As the White Sox organization parts ways with Rick Renteria, this farewell will allow for a great opportunity. Rick Hahn says, ‘the ideal candidate is going to be someone who has experience with a championship organization’.
The White Sox might have a shot at hiring a three-time World Series winning manager. But like with so much else in the world today, the COVID-19 pandemic could wreck such plans.
Bruce Bochy, who retired following the 2019 season, could potentially be a candidate for the White Sox managerial vacancy. He certainly fits the team's winning criteria, with recent postseason managerial experience for a championship organization. He led the San Francisco Giants to three world championships in five years from 2010 to 2014, the closest thing to a dynasty baseball's seen this century.
Bochy even said last week that he'd listen to any overtures regarding a return to the manager's chair after he finished 25 years helming NL West teams last year.
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But while Bochy seems like an attractive option, concerns over the pandemic might throw a wrench into those hopes before they even get off the ground.
The New York Post's Joel Sherman reported that Bochy hasn't heard from the White Sox yet and when it comes to coming out of retirement, he'd prefer to wait until the ongoing public-health crisis is over.
"I would like this COVID thing to go by and things are back to normal (before considering a return)," he told Sherman.
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That's certainly understandable, especially for the 65-year-old Bochy, who is in a higher risk category than younger people.
"The postseason games make you miss it," Bochy told Sherman. "If it is the right fit for both parties, I would listen and be open-minded."
Certainly the White Sox job should be an attractive one for anyone with designs on managing a winner. But with the public-health crisis currently producing troubling numbers across the country, it seems much would have to change in a short amount of time for things to be "back to normal."
It seems the White Sox would need a new manager before then, potentially making a Bochy hire unlikely.
