A.J. Hinch Was Never Considered For White Sox Manager Position

UPDATE Tony La Russa has officially been named the new White Sox manager and it turns out that he was the team's (or Jerry's) number one choice all along. According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, A.J. Hinch was never actually interviewed for the position.

__________________________________________________________ All right, so most signs still point to the White Sox hiring Tony La Russa as their next manager, but there still hasn't been an announcement and despite there being lots of speculation that it will be La Russa, no one is out there reporting it with 100% certainty. However, before most White Sox fans let out a collective moan over La Russa, former Astros' manager A.J. Hinch is still reportedly under consideration for the job according to Jon Heyman.

Yet, as Heyman points out, La Russa is Jerry Reinsdorf's guy and this really seems like it's going to be Jerry's pick despite Rick Hahn's comments after Ricky Renteria was let go following the team's first-round exit in the playoffs.

The speculation that La Russa is going to be hired ramped up on Wednesday, when Lance Briggs of all people teased fans with this Twitter post.

And he kept up the hype Thursday morning.

Seems really random, but Briggs does work for NBC Sports Chicago, which is partially owned by Reinsdorf. Maybe he heard something. Then, 670 The Score's Bruce Levine reported that La Russa was already reaching out to potential coaches for his staff. Definitely seems like La Russa is getting ready for the job.

On Wednesday night, WGN's Dan Roan also teased a big announcement coming from the White Sox and although he didn't say what or who, you definitely get the hint.

And then there's Steve Stone, who will always be honest with fans.

So yeah, technically A.J. Hinch is still under consideration, but this screams of Jerry doing what he wants and telling Rick Hahn to step aside in order to hire his good buddy, Tony La Russa.