Chicago White Sox Reportedly Zeroing in on Texas Rangers' Will Venable as Next Manager

The Chicago White Sox seem to be whittling down their field of candidates to take over as manager, moving on from Tigers bench coach George Lombard and reportedly taking a harder look at Rangers associate manager Will Venable.

Jul 29, 2023; San Diego, California, USA; Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy (15) and associate manager Will Venable (83) watch on as San Diego Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish (11) pitches during the fifth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. / David Frerker-Imagn Images

The Chicago White Sox are "taking a hard look at" Texas Rangers associate manager Will Venable to serve as their next manager, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported Sunday night.

The White Sox were granted permission to interview Venable and Rangers bench coach Donnie Ecker earlier this month. However, reports surfaced a few days later than Ecker was no longer involved in Chicago's manager hunt and would return to Arlington in 2025.

On top of Ecker, Heyman is also reporting that Detroit Tigers bench coach George Lombard is out of the mix for the White Sox job just a few days he had been pegged as a leading candidate. That leaves Venable, former Los Angeles Angels manager Phil Nevin, Cleveland Guardians bench coach Craig Albernaz and White Sox interim Grady Sizemore as the top remaining options.

Heyman clarified that there is no word on whether or not a deal between Venable and the White Sox is done or close to being done, or if Venable would even accept the job if an offer was officially made. Venable notably declined to interview with the New York Mets when they were looking for a manager last offseason.

Before becoming a hot young name in coaching circles, Venable spent eight seasons as an outfielder with the San Diego Padres. Thanks to his speed and defense, Venable racked up a 13.0 WAR across his nine-year MLB career, which also included brief stints with the Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Venable was a first base coach, then a third base coach, with the Chicago Cubs from 2018 to 2020, on top of being a special assistant to team president Theo Epstein. He became the Boston Red Sox's bench coach under Alex Cora in 2021, managing seven games over the next two seasons before going to Texas in 2023.

The 41-year-old Venable had previously been positioned as a potential successor to Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, who is 70 years old. But with the 38-year-old Ecker staying put and the White Sox seemingly turning up the heat on Venable, perhaps he could accept a promotion elsewhere in the near future.

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