Santos' Barons soaking up ancient Stoicism method
CHICAGO -- Manager Sergio Santos has led the overall excellence for the White Sox Double-A Birmingham squad with the help of a great coaching staff, a receptive group of talented players and the words of Marcus Aurelius.
Make that Aurelius -- and other individuals from the ancient Stoicism movement.
“The ancient Stoics, they have these certain fundamental rules and that’s what I impress on the players, where it’s only, 'Worry about what we can control,'” Santos said. “There are so many times we try to control so many things, and you can’t.
“More of everything is about reaction: Bad things are going to happen to you, but how are you going to react? These are things I continuously bring up to the guys … This is every single day. I try to create an atmosphere where these guys are looking forward to going to the ballpark. I’m fortunate the players have responded super well to it. It’s been a good year.”
Good enough that the Barons won the Southern League title. They also had top young players such as White Sox No. 3 prospect Drew Thorpe, No. 4 prospect Edgar Quero, No. 5 prospect Bryan Ramos, No. 10 prospect Jake Eder and No. 16 prospect Ky Bush and No. 23 prospect Brooks Baldwin promoted to Triple-A Charlotte or the White Sox.
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Those Birmingham players have great things to say about the youthful staff of Santos, his bench coach Angel Rosario, pitching coach John Ely and hitting coach Nicky Delmonico.
“This here feels like a real team,” said right-handed pitcher Jairo Iriarte, the No. 9 White Sox prospect, through interpreter Billy Russo. “All the coaches are trying to help you. They are straightforward with you. The players, too. It’s an amazing atmosphere.”
“It was a great group of guys we had in Birmingham. That’s part of the reason I had such success -- the coaching staff and the players,” Baldwin said. “Even the coaching staff in Birmingham, they were like part of the team, part of the players, and I think that’s why I was able to relax and play the game I know how to play.”
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Santos, 41, was a popular reliever for the White Sox from 2010-11, finishing with 30 saves and 92 strikeouts over 63 1/3 innings as the team’s closer in ’11. He moved into managing with the Florida Coast League Yankees in 2022 and Class A Hudson Valley in ’23 before leaving the Yankees and rejoining the White Sox.
After being immediately entrusted with the prospect-rich Barons, Santos readily admits the coaches have had fun with the players across a long season. They also understand the hierarchy within the team.
Call it enjoyment among stoicism, a study beginning three or four years ago for Santos when he admitted some bad things were happening. Santos got into running and started reading these teachings.
“It blows my mind these guys wrote this 3,000 years ago, but it’s still so relative today in 2024,” Santos said. “Just by practicing some of their principles, it has freed up a lot of anxiety for myself and expectations and all this stuff. Being present, where my feet are, and it has worked.
“I found the correlation with baseball being so difficult and sometimes a lot of the results kind of being out of our hands. This can work across the board, and when I rolled it out in spring and even in the beginning of the year, I got really good feedback after I would speak to the team. I like it. It makes me present. It makes me grateful for the position I’m in.”
That position was guiding hope for the White Sox future amid a dreadful big league season.
“There is a light at the end of the tunnel,” Santos said. “We have some guys in 1-to-3 years who can really make a big impact and can help restore what the White Sox were when I was there and in ’05.
“Hopefully, win an American League title and eventually win the World Series. I know it’s tough. But I would hope that they don’t quit on us. I would say roll with the punches, and there’s something great coming.”