White Sox Hiring Venable as New Manager

Will Venable received the gift of a lifetime. Happy birthday, you are the new manager of the Chicago White Sox.

A source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to MLB.com that Venable, who turned 42 Tuesday, will become the 44th manager in franchise history. The White Sox did not comment on or confirm the report. He will take over a roster that just went through one of the worst seasons in MLB history.

Venable, a former MLB outfielder, is currently the associate manager of the Texas Rangers behind World Series champion Bruce Bochy, MLB.com’s Scott Merkin reports. Venable will replace Pedro Grifol, who was relieved of his duties in August.

The news officially broke Tuesday night, on Venable’s birthday. It also broke right after the New York Yankees’ Game 4 victory, to stave elimination, over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, so it can never be said that the White Sox did not make headlines during the 2024 Fall Classic.

Venable played 967 games over nine seasons with the San Diego Padres, Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers in his MLB career, building a solid reputation as a leader in the clubhouse even when he was not getting much playing time as a fourth outfielder.

After he hung up his cleats, Venable stilled wanted to stay in the game, this time as an executive, joining the ‘Northsiders’, the Chicago Cubs as special assistant to then-team president Theo Epstein. The next three seasons, he served as a base coach for the team. In 2021, Venable was a bench coach for the Boston Red Sox, and he joined Bochy’s Rangers staff in 2022.

Venable became a World Series champion in 2023, when the Rangers won the Commissioner’s Trophy for the first time in franchise history.

Venable’s new job will not be a cake walk. There is not need to break down every pit fall the White Sox suffered in 2024 because there are too many to count, but it boils down to losing the most games in MLB history, with a 41-121 record that was highlighted by three losing streaks of at least 12 games. One of those was an unforgettable 21 games long, tying an AL record with the Baltimore Orioles.

The White Sox were a disaster from top to bottom in 2024. Their lineup had the lowest production scoring the fewest runs in Major League Baseball (MLB), with 507, nearly 100 fewer than the next-worst Miami Marlins. They registered in the bottom-10 in the league by Fangraphs’ base-running runs metric. Their pitching staff ranked 25th in MLB Earned Run Average (ERA), at 4.62, despite two good arms in Garrett Crochet and Erick Fedde. Their bullpen ERA was Third-worst in MLB, at 4.73. Their fielding left a lot to be desired and was dead last in defensive runs saved, at minus-87.

Venable has a big job ahead of him, but can only do so much when the front office who are the most to blame for the Sox’s 2024 season are still in place. Jerry Reinsdorf still owns this team and almost certainly cannot be expected to spend the necessary funds it would take to turn the franchise into a regular contender, and general manager Chris Getz has been a key part of the team’s front office since 2017.

Still, Venable can do some good just by maintaining a positive atmosphere in the clubhouse as the team braces for another rebuilding year.