White Sox to hire Miguel Cairo as bench coach

The White Sox will hire Miguel Cairo as their new bench coach, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports on Twitter. He had been working in the Yankees organization as minor-league infield coordinator.

This will represent a new challenge for Cairo, who spent 17 years in the majors during his playing days. He briefly served as interim bench coach with the Reds back in 2013 but has otherwise remained out of a big-league uniform since hanging up his spikes.

Cairo will serve as the top lieutenant to newly hired manager Tony La Russa, who’ll face intense scrutiny as he makes his own return to an MLB dugout. No doubt Cairo, 46, will be tasked with helping to connect La Russa, 76, to a generally youthful Chicago roster.