Venable named White Sox manager: 'I'm excited about the challenges'

CHICAGO -- Will Venable has a self-described underdog mentality and all the things that come with it.

Those intangibles should come in handy as he was named the 44th manager in White Sox history on Thursday. The White Sox dipped quite a few rungs below underdog status last season, losing 121 games and setting a single-season record in the Modern Era (since 1901).

“I look at all these jobs and opportunities as a challenge,” said Venable during an introductory Zoom on Thursday. “I don’t think there’s one managerial job that is easy. All these jobs come with their unique challenges and I’m excited about the challenges that are presented here with this group.

“I’ve been on teams that have had to work hard to overachieve, and that’s a mindset and mentality that I’m comfortable with. I’ve seen that work at even the highest levels.”

Venable, who celebrated his 42nd birthday Tuesday, knows the Chicago baseball scene. He was part of the interview process for the last White Sox managerial opening when Pedro Grifol ultimately was hired prior to the 2023 campaign, and he served as a special assistant to Cubs president Theo Epstein.

From 2018-19, Venable was the Cubs’ first-base coach and moved to third-base coach in 2020. It was during that time in Chicago that Venable first thought about a managerial future.

“Jed [Hoyer] and Theo brought me into the interview process for their managerial opening [prior to ‘20],” Venable explained. “They were very transparent and said, 'We see you as a potential manager down the road, and this is going to help you get there.' That was the first time I thought, 'Wow, someone thinks that I can do this,' and kind of opened my eyes to the possibility."

“The thing that stands out with Will is the consistency,” said White Sox general manager Chris Getz, who was also part of the Zoom. “He can control his emotions, and it makes him an effective communicator. When we're talking about managing a Major League club, regardless of the state of the organization, there's always obstacles, there's always adversity. He's got the leadership qualities to be consistent throughout a season but also through consecutive seasons.”

Venable worked as the Red Sox bench coach during the 2021 and ’22 seasons, before joining the Rangers as the associate manager to Bruce Bochy for the past two years. Texas won the World Series title in ’23 with Venable in that role. Those two years with the Rangers accelerated Venable’s development, as he attested that he wouldn’t be in this position without that time.

In reality, Venable has had many strong influences over his playing and coaching career. It started at Princeton, where he was an all-Ivy League performer in baseball and basketball, and included nine Major League seasons. He knocked out 81 home runs and stole 135 bases over those years.

Joe Maddon, Alex Cora and Bochy are World Series-winning managers Venable has worked with, and he’ll be applying the strong suits observed from each, combined with his vast ability, to guide the White Sox. It goes without saying that it won’t be an easy job.

Grifol was dismissed on Aug. 8 of last season, after posting an 89-190 record over one-plus seasons at the helm, including a 28-89 mark in ‘24. Grady Sizemore finished at 13-32 as the interim manager, improving Chicago’s morale and focus.

Sizemore was in consideration for the full-time managerial opening and will be in consideration for Venable’s new staff. The original managerial list featured 60 “pen-to-paper” candidates, according to Getz. That list dwindled down to 20, before Getz moved to the final five.

• Sizemore could be among holdovers on Venable's '25 staff

"Certainly there's the intangible part, but tangible [too], right?” said Getz on what he looked for in candidates to move them forward in the process. “You're building out an objective process, or keeping it as objective as you can.

“We had to find questions or create scenarios that would allow that part of the individual, those traits, to be shown. You then use your group and you make decisions, and you work it down from there. It's not easy, because there are a lot of talented individuals that are out there. But it was very clear to us that Will was the most well-rounded."

This current White Sox rebuild continues on, with the club expected to drop payroll and potentially have another subpar season in 2025 behind ongoing evaluations of what they have with their younger players. Getz spoke of wanting someone in uniform and outside the organization as the new manager, as well as someone who shared a similar vision to co-pilot this growth process toward success with him.

These goals were hit straight on with the Venable hiring.

“I’m super excited for the opportunity,” Venable said. “I have high expectations for effort. It’s not just going out there and playing hard. It’s about pressuring the other team. That’s just something that’s really important to being competitive. And just competing.”