Rangers add Venable to coaching staff

ARLINGTON -- Rangers manager Bruce Bochy continued to fill his Major League coaching staff on Wednesday, as the club announced the hiring of Red Sox bench coach Will Venable, who will serve as associate manager on Bochy’s 2023 Major League staff.

Venable has spent the past two seasons on Alex Cora’s staff in Boston, where he also coordinated the outfield instruction in 2022. Prior to that, he spent three years on the Cubs’ big league staff as first-base coach (‘18-19) and third-base coach (‘20).

Rangers general manager Chris Young noted that every member of the Major League coaching staff, except for pitching coaches Doug Mathis and Brendan Sagara, was asked to return, and all decided to do so. That includes third-base coach Tony Beasley, first-base coach Corey Ragsdale, catching coordinator Bobby Wilson, offensive coordinator/bench coach Donnie Ecker, and hitting coaches Tim Hyers and Seth Conner.

Some restructuring of the staff is expected, but it’s unclear how Venable’s addition to the staff might affect Ecker’s role as bench coach.

"Will is highly regarded within the game, and I am very happy to have him on the staff as we prepare for the 2023 season," Bochy said in a press release. "Will has acquired extensive coaching experience in a short period of time since his playing career ended, and that experience will be invaluable to me as we work to build a winning environment in Texas."

Venable, 40, played nine seasons as an outfielder with the Padres (2008-15), Rangers (‘15) and Dodgers (‘16). He was teammates with Young in San Diego from ‘08-10, and both are alumni of Princeton University, where they were the only two student-athletes in Ivy League history to earn All-League first-team honors in both baseball and basketball.