DETROIT -- If there’s anyone who understands the particular challenges of the job facing White Sox manager Will Venable, it’s Mark Kotsay. Kotsay is in his fourth season at the helm of a rebuilding Athletics squad, targeted for contention in 2025 after improving by 19 wins from '23 to ’24. But before that improvement, Kotsay presided over a pair of teams that lost a combined 214 games. He played for the White Sox from 2009-10, becoming a leader almost from the time he arrived, so Kotsay is familiar with Venable’s new organization. There’s also a mentorship grown between the 49-year-old Kotsay and the 42-year-old Venable. So Kotsay seems to be a good character reference when talking about Venable’s solid fit on Chicago’s South Side. “They made a great decision in choosing him,” Kotsay said of Venable during a Spring Training interview. “Will and I talked prior to taking the job and after taking the job. He’s in a similar situation that I’ve been in over the last few years. “The mindset has to be one day at a time and being patient and really teaching. He had a great mentor that he was bench coach for, both guys. [Alex] Cora influenced Will and Boch [Bruce Bochy] obviously had a big influence on Will.” Now Venable is influencing White Sox players at the start of what could be a long run in charge as the clear co-pilot to the front office in this latest ongoing rebuild. Don’t look for a plethora of fiery speeches or flipping over tables for effect if things go wrong. He’s a leader who commands respect, partially because he has earned that respect and has the White Sox playing the right way regardless of the record. On-field play has been crisp during the first week of the 2025 season. That overarching theme ranges from very few mistakes defensively to better approaches at the plate. Venable’s impact is not lost on his charges. |
“You gotta have a guy to follow, and he’s a guy to follow,” said White Sox starting pitcher Davis Martin. “He’s a player’s guy. He has the respect from everybody in this locker room from what he did with his career over the course of the nine seasons he was in the big leagues. He knows how it’s done, been around a lot. He’s won a World Series as a bench coach, and it’s just like, what is there not to respect about what he does?” “He doesn't really get in the way,” infielder Brooks Baldwin added. “If he wants you to know something, he'll come up to you and tell you. But other than that, he lets his bench coaches and staff come and tell you what needs to be done. But he's very energetic.” It’s unfair to wholeheartedly blame past White Sox shortcomings on previous managers or staffs, but the organization seems to have the right people in place from top to bottom. A sort of blue collar, industrious identity is forming with this team, which really began during Venable’s first Spring Training. It actually took root with Venable, the player. “Will was curious, and a lot of times curious players make good managers,” Kotsay said. “Will has always had a knack to learn the game and want to know more about the game, to surround himself around people that have always experienced different things in the game. “My impression of Will when he was a young player and I was a veteran player, he always paid attention and he’s very personable. He has a great personality. He’s pretty easy going and obviously he’s educated, Princeton educated. He never throws that around. You wouldn’t know that unless you asked him. Maybe a better basketball player than baseball player.” |
Venable is also a competitor. But he will have to deal with more losses than he would like, maybe for a couple of seasons, after the team dropped 222 over the past two seasons. “They are all competitors, including [chairman] Jerry [Reinsdorf],” Kotsay said. “And it’s not easy. I know it’s not easy for [Reinsdorf]. It’s not easy for Getzie [general manager Chris Getz], a former teammate. “But I think they are going to put their head down and they are going to get through this. Obviously, they will be in a situation a few years from now where they are looking back and never say thankful for going through it, but when you grind like that, you definitely appreciate where you get.” |
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Jose Contreras will be in Chicago for the weekend of July 11 when teammate Mark Buehrle gets a statue dedicated in his honor and the 20th anniversary of the 2005 World Series champions is celebrated. It was a team where the right-handed-throwing Contreras played a featured role, posting a 15-7 record with a 3.61 ERA over 32 starts. Currently, he’s serving the role of very proud father, as his son, Joseph, threw a perfect game for Blessed Trinity Catholic High School on Thursday. The school tweeted about the perfecto hurled against Westminster, as Joseph struck out nine on 52 pitches in a 10-0 win. The Titans won their 21st and have taken 18 straight, and they are ranked No. 2 in Georgia and No. 21 in the nation by MaxPreps. |
MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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• It’s difficult to believe Ed Farmer has been gone for five years. He was a great man, a great storyteller and would have truly loved Notre Dame’s football success this last season and probably been involved somehow throughout the campaign. He is missed. • It took me about three minutes after landing in Detroit to buy a University of Michigan hoodie at one of the airport stores. It’s a new record even for me. • There’s a new Outback Steakhouse at Detroit Metro, in the American Airlines terminal. I’m just trying to help out frequent fliers to find dining options. • Dan Hayes, an all-around good guy who once covered the White Sox and now covers the Twins for The Athletic, somehow got locked in a Rate Field corridor during Wednesday’s extended rain delay. We were worried for Dan, but no more worried than we are every day for Dan. |
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“We have been playing hard, and the effort everyone has been giving has been good … I think the first two series are encouraging.” -- Opening Day starter Sean Burke on his team’s first homestand |
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