Getz Gets His Man: Will Venable Named White Sox New Manager
Chris Getz has got his man. Tasked with making his first managerial hire as the GM of the White Sox, Getz named former Texas Rangers associate manager Will Venable the 44th manager in franchise history, according to MLB.com’s Scott Merkin.
To Getz’s credit, the White Sox seemingly conducted a thorough job search and landed on a sought-after candidate outside the organization. Venable turned down an opportunity to interview for the Met’s managerial vacancy during the Texas Ranger’s 2023 postseason run. He was also one of two finalists for the Miami Marlins job, according to a report from Craig Mish.
The White Sox new skipper turned 42 on Tuesday. The hire is a bit of an outlier for a team that has historically promoted internal candidates. Of the White Sox previous four managers, four of them had past ties to the organization. When Hahn hired Pedro Grifol before the 2023 season it marked the first time the White Sox had hired a manager with no prior ties to the organization since Charlie Manuel in 1998.
After setting the modern MLB record with 121 losses in a season, Getz stated he wanted to hire someone with a similar vision to help grow the organization. Venable checks many of the boxes that Getz was looking for.
He has championship experience as the Rangers associate manager under Bruce Bochy and front office experience from working as a special assistant for Theo Epstein and the Cubs in 2018 and ‘19. During his time on the North Side, Venable was also the Cubs’ first base coach. Venable also gained coaching experience under another World Series-winning manager, Alex Cora, when he served as the Boston Red Sox bench coach during the 2021 and ‘22 seasons.
On top of his coaching experience, he also brings a player’s perspective to the clubhouse. Venable spent spent eight of his nine seasons in the show as an outfielder with the San Diego Padres, before playing 37 games with the Texas Rangers to close out the 2015 season. He appeared in just 12 games with the Dodgers the following season, in what would be his last in the MLB. He posted a career .249/.315/.404 slash line with 81 homers, and 307 RBIs.
The White Sox 2024 interim manager Grady Sizemore, former Angels manager Phil Nevin, and Cleveland Guardians bench coach Craig Albernaz were among the reported finalists for the job.