The White Sox are expected to officially announce their 2025 coaching staff within the next week, but Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that the club will be retaining most of its incumbent coaches. In terms of new faces, first-time manager Will Venable will be joined by bench coach Walker McKinven (whose hiring was reported by Venable two weeks ago), director of hitting Ryan Fuller, and a new assistant hitting coach whose identity has yet to be revealed.
Hitting coach Marcus Thames, pitching coach Ethan Katz, assistant pitching coach Matt Wise, first base coach Jason Bourgeois, third base coach Justin Jirschele, and catching coach Drew Butera are all expected to return. Grady Sizemore will also return to the coaching staff after serving as Chicago’s interim manager when Pedro Grifol was fired in early August. Interim bench coach Doug Sisson and interim assistant hitting coach Mike Gellinger won’t be returning to those roles, but are expected to take other jobs in the organization.
While the White Sox didn’t feel the need to entirely revamp the coaching staff in the wake of a 121-loss season, it should be noted that many of these coaches were already relative newcomers to the organization. Thames, Wise, Bourgeois, and Butera were all hired just last offseason, and Jirschele was installed last August when former third base coach Eddie Rodriguez was also fired along with Grifol and former bench coach Charlie Montoyo.
There’s really nowhere to go but up for the White Sox in the wake of the worst season in modern baseball history, though Venable and his staff will have another long year ahead of them as the Sox continue their rebuild. Obviously wins aren’t expected for now, as Venable and the coaches face the broader challenge of helping develop the team’s younger players and changing what reportedly became a toxic clubhouse culture.
Getting McKinven is a great move.
It’s wild how I found out I’m keeping my job from a post on MLBTR! Magic Winter!
Great news. The coaching staff did a great job last year and made history as well. Well earned!
Not only have the coaches been there just 1 season, Getz also spent last offseason dumpster diving to fill out the roster. If absolutely nothing else, the pitching coaches deserve to stay after their success with Crochet, Fedde and Cannon.
That explains the first 100 losses. What about the last twenty?
The historically bad offense.
Its not like other teams were lined up to steal them away.
Fedde and Crochet received plenty of trade interest over the past season? What league are you watching?
Translation: It would cost money to fire all those guys. So even though they suck, You have to keep them. Signed, Jerry.
Maybe the White Sox are hoping for a 42 win season in 2025..
I’m happy they’re shooting for double figures in the win column for 2025.
After all, a 9-153 record could be considered embarrassing…
Who cares. A team that won 41 games is charging $20 a month to have the privilege to watch them. I can find comedy elsewhere
Does Ethan Katz have some dirt on Chris Getz? How does that clown keep his job?
Doug S: I haven’t the foggiest idea. The Sox Doctors and training staff may be good at keeping Reinsdorf alive but as far as Sports Medicine is concerned not so much. How are they still here? Katz is probably the worst Pitching Coach in history.
Grady Sizemore not happy with his demotion; but he never should have gotten a taste of promotion in the first place.
My guess is that unemployed MLB managers all turned their phones off. Sizemore, like Judge Stone, got the job because he was home and answered his phone.
All the reporting thus far has indicated that Sizemore does not want a full-time managerial role and only took the interim job because the team was in dire straights and he had a good relationship with the players. I imagine he’s fine with this “demotion” because it puts him back in the coaching role he wanted in the first place.
Makes sense.*
——
*No. No it doesn’t at all.
This is going to be another stinky mistake by this franchise. They are going to wake up with their shoes covered in toilet paper and slime
Half of the coaches already got fired in August. What’s the point of firing them again?
Best wishes to these brave men for taking on this impossible task…
Way to change the culture lol
I don’t understand keeping Thames. Sizemore is well-liked and respected. Katz had enough attaboy points to stay. Don’t know all that much about the others, but I know Thames just oversaw the worst offense in the last 50 years. Not just the worst Sox offense, the worst in MLB. I know there was some dumpster diving and injuries, but Luis Robert forgot how to hit, AV didn’t improve (again), and AB struggled for 2/3 of the year before figuring out his issues himself. Thames just isn’t working. They missed out on a great chance to add Seitzer.
Dude, they are lucky all these guys said yes. Not exactly a place anyone wants to be right now. If we are talking about most ill advised, out of touch franchises, you’re talking Colorado, Chicago AL, and Miami. Oakland/Sacramento/Las Vegas is in their own league of awfulness. They pretty much sum up the entire state of California. While the Pirates owner is still a clown show, Skenes/Jones/Keller is starting to make them watchable, so they are out of the bottom five now. So there you have it. Since no asked, my worst franchises in baseball are:
1 – A’s
2 – Rockies
3 – White Sox
4 – Marlins
5 – Angels
I agree with all of these though Marlins and White Sox could be swapped
@Rick
Yeah, the White Sox are bad but at some point they will improve to some degree. Stop acting like there isn’t anyone who’d love an opportunity on a major league coaching staff. It’s good experience and probably pays quite well. Also, your Cubbies aren’t exactly known for being a well operated and winning organization over the years.
Man. Calm down Francis. You are being super sensitive. I’m laughing at you right now for taking such offense to this.
Lol, no not upset at all. In fact, I’m perfectly calm.
Calmer than you are.
IronBallsMcGinty: Exactly, you do have a point.
Cubs fans are experts on embarrassing baseball.
A’s much improved were at or over .500 after all star break. Rockies are awful but White Sox are just as bad. So WS and Rockies are tied for the bottom of the barrel.
I’m assuming all these guys were under contract already for 2025 and Jerry R. didn’t want to pay them to do nothing.
Can keep the coaching staff Or the GM after a season like that. Keeping both should make both White Sox fans find a new team
I actually get better vibes from Venable than Grifol. Not so much optimism for a much improved season but perhaps better suited to work with younger players.
Really hoping that Getz doesn’t screw up the Crochet trade.
Ditto
Sox 2025 slogan,” We don’t care, and it shows”
I myself have a penchant for garbage, specifically trash. There is no way they don’t botch the Crochet trade. These guys have no clue what they’re doing. I say this having worked as a sanitation worker for 70 years.
You have to understand what gets a White Sox manager fired. Not necessarily performance but embarrassing the organization. Grifol was fired a week after a radio interview where he refused to take any responsibility for the teams losing and claimed he was doing a fine job. Was the worst manager I have ever witnessed. He had zero control and the players were just going thru the motions on the field. If Grifol hadn’t done the interview he was there thru the end of the year. One has to believe that since Venable has worked under serious managers that he will instill accountability and end up losing less games.
That’s entirely possible.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Well oiled machine.
This is how dynasty’s are built!
KEEPING COACHES CAUSE THEY ARE UNDER CONTRACT. HOW DOES KATZ DESERVE TO STAY???? CHECK HOW MANY PITCHERS STARTED THE YEAR OR SPRING TRAINING WITH THE SOX BUT ENDED UP ON OTHER TEAMS AFTER BEING LET GO OR TRADED??? I THINK YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED!!!
ALL CAPS IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL.
i’m guessing chris getz majored in art history at michigan. dude has no clue how to run anything.
Was a former Wsox player, PD/AGM before getting promoted to GM. Getz path to being a GM is pretty much most GM’s in todays game.
Whose making these decisions, Eberflus?
If I was the GM of the Whitesox with the same budget, I garentee that my team would win more games then this awful GM did. I know that there is more to being a GM then just signing players (such as the draft), but there were many players that Whitesox could have had for cheap that would of made a huge improvement. I would win atleast 15 more games minimum
Hey Getz, this guy would take your job.
@rotofool who wouldn’t want Getz job? He gets paid in the millions to sit on his butt all day eating chips
That’s a bold move. Let’s see if it pays off for em’, cotton.
Quickest way to rebuild is spend money. Sign talent and flip at deadline. Don’t rush Montgomery or Schultz
They tried that, but completed botched it
It’s cheaper to retain (yawn)
When manager Pedro Grifol was fired in mid August of last year, they also fired 1B Coach Daryl Boston, Bench Coach Charlie Montoyo, 3B Coach Eddie Rodriguez, and Assistant Hitting Coach Mike Tosar so there already was a bunch of coaching turnover when Sizemore took over as interim manager last season. If you only glanced at the headline, you might be under the impression very little changes were made in the dugout from Pedro’s staff.
Do the same things over and over and expect the same results
Mr. Reinsdorf please sell the team. Terrible brand of baseball from ownership to low minors. ask the Southside.
100 percent correct!
Ethan Katz.. enough said! How does he keep his job?? And what happened to the days when a new manager got to pick his coaches?
And do you want to know what is really pathetic about this whole thing? It’s that the powers that be have deluded themselves into believing they are on track to a successful rebuild. Not gonna happen!
Venable will be the Jim Harbaugh of the White Sox. Just watch.
All of it is just false hustle until the man behind the curtain takes a dirt nap. Even then, I would expect his invisible hand to eff up the sale beyond the grave to ensure decades more of ineptitude.