White Sox manager Will Venable is a finalist for the 2026 AL Manager of the Year Award, along with Kevin Cash and Chad Tracy. The winner is announced Nov. 10.

Will Venable is one of three finalists for the 2026 American League Manager of the Year Award. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced the finalists Monday evening on MLB Network, with Venable joining the Rays’ Kevin Cash and the Red Sox’s Chad Tracy.

The White Sox shared the news on X at 5:36 p.m. CT.

https://twitter.com/whitesox/status/2117400394112344480

The winner will be announced Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET) on MLB Network. The award is based only on the regular season.

From 121 losses to October

Venable took over a team that lost a modern-record 121 games in 2024. The White Sox went 60-102 in his first season, then jumped to 84-78 in 2026, a 24-win improvement, and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2021. They became the first team in MLB history to make the postseason after losing 100 or more games in each of the two previous seasons.

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Chicago grabbed the AL’s third Wild Card, swept the Astros in Houston and pushed the Guardians to the limit in the AL Division Series before falling 2-0 in Game 5 at Progressive Field.

General manager Chris Getz, who hired Venable before the 2025 season, summed up why the clubhouse bought in. “When it comes to Will Venable, so many people are going to want him to succeed. How he treats people,” Getz told MLB.com’s Scott Merkin. “Could be anyone in the building. And I just knew that he was going to be able to get a team, an organization, to pull toward something special.”

The competition

Cash is a two-time winner (2020 and 2021) whose Rays won the AL East and went on to capture the AL pennant. Tracy took over the Red Sox from Alex Cora in late April and guided Boston to a Wild Card berth.

Venable already has one Manager of the Year trophy this fall. His fellow managers voted him Sporting News AL Manager of the Year in October.

Chasing Ozzie

A win would make Venable the first White Sox manager to take the BBWAA award since Ozzie Guillen in 2005, the year the South Siders won the World Series.

Venable is one of several White Sox up for hardware this fall, along with Hank Aaron Award finalist Miguel Vargas. Second baseman Chase Meidroth was a Gold Glove finalist, but the AL award at his position went to the Mariners’ Cole Young on Sunday.