Tag Archives: Dale Sveum

Renteria Reportedly Set to Become New Chicago Cubs Manager

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Rick Renteria is readying for Cub duty…

The 51-year-old Mexican American baseball coach, currently serving as the bench coach for the San Diego Padres, will soon be serving as the new manager for the Chicago Cubs, according to ESPN.com sources.

Rick Renteria

Renteria has been the bench coach for the Padres since 2011 after becoming a major league coach in 2008. He played infield for parts of five major league seasons after being drafted 20th overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1980.

Renteria, who retired as a player in 1996 while with the Mexico City Reds, beat out A.J. Hinch, Manny Acta, Dave Martinez and Eric Wedge for the job. A fifth candidate, Brad Ausmus, was hired by the Detroit Tigers earlier in the week.

Renteria is known as a hands-on teacher and a strong communicator. His ability to speak Spanish is believed to be a plus for the Cubs. Sources familiar with the process say the team was intent on hiring a Latin-American manager and/or coaches, something lacking on the previous coaching staff.

Chicago has several key players of Latin-American descent, including shortstop Starlin Castro, who regressed under former manager Dale Sveum.

“In order for us to win with this group — and win consistently — we must have the best possible environment for young players to learn, develop and thrive at the major league level,” said team representatives after Sveum was fired.

Chicago Cubs Trade Garza to the Texas Rangers

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It’s official… Matt Garza will be winding-up in the Lone Star State…

The Texas Rangers have acquired the 29-year-old Mexican American pitcher from the Chicago Cubs, the team announced Monday night.

Matt Garza

In exchange for Garza, the Cubs acquired Triple-A infielder Mike Olt, Class A right-hander C.J. Edwards and right-hander Justin Grimm from the Rangers. The Cubs will also get one or two players to be named later, depending on who they take, as part of the deal.

Garza is expected to work out with the Rangers on Tuesday; while Texas general manager Jon Daniels said Garza is likely to start Wednesday night against the New York Yankees.

“He’s an extremely talented pitcher,” said Daniels. “He’s had success in the toughest divisions and the biggest stages. He was throwing the ball as well as anybody right now. He has a power repertoire, who is something that’s a little different from what we’ve got. And he was available.

“He was in our opinion the best guy on the market, and we wanted to go out and make a push to get him.”

Garza was scheduled to start for the Cubs Monday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks but was scratched.

Garza is 6-1 with a 3.17 ERA overall this season, including 5-0 with a 1.24 ERA in his past six starts. He is entering the final year of his contract.

“He was the best pitcher in baseball in his last five, six, seven starts. He’s young, has great velocity, has good command of his pitches and that makes him attractive to any team,” said Cubs manager Dale Sveum. “It’s not easy to part with a guy like Garza and someone has to step in and be productive. We hope the players we get will make us a better team, and in the future, we can be the team who pursues a player like Garza.”

With six pitchers currently on the disabled list, including four starters, Texas has been in the market for a starting pitcher for weeks. The Rangers are in a heated division race with Oakland, trailing the A’s by three games in the AL West entering Monday night.