) in the majors. Renteria has familiarity with a rebuilding team and how to facilitate player development at the major league level. And perhaps most valuably, he faces none of the pressure that comes with being a franchise icon.

Robin Ventura is getting a graceful exit. The White Sox are getting what might be a great fit in the clubhouse, with the added bonus of a seamless transition.

And what is Renteria getting?

Well, he’s getting another deserved chance to manage a baseball team, and it seems like that’s all he’s ever wanted.

About Jay Rigdon

Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.