After enduing a 121-loss season (41-121), the Chicago White Sox are reportedly narrowing their managerial search down.
According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the White Sox appear to have three “leading candidates.” The White Sox fired manager Pedro Grifol back in August and used former outfielder Grady Sizemore as the interim manager for the rest of the year.
The leading candidates for the White Sox job are believed to be Rangers bench coach Will Venable, former Angels manager Phil Nevin and Tigers bench coach George Lombard.
Venable is a guy White Sox GM Chris Getz always liked. Would be interesting to see him take the White Sox job a year after turning down the Mets for an interview.
The 49-year-old Lombard spent six years as a player with the Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays, Washington Nationals and Detroit Tigers. An outfielder, he hit .220 for his career with eight home runs. He has spent the last four years as the Detroit Tigers bench coach, helping the Tigers advance to the National League Division Series this season.
Prior to that, he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers for five seasons as a first-base coach. He helped Los Angeles win the World Series during the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
As for Venable, he is currently with the Rangers, helping lead them to a World Series title in 2023.
Prior to coming to Texas, Venable had worked with the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox since his playing career ended.
He spent nine years in the big leagues (2008-2016), playing with the Padres, Rangers and Dodgers. He spent parts of eight years with San Diego and is certainly most known for his career there.
An outfielder, he was a lifetime .249 hitter with 81 homers, 307 RBI and 135 stolen bases. He stole more than 20 bags in four separate seasons and hit a career-high 22 homers in 2013.
Nevin spent parts of two seasons as manager (2022-2023) of the Los Angeles Angels. He went 119-149 in 268 games.
He had a 12-year playing career, most notably with the Padres.
