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White Sox Name Rick Renteria Their New Bench Coach

(CBS) The White Sox have hired baseball veteran and former Cubs manager Rick Renteria as their new bench coach, they announced Tuesday.

Renteria, 53, will replace Mark Parent, whose contract wasn't renewed as season's end. In addition to his experience and being respected throughout the game, Renteria was appealing to the White Sox because he speaks fluent Spanish. The White Sox have a number of Spanish-speaking players and wanted another key figure around every day to better communicate with such players.

"We are extremely excited to add Rick to our major-league coaching staff," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said in a statement. "The wealth of knowledge and experience he brings to the position was evident throughout the interview process, and we are confident that he will be an invaluable resource for Robin (Ventura) and the rest of the coaching staff."

Renteria sat out the 2015 MLB season after he was fired in October 2014 by the Cubs, who wanted to open up room to hire Joe Maddon as manager. Renteria led the Cubs to a 73-89 record in his lone season as manager on the North Side and was credited with aiding the development of young players like Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro.

Prior to working for the Cubs, Renteria was with the Padres for six season, as a first-base coach from 2008-'10 and the bench coach from 2011-'13. He managed Team Mexico in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

The White Sox also announced that Greg Sparks, 51, is their new assistant hitting coach. He's spent the past 19 seasons working for the Oakland Athletics, most recently as the minor league hitting coordinator.

Sparks is credited with working with former Athletic third baseman Josh Donaldson, who's now with the Blue Jays and is an MVP front-runner following a monster 2015 season.

"We felt like Rick and Greg both would be great fits with our coaching staff," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said in a statement. "Rick brings a lot to the table with his background as a manager and bench coach and his ability to communicate well with players. Greg has a great track record with the Oakland organization, and his successful history of working with Todd Steverson will serve our hitters well."

Sparks' father, Joe, is a former White Sox first-base coach, and Sparks was a batboy for the team during the 1979 season.

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