Chicago White Sox Hire Milwaukee Brewers' Walker McKinven as Bench Coach

Walker McKinven, who spent the last nine seasons holding down various positions on the Milwaukee Brewers' staff, is set to join the Chicago White Sox under new manager Will Venable.

Walker McKinven talks with personnel before the Milwaukee Brewers play the St. Louis Cardinals in Milwaukee on Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. / Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Chicago White Sox are hiring Milwaukee Brewers run prevention coordinator Walker McKinven as their next bench coach, manager Will Venable said on Tuesday's episode of the "Foul Territory" podcast.

McKinven had been with the Brewers since February 2016, at which point he was an advance scout in their video department. He eventually worked his way up to become the coordinator of advance scouting in 2017, the manager of major league strategy in 2019 and the associate pitching, catching and strategy coach in 2021.

Twelve months after he added the run prevention coordinator title to his resume, the 35-year-old went looking for greener pastures, despite Brewers making the postseason six times during his eight-year stint in Milwaukee.

The White Sox, on the other hand, are coming off the worst season by any MLB team in living memory. Their record-breaking 41-121 campaign made their playoff appearances in 2020 and 2021 feel like distant memories, as Chicago has churned through five managers since then.

Venable is the latest to take control of the dugout, coming over from the Texas Rangers in October.

The 42-year-old skipper was asked about building a staff as a first-time manager during his appearance on "Foul Territory," and he detailed how he landed on McKinven and others throughout the process.

"For me, it's really just been about connecting with people that maybe I haven't talked to in a while," Venable said. "There's certainly been people that have reached out and expressed interest in working for the White Sox and being on the staff. And then there's people that I've just wanted to reach out to and noticed from across the way or heard good things about. To be able to spend time on the phone or on Zoom with them has been really cool too."

Before joining the Brewers, McKinven also spent two seasons in the Chicago Cubs' organization, initially as an intern. He also spent one season as an advance scout with the Texas Rangers.

McKinven is the second notable holdover from the Craig Counsell era to take a job elsewhere this offseason. Quintin Berry reunited with Counsell by becoming the Chicago Cubs' next third base coach, following a handful of seasons as the Brewers' first base coach.

The White Sox add McKinven to director of hitting Ryan Fuller, who they hired away from the Baltimore Orioles last week.

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