White Sox manager Tony La Russa finalizes 2021 coaching staff

Tony La Russa

It took more than a month for a formal announcement, but new (old) White Sox manager Tony La Russa has his coaching staff in place for the 2021 season.

As expected, Miguel Cairo has been named bench coach, replacing Joe McEwing, and Ethan Katz replaces Don Cooper as pitching coach.

McEwing remains on the coaching staff. He will serve as third-base coach, a role he filled for the Sox during the Robin Ventura era from 2012 to 2016.

Shelley Duncan has been named analytics coordinator. As far as I know, that's a new position on the Sox staff. Duncan is the son of Dave Duncan, who was La Russa's longtime pitching coach with the Sox, the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals. 

Shelley Duncan, who played for the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians, has managerial experience in the minor leagues with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. He also served as a "field coordinator" with the Toronto Blue Jays. Not sure exactly what that role entailed, but in any case, I'm sure new-school fans will like the idea of the Sox having a coach whose focus is on analytics.

Frank Menechino returns to the Sox as hitting coach. Also returning are first-base coach Daryl Boston and assistant pitching coach Curt Hasler.

The Sox have hired former Toronto infielder Howie Clark to be the assistant hitting coach. Clark was expected to be the hitting coach at Triple-A Charlotte in 2020, before the pandemic canceled the minor league season.

Clark replaces Scott Coolbaugh, who left the Sox organization to become the hitting coach with the Detroit Tigers.

Miguel Cairo expected to be hired as White Sox bench coach

Miguel Cairo

Slowly, the White Sox are assembling a coaching staff around new manager Tony La Russa. Last week, we learned that Ethan Katz will replace Don Cooper as pitching coach. Now comes news that Miguel Cairo is expected to be named bench coach.

The hiring was first reported in an article by James Fegan of The Athletic.

Cairo was a utility player during his 17-year career in the major leagues. He played for La Russa in St. Louis on two separate occasions -- from 2001 to 2003, and again in 2007. In total, Cairo played for nine different teams.

He finished his career with Cincinnati in 2012, and he stayed with the Reds as a special assistant to the GM from 2013 to 2017. His most recent role was that of minor league infield coordinator for the New York Yankees.

So, when Cairo joins the Sox, this will be his first time in a uniformed role at the big-league level since he retired as a player. Everybody's got to start somewhere, so we'll see what he can do.

More details are expected on the rest of the Sox coaching staff next week, but we've heard that one before -- they said that just last week, in fact.

The latest report from Scott Merkin on MLB.com says that hitting coach Frank Menechino, first-base coach Daryl Boston and assistant pitching coach Curt Hasler are expected to be retained.

It already has been announced that third-base coach Nick Capra will not be returning. The fate of former bench coach Joe McEwing is unknown. Obviously, Cairo is taking his role, but it's possible McEwing will get the third-base coaching job -- a role he served in previously with the Sox during the Robin Ventura era from 2012 to 2016.

McEwing does have ties to La Russa. He played for him as a member of the Cardinals in 1998 and 1999.

Frank Menechino named White Sox hitting coach

Frank Menechino

Catching up on some news: The White Sox promoted Frank Menechino to be their new hitting coach last week.

The 48-year-old former Major League infielder joined the Sox organization for the 2019 season, when he served as the hitting coach for the Triple-A Charlotte Knights.

Under Menechino's watch, the Knights scored 5.7 runs per game, better than the 5.16 league average. The Knights posted a team .270/.352/.472 slash line, with a 22.3% strikeout rate and a 10.5% percent walk rate.

If you're one of the fans hoping the Sox improve their walk rate next season, the Knights were above the 9.3% league average. Do keep in mind that Charlotte is the most hitter-friendly park in the International League, so the Knights probably *should* be above average in offensive categories.

In other words, do with this information what you will.

Menechino obviously worked with top prospects Luis Robert and Nick Madrigal this past season, and he inherits an offensive core than includes Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson and Eloy Jimenez.

For what it's worth, Menechino has previous experience as a hitting coach in the majors, and he has previous experience working with a young offensive core.

He was the hitting coach with the Miami Marlins in 2014 and 2015. He was then "demoted" to assistant hitting coach when the Marlins foolishly brought on Barry Bonds to be the hitting coach for the 2016 season. Bonds was a disaster and was replaced by Mike Pagliarulo, with Menechino serving as assistant hitting coach from 2016-18.

After the 2018 season, Menechino was one of four Marlins coaches fired as part of an offseason shakeup. He landed in the Sox organization, and now he's getting another chance to work with MLB hitters.

Of note, Menechino coached Christian Yelich, Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and J.T. Realmuto during his time with the Marlins. All four of those guys are enjoying success now in places not named Miami. It's unclear how much credit Menechino deserves for those successes, but he obviously didn't screw any of them up, either.

As a player, Menechino played seven years in the majors with the Oakland A's and Toronto Blue Jays. He was mostly a utility player, posting a career .240/.358/.383 slash line in 1,510 plate appearances.

A .358 on-base percentage? Well, we can't say he didn't walk. I honestly have no idea if this is a good hire. I would have liked to have seen an outside search, but then again, it isn't as if Menechino is a longtime organization man. He's relatively new to the Sox, and all you can do is hope he's the right guy to help this young group of offensive players take the next steps in their careers.