Shirley named Sox amateur scouting director
CHICAGO -- Mike Shirley has traveled his fair share of backroads to see a good amount of amateur baseball talent as an employee in the White Sox scouting department for the past two decades.
But the 49-year-old never thought those roads would lead him to the White Sox dugout at Guaranteed Rate Field prior to Friday’s series opener against the Angels, talking about being named the new director of amateur scouting for the organization. This title includes Shirley being in charge of the team’s Draft involvement and selections.
“In our business, nobody has the perception that they are going to sit here someday. It was never the goal,” said Shirley, who was joined by his family for the on-field introduction. “I love scouting, to be honest with you.
“This is quite a challenge for me. It is an exciting challenge. We're prepared for the challenge. I'm going to say this, 'We again, the White Sox as a whole, from [executive vice president] Kenny Williams to [general manager] Rick Hahn on down this place, are going in the right direction.' We will do our part to keep us going in the right direction.”
Shirley served as assistant scouting director to Nick Hostetler, who was promoted to special assistant to the general manager with a focus on Major League scouting as announced by the team in July. So, don’t look for the White Sox Draft philosophy to change a great deal under Shirley.
Garrett Guest, who also was an assistant scouting director under Hostetler, and national crosschecker Nathan Durst will continue to play an important role in Chicago's Draft preparation. That groundwork already has begun, with Shirley centering his theory for success on a team of people needed to make this White Sox team even stronger.
“I’m a testament you can work hard and get where you want to get,” Shirley said. “We have great people who will be sitting in my chair one day who are out doing what I did for years. It’s awesome. It’s exciting to be part of a White Sox family I care about and get a chance to lead these people. I’m looking forward to it.
“We like good players, that’s the bottom line. Good players come at 17, they come at 22. Our focus is good players and that’s something we must supplement. We are in a great position, and we are going to do a great job filling this in as we go forward.”
Renteria gets surgery out of the way
White Sox manager Rick Renteria underwent surgery Friday to repair the rotator cuff in his right shoulder. The hope for Renteria is to return by Tuesday’s home series opener against the Royals.
Renteria actually wanted to put off the surgery until early October after the regular season. But the daily pain he was feeling necessitated an earlier procedure.
“It started getting a little more painful over the last couple of months,” said White Sox bench coach Joe McEwing, who is filling in as manager for Renteria. “It got to the point where it hurt pretty bad, keeping him up at night.
“Just certain movement would hurt. Shaking hands. Simple little things we take for granted every day. We told him, get it done. Don't go through the pain. Get it done now. Recover. We got you.”
Third to first
• Outfielder Leury García has returned to his native Dominican Republic following the death of his grandmother. He is expected to rejoin the team on Tuesday.
• Chuck Swirsky joined Steve Stone Friday and will do so again Saturday as part of the White Sox television broadcast. Jason Benetti, who will call the Auburn-Tulane football game Saturday for ESPN, returns for Sunday’s series finale.
He said it
“If coming into the season, in the moment, I had said, ‘Do you think T.A. [Tim Anderson] will be hitting .330 in September?’ What would your answer have been? So, they’re exceeding -- and we don’t want to put a limit on it.” -- McEwing, on whether Anderson and Yoan Moncada have exceeded preseason expectations.