General manager Chris Getz said he wanted a manager that would walk in step with him and the White Sox brain trust, including analytics, scouting and development personnel, as they make changes throughout the organization in its latest rebuilding effort.
By choosing Will Venable, 42, it indicates the former Cubs coach’s willingness to be on board with an organization that was shredded and humbled for all to see the last two seasons.
Venable, who sat alongside four-time World Series champion manager Bruce Bochy as the 2023 Texas Rangers associate manager and again last season, comes highly thought of in most circles. He was targeted by the Marlins this offseason and the Mets and Guardians last offseason, which says something. Perhaps in hopes of filling Bochy’s seat, he declined to interview with the Mets and Guardians, both playoff teams in ‘24, and will face a much greater challenge with the Sox, in full rebuild mode after losing 222 games the last two seasons.
Word came late Tuesday night, following the Yankees’ elimination game victory in Game 4 of the World Series, that Venable, 42, had agreed to accept his first manager’s job. It’s not official, as teams must usually wait till after the World Series to make such news official, or be granted to permission on an off day (potentially) Thursday.
Venable, unlike former Sox minor league skipper and future Hall of Famer Terry Francona — who was not on the Sox’ expansive list of candidates before he came out of a one-year retirement from an accomplished career to take the Cincinnati Reds job this month — has no significant ties to the Sox. That fits the profile of what Getz sought to bring to the organization known for being too in-house to a fault.
Getz was looking for someone who would be up to the challenge, one who would understand how far away the Sox are from competing and knowing he’d be operating with a payroll-reduced roster for at least one season.
“I’m looking for a partner in this to help lead the organization,” he said at the end of the season.
A graduate of Princeton where he initially attended as a basketball standout before shifting focus to the game his father Max played in the majors, Venable is smart enough to know what he’s facing, with much of his post-playing days experience gained on winning clubs.
After he played nine seasons as an outfielder in the majors, Cubs president Theo Epstein made Venable a special assistant to him and general manager Jed Hoyer in 2017. He was the Cubs’ first-base coach in 2018-19 and their third-base coach in 2020, and Getz’ close relationship with Hoyer likely factored to some extent in Venable and Getz coming together.
Before the Rangers, Venable was the Red Sox’ bench coach for manager Alex Cora in 2020-22. He replaces Grady Sizemore, who posted a 13-32 record as the Sox’ interim manager after Pedro Grifol was fired in his disastrous second season that saw the team plummet to a modern-day record 121 losses. Sizemore, former Angels manager Phil Nevin and Guardians bench coach Craig Albernaz were among the candidates for the position.
It’s the first managerial hire for Getz, who took over as chairman Jerry Reinsdorf’s decision maker when the tandem of vice president Ken Williams and GM Rick Hahn were fired during the 2023 season, a 101-loss season following a .500 campaign in 2022 and division-winning year in 2021 under manager Tony La Russa.
The Sox need stability at the helm. Including interim managers Miguel Cairo and Sizemore, they’ve had four managers the last three seasons and six since Ozzie Guillen’s last year in 2011.
“We built our criteria, we’ve looked at the desired outcomes, we’ve got a deep candidate pool and we’ll work through that and find the best fit for us.”
Is it Venable? Initial reviews around the industry suggest Getz and the Sox did well for themselves with the hire.
Time will tell.