Chicago White Sox Set to Hire Texas Rangers' Will Venable as Next Manager

Will Venable was seen by many as the heir apparent for the Texas Rangers, but he has reportedly opted to join the Chicago White Sox and help put their disastrous 2024 campaign behind them.

Aug 4, 2019; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Cubs first base coach Will Venable (25) leans on the railing of the dugout while watching the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field. The Chicago Cubs won 7-2. / Jon Durr-Imagn Images

The Chicago White Sox have agreed to hire Texas Rangers associate manager Will Venable as their next manager, MLB.com's Scott Merkin reported Tuesday night.

ESPN's Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers corroborated the report shortly after.

Venable was initially pegged as a leading candidate for the top position in the White Sox's clubhouse earlier this month, and the rumors became a lot more real when Texas approved Chicago's request to interview him a week later. This past weekend, reports started to surface that the White Sox were intensifying their pursuit of Venable.

Chicago had a managerial opening to begin with because they fired Pedro Grifol back in August. Former All-Star outfielder Grady Sizemore stepped in as interim manager down the stretch, but the White Sox still went on to lose an MLB-record 121 games.

The White Sox now have one of the hottest young names in big league coaching circles, all while owner Jerry Reinsdorf weighs selling the team.

Back during his playing days, 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 and winning a World Series in 2023.

There was a widespread belief that Venable would be the heir apparent to Bruce Bochy down in Arlington, considering the four-time World Series champion manager is turning 70 years old in April. Venable had reportedly declined to interview with the New York Mets last winter before they landed on Carlos Mendoza.

Venable apparently wasn't going to pass up another opportunity to lead his own team, snatching the White Sox gig on the day he turned 42 years old.

It remains to be seen what the length and terms of Venable's contract will be, or when Chicago plans on officially announcing the hire.

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