The First Domino On Will Venable’s Staff Has Fallen

For the first time in a long time, it seems that the White Sox are putting a string of good moves together. First, they started by clearing house in the scouting department, as something clearly wasn’t working. Now, the White Sox just went through an extremely thorough search to find their next manager, and they picked the best candidate.

In this case, Will Venable was far and above the best candidate for the job, and many people in the industry would agree with that assessment. While Venable definitely has his work cut out for him, but hiring him was the proper first step to try and get back to relevance.

If Venable can get the White Sox players to the point where they want to “run through a wall for him,” that can help improve the on the field product, as prior to firing Pedro Grifol, the players didn’t look like they wanted to be there.

Now, that changed when they replaced Grifol with Grady Sizemore, as it seems that he had more control of what was going on. The team was still bad, but they definitely had much more fight in them. Perhaps it was Sizemore, or maybe it was the fact they were trying to avoid being the worst team of all time. Regardless, it seemed like a different team when Sizemore was the manager.

Sizemore had a good chance to keep his job, but the opportunity to hire Will Venable was too good to pass up. However, it seems that there is a good chance that Sizemore sticks around.

As Chuck Garfien mentions, there are discussions that Grady Sizemore would remain on the staff in some capacity, but it would ultimately be up to Will Venable.

However, when Will Venable appeared on ESPN 1000 this morning, Venable confirmed that the plan is for Grady Sizemore to have a spot on his staff next season. He didn’t clarify what position he would hold, so that is still to be confirmed. While there has been no official announcement on this move, it is nice to hear Venable openly discuss having Grady Sizemore on his staff.

This is a great move and will likely start the domino effect on the rest of the staff, as he mentioned he is still working out who will be on the rest of his staff. Venable will have plenty of positions to fill, so it is likely that that process is now in motion. Since Sizemore was the interim manager, it is likely he holds a more significant role, such as bench coach or associate manager. Sizemore can be a valuable crutch for Venable, as he has familiarity with the current roster.

When the White Sox fired Grifol, they also fired the third base coach, bench coach, and assistant hitting coach. We will see if Venable sticks with the replacements the White Sox have in place, or if he will go with his own staff. It also remains to be seen if Venable will retain any of the other coaches who were there all of last season.

Regardless what the plan is for Venable, confirming that Sizemore will have a role on the team next year will likely start a string of moves within the coaching staff.