Will Venable is a good get for the White Sox.
He’s been widely reported to have accepted a job to manage the South Siders, with the announcement likely to be made on Thursday. This would be an impressive first step into re-establishing some of the credibility that was lost as Jerry Reinsdorf’s franchise moved toward the historic 121-loss season.
Including two interim managers, the White Sox have had four managers the last three seasons and six since 2011. That’s the year when Ozzie Guillen was lured away by an offer from the Marlins that Reinsdorf would need match.
None of the six recent managers oversaw back-to-back winning seasons. The common denominator is they were easily available — most being well known to Reinsdorf — and willing to work for less than the high end of managerial scale. While Hall of Famer Tony La Russa was highly paid when he managed St. Louis, he was already on board as an advisor to the White Sox when he came out of retirement to replace Rick Renteria.
Venable turned down a shot to interview with the Mets a year ago, according to MLB Network insider Jon Heyman. He was one of two finalists to manage the Marlins before saying yes to White Sox General Manager Chris Getz and the team’s very involved owner, Jerry Reinsdorf.
Venable, who turned 42 this week, is an Ivy Leaguer. He played college basketball at Princeton before opting to follow his father, Max Venable, into professional baseball. His older brother, Winston Venable, played in the NFL. His father’s career led him to spending extended periods in Japan and the Dominican Republic while living in Marin County, Calif., allowing him to experience different cultures.
San Diego drafted Venable in the seventh round of the 2005 draft, and valued him enough to keep him for eight of his nine major-league seasons. He was never an All-Star but strived to improve, delivering his best season — one generating 3.5 WAR — the year after turning 30.
Theo Epstein scooped up Venable for the Cubs’ front office the year he retired as a player, hiring him to be a special assistant. Venable moved to Joe Maddon’s coaching staff in 2018, then to Boston as a bench coach in 2021. He joined Texas to be Bruce Bochy’s associate manager in 2023 and immediately helped the Rangers to their first ever championship.
Venable interviewed for managerial jobs with the Giants, Cubs and Astros in recent years before joining Cleveland bench coach Craig Albernaz and former Angels manager Phil Nevin among the reported White Sox finalists.
Hiring a manager is just the first step as Getz and top assistants Josh Barflield, Jin Wong, Gene Watson, Brian Bannister and Paul Janish try to rebuild the White Sox baseball operation from the ground up. Their mandate is to improve the process of acquiring and developing talent, which to a degree is dependent on Reinsdorf’s ownership group becoming more aggressive financially.
You’ve got to think a person in Venable’s position would ask hard questions before accepting an offer. It’s a good sign he is putting his faith in a franchise that is at one of the lowest points in its 124-year history.
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