White Sox 'part ways' with hitting coaches Todd Steverson and Greg Sparks

Todd Steverson

The White Sox often are criticized for not firing underperforming front office executives, managers and coaches. And even when they do fire someone, they don't really fire them. They instead choose to "part ways."

Hitting coach Todd Steverson and assistant hitting coach Greg Sparks will not be back with the team in 2020, and the words used to make the announcement amused me.

The club said it will not extend the contract of Sparks, which means, of course, that his contract was up. No such thing was said about Steverson. No, the Sox are "parting ways" with him. In other words, he had a contract for next season, but the team decided to move on.

Where I come from, that's called a firing. But I guess we don't say that in a Jerry Reinsdorf-run organization.

The press release the Sox sent about these moves touted the improvements made by AL batting champion Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada, who is now the best player on the team. Steverson was given some props for that, but two talented hitters playing up to their potential under his watch wasn't enough to save his job.

And it's hard to argue with the move, considering the general underwhelming performance of the offense at large. The Sox were third from the bottom in the AL in runs scored. They ranked last in the league in walk rate and second-to-last in strikeout rates and isolated power. The team on-base percentage of .315 isn't nearly good enough.

So, yeah, see you later, Steverson and Sparks.

However, here's my question: If the hitting coaches are being relieved of their duties, why isn't Don Cooper's head on the chopping block? His pitching staff arguably sucked more than the offense. The Sox had only two starting pitchers with an ERA below 5, and one of them was Ivan Nova (4.72).

Over the past three seasons, the Sox have issued more walks than any team in the AL. You can say Cooper hasn't had much talent to work with, and you'd be correct. But Steverson and Sparks haven't had much talent to work with either -- once you get past the success stories of Anderson and Moncada.

Why are some Sox coaches being held accountable while others seem to have jobs in perpetuity? Asking for a friend.

New White Sox manager Rick Renteria's coaching staff will feature familiar people

Joe McEwing

If you were hoping for significant changes to the White Sox coaching staff this offseason, prepare to be disappointed.

The only hope I have is that new manager Rick Renteria was allowed to make his own choices with regard to the coaching staff. I have no evidence one way or the other, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't suspect that these selections were made for him.

In any case, third-base coach Joe McEwing has been promoted to bench coach, taking the role vacated by Renteria when he accepted the job as manager. McEwing, 44, served as third-base coach for each of the five seasons Robin Ventura was manager. He also managed in the Sox's minor-league system for three seasons. He has been with the organization for nine years.

The McEwing move, of course, creates a need for a new third-base coach, a role that will be filled by Nick Capra, who had been serving as the team's director of player development. Capra has been in that front office role for five years, but he also has been the minor-league field coordinator, the assistant director of minor-league instruction and the minor-league hitting coordinator. Before that, he managed in the Sox's system for 10 seasons. Capra, 58, has been with the organization for 21 years.

Minor-league pitching coordinator Curt Hasler will replace Bobby Thigpen as the team's bullpen coach. Hasler, 51, has been the minor-league pitching coordinator for six years. He pitched in the Sox organization from 1987 to 1991, and he pretty much never left. He's been a pitching coach or coordinator somewhere in the organization for the past 25 years.

Don Cooper will return for his 30th year with the Sox and 16th as pitching coach. Hitting coach Todd Steverson and assistant hitting coach Greg Sparks also return. Daryl Boston remains as the first-base coach.

The organization men have been shuffled around a little bit, but basically, the gang is still all here -- except for Ventura. Typically, you'd expect bigger changes after four consecutive losing seasons, but as we've learned, that's not the Jerry Reinsdorf way.