While I’m not saying the White Sox will absolutely, without a doubt, 100% be 11 wins (or more…) better in 2026, it wouldn’t shock me. Let’s get into my reasoning.
Will Venable Has Proven Himself
I know it’s only been one season, but everything I’ve seen from Will Venable makes me comfortable saying: he’s the guy the White Sox have needed in the dugout for a while.
Young, former big leaguer, works well with his players, seems to get rave reviews. The only thing I would knock in his first year would be bullpen decisions, but with the group the White Sox had this year, I’m not holding that against him too much.
Venable has gotten the stamp of approval from just about every member of the organization, it seems. Veterans and rookies alike, they all said he was great. I obviously am not aware of what’s going on inside the clubhouse, but Venable seems to be able to motivate his guys and have them all play as a team rather than individuals.
There were bumps, no doubt, but I think Venable is a perfect blend of the “old school, fiery, everything-I-say-goes” manager and the “new school, laid back, analytics-make-all-my-decisions” manager. Which is great, because you want your manager to be able to communicate with players about their underlying numbers. On the other side, you also want them to play behind him every night and get fired up when he gets tossed.
Should Venable be the manager of the White Sox for the next decade? We’ll have to see, but his seat is nowhere near hot.