Reports: White Sox find successor as manager after 121-loss season

Happy birthday, Will Venable, who turned 42 years old on Tuesday during Game 4 of the World Series.

The Chicago White Sox have reached an agreement to hire Venable, who spent the last two seasons on Bruce Bochy’s staff as the associate manager of the Texas Rangers, according to multiple reports.

This is Venable’s first managerial stint, who last played in the big leagues in 2016. He was part of the interview process before the White Sox ultimately hired Pedro Grifol before the 2023 season.

Venable takes over a White Sox team that finished the 2024 season with the worst record in Major League Baseball’s modern era, going 41-121. It broke the 62-year-old record held by the 1962 New York Mets, who lost 120 games during their inaugural season.

In August, the White Sox fired Grifol, who led the White Sox to a 61-101 record in his first season. But, after a miserable start to the 2024 campaign and a 21-game losing streak, the White Sox finally cut ties with Grifol. Grady Sizemore served as the team’s interim manager for the remainder of the 2024 season. 

All things White Sox: Latest Chicago White Sox news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.