Will Venable had been mentioned as a possible director for some time. (Photo by Ben Ludman/Texas Rangers/Getty Images)
The Chicago White Sox have decided who will take over the dugout after the worst season in MLB history.
According to Scott Markin of MLB.com, the team is hiring former MLB outfielder Will Venable (currently an associate manager with the Texas Rangers under manager Bruce Bochy) as their next manager. thing. Venable replaces Pedro Grifoll, who was fired in August.
The news broke on Tuesday night, Venable’s birthday. They also broke up right after the New York Yankees’ Game 4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, so never say the White Sox won’t be in the conversation for the 2024 Fall Classic.
Venable, 42, has played in 967 games over a nine-year MLB career with the San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers, and has earned a reputation as a great clubhouse presence since working as a No. 4 outfielder. was built.
After his playing days ended, Venable joined the Chicago Cubs as a special assistant to then-team president Theo Epstein. For the next three seasons, he served as the team’s base coach. In 2021, Venable served as the bench coach for the Boston Red Sox and joined the Boushie’s Rangers staff in 2022.
Venable won the World Series championship in 2023, helping the Rangers win the Commissioner’s Trophy for the first time in franchise history.
What can Will Venable do for the White Sox?
To say the least, Venable will never do as well on Chicago’s South Side.
There’s no need to go into every little inconvenience the White Sox suffered in 2024, but the point is that they lost three straight games in at least 12 games, losing the most games in MLB history with 41 wins and 121 losses. . One of those games was 21, tying an American League record.
The 2024 White Sox were a disaster on every front. What’s their lineup? They scored the fewest points in MLB at 507 points, nearly 100 fewer than the next-worst Miami Marlins. Their base running? He is in the bottom 10 of the league according to Fangraphs’ base running index. What is their rotation? Despite having two good arms in Garrett Crochet and Eric Fedde, he ranked 25th in MLB with an ERA of 4.62. What is their bullpen ERA? 4.73, third worst in MLB. What about their defense? The defensive points allowed were minus 87, and they were saved until the end.
Venable has a lot of work to do, but there’s only so much he can do when he still has the person most responsible for the Sox’s 2024 season. Jerry Reinsdorf is still the owner of this team and almost certainly can’t be expected to spend the money needed to turn the franchise into a perennial contender, and general manager Chris Getz hasn’t been in the team’s front office since 2017. It occupies an important part of the office.
Still, Venable can do some good just by keeping the clubhouse in good shape as the team prepares for another rebuilding year.
