The Chicago White Sox are coming off the worst season in MLB history and are just beginning to enter the early stages of a multi-year rebuild that will likely keep them out of playoff contention for years. With a managerial search underway, early targets are emerging out of Chicago.
Chicago tried to make it work with two seasons with Tony La Russa, but quickly realized why he had been out of baseball for a decade. His replacement, Pedro Grifol, lasted less than two full seasons losing 200 combined games during his tenure.
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While the White Sox clubhouse liked interim manager Grady Sizemore, who brought experience as a former long-time player, he is not considered in a strong position to retain the position. However, there is an early list of White Sox manager candidates that the club is reportedly targeting.
According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the White Sox’s early target list of managerial candidates includes Will Venable, Daniel Descalso and Phil Nevin. Of the trio, Nevin is the only one with managerial experience at any level.
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Venable, age 41, has some history in Chicago. After a playing career that ran from 2008-2016 with the San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers, the former outfielder joined the Chicago Cubs in 2017 as a special assistant under Theo Epstein. he later served as the Cubs’ first base coach (2018-’19) then third base coach (2020).
He then spent two seasons as the Boston Red Sox bench coach from 2021-’22, briefly serving as the fill-in manager when Alex Cora was sick. He joined Bruce Bochy’s coaching staff with the Texas Rangers before this past season, serving as associate manager.
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Descalso, who turns 38 later this month, is a former World Series champion who had stints as a player with the Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks. He joined the Diamondbacks as a baseball operations assistant or the 2023 season and then took over as the Cardinals bench coach in 2024.
Nevin, who will be 54 next season, had a two-year stint as the Los Angeles Angels manager. The team went 46-60 in his first season at the helm followed by a 73-89 campaign in 2023. Nevin has also worked as an assistant coach with the San Francisco Giants (2017) and New York Yankees (2018-’21). Of note, White Sox general manager Chris Getz will be choosing the club’s next skipper.
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