The Chicago Cubs met with Rick Renteria today in California

Jun 29, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; San Diego Padres bench coach Rick Renteria (17) throws during batting practice before a game against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The search for the next captain of our promising ship continued today as the Chicago Cubs reportedly met with San Diego Padres bench coach Rick Renteria today in California.

I was on Twitter earlier and found an interesting Tweet that someone who goes by the Twitter handle @ckamka. The tweet involved the 1980 MLB draft class which involved Rick Renteria, Terry Francona, Billy Beane and John Gibbons.

The same draft class that featured Darryl Strawberry going number one overall to the New York Mets, Kelly Gruber, GlennWilson and our very own Don Schulze who only lasted from ’83-’84 before moving onto the Indians, Mets, Yankees and Padres.

Anyways, Ricky is of course of Mexican decent. Which gives him the ability to communicate with young Latin players who happen to be either on our major league roster or farm team.

If your team has a manager who happens to be fluent in another language, specifically Spanish then it’s a huge plus for your team in the long run.

Most players who have managers who don’t speak a second language, need translators there to understand what’s being said to them. Unless they’ve been around the league for a while and caught onto some things.

Renteria managed in the minors for the Marlins organization back in 1998 until 2001. He later moved on as a hitting coach in 2003 for the Lake Elsinore Storm for the Padres organization.

In 2004, he took over the manager job for that team and managed them for three seasons. In 2007 Renteria moved up to Triple-A to become the skipper for the Portland Beavers before being promoted to the major league club in 2008.

He wasn’t named the Padres bench coach until 2011 and managed the Mexico team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

Renteria was able to work with a number of Latin players in San Diego. Guys like Everth Cabrera, Yonder Alonso, Alexi Amarista during the 2013 season.

After Renteria, the Cubs have Dave Martinez from the Tampa Bay Rays. But right now according to Pedro Gomez via Buster Olney on Twitter, Renteria appears to be the front-runner for the job.