The White Sox announced today that manager Will Venable’s coaching staff will be overhauled this winter. Specifically, the club announced that they will not be renewing the contracts of pitching coach Ethan Katz, hitting coach Marcus Thames, first base coach Jason Bourgeois, and catching coach Drew Butera. James Fegan of Sox Machine adds that Sergio Santos, who manages the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte, will also not have his contract renewed. Chicago’s announcement goes on to note that offensive coordinator (and former interim manager) Grady Sizemore will be offered a role within the organization for 2026, although USA Today’s Bob Nightengale clarifies that he’ll be reassigned if he decides to remain with the team.
The news nearly entirely eliminates holdovers from former manager Pedro Grifol’s coaching staff, which led the White Sox to a season that saw them post the season with the most losses in modern MLB history. Bench coach Walker McKinven and assistant hitting coach Joel McKeithan were both hired by Venable last winter. Third base/infield coach Justin Jirschele was hired shortly after Grifol was dismissed in August 2024, meaning that the only remaining member of Grifol’s staff if Sizemore departs the organization or is reassigned into a non-coaching role would be assistant pitching coach Matt Wise.
While virtually any team would look good next to the 2024 White Sox, the 2025 iteration of the club was still among the worst teams in baseball. Their 60-102 record gave them the second-worst record in the sport, behind only the Rockies’s disastrous 119-loss season. While there were some positive signs, such as strong showings from rookies Kyle Teel and Colson Montgomery as well as the emergence of Rule 5 pick Shane Smith, it’s impossible to deny that there was more bad than good for Chicago this year. Outside of Teel and Montgomery, their best hitter was 34-year-old Mike Tauchman, who was non-tendered last offseason and will be a free agent after the 2026 campaign. Andrew Benintendi may have rebounded to post league average offensive production this year, but that’s not likely to help them clear the $32.2MM remaining on his contract off their books.
With young players emerging from the minors to take significant roles on the team and a .333 winning percentage over the past three seasons, it’s understandable that White Sox brass would feel it’s time for a larger-scale change. That’s particularly true for Venable, who will be able to hand-pick the replacements for these coaches who had been in the organization prior to his arrival last offseason. A new coaching staff for 2026 should provide both Venable and the club as a whole a fresh start headed into 2026, which will be the first full season both Montgomery and Teel spend in the majors as well as an opportunity for fellow youngsters like Chase Meidroth and Edgar Quero to take a step forward after getting their feet wet in the big leagues this year.
Teel is looking really, really good. I’ll be watching his progress in the coming years.
Yeah that was a nice win win for both clubs. Hoping Braden Montgomery sticks as an everyday OF. White Sox have been showing a doc focusing on thd prospects time in Birmingham and Charlotte. Pretty cool how Colson, Teel, Meidroth, Quero and the young pitchers have already developed a collective camaraderie.
Whitesox won 50% more games
And have best chances of #1 pick
Things r looking good in south chicago
Hopefully they fail and fall in lottery
So, you’re basically saying that they are on a path to become the Pittsburgh Pirates. If you’ve ever been to the south side of Chicago, then chanderbing you are correct….becoming the Pirates would define looking good.
The biggest positive in my mind and many Sox fans is the arrival of new minority owner Justin Ishbia and his eventual replacement of Jerry Reinsdorf by the end of the decade. 🙂
Bingo, along with his promise of a cash infusion to be spent on on-field talent starting this off-season.
How exactly is a guy who’s broke going to make a huge cash infusion? Inquiring minds want to know.
According to the latest Forbes report, Justin Ishbia is the 7th richest person in Illinois with a net worth of $6.2 billion. (nbcchicago.com/news/local/here-are-the-16-people-i…)
That puts him ahead of the 3 Pritzger family members. Jerry Reinsdorf’s name doesn’t appear anywhere on the Forbes list. No Ricketts (Cubs) or McCaskey’s (Bears) show on the list either.
Note: Bears minority owner Pat Ryan is #2 on the Forbes list with a net worth of $10 billion. He holds a 23% ownership in the Bears behind the 77% total of numerous McCaskey family members.
You mean broke as in using the team as an ATM to suck value abd accumulate real estate? Uh thats the Ricketts family pkaybook
Who’s broke? Reinsdork is a multi billionaire!
Agree, but the South Side is never referred to as “south chicago,” so I wonder about the authenticity of your comment. Are you not from around here, Chandler?
I mean, its Chandler Bing. You’re not new here, Alan.
Well put, Alan…everyone who lives here knows there is a “East Chicago”—it’s actually in Indiana. There are “North Chicago” and “West Chicago”—fittingly suburbs north and west of the city. Yet, there is no “South Chicago”.
Chandler also believes there’s a South Detroit. Gets all his geographical references fron Journey songs.
According to the Pythagorean Win-Loss record the White Sox should be 70-92…that’s +10 wins !!! So they have been unlucky on top of everything else. Good job Pale Ho’s!
Lost a lot of 1 run games, which will improve via experience and getting a lock down closer and high leverage guys once they’re actually closer to contention. This year was extended spring training which is what a 50 team doing, using leverage opportunities as a chance to see what you got, rather than say, wasting those on a Mike Clevinger type just to get to 64 wins.
Taylor might already be their lockdown closer. I think they just need to use him better.
Grant could be that, tho they may see him as a rotation piece. This year was more of an extended test as he builds up his arm strength and monitors pitch count similar to what they did with Sale and Crochet who began their careers in the pen
Or you can look at it this way…not only did they lose 100+ again they don’t have talent enough to meet expectations. They missed their expected mark by more than any team in baseball.
325 losses in three seasons, poorly rated farm system, not exactly a haven for free agents or spending money. But…the Twins are in the division and that embarrassment of selling off the second half of the season gives the Sox hopes of being the third worst team in baseball next year.
Poorly rated farm system as in #3? Grandpa come in from outside, its getting cold and you can’t take your walker out on the parkway, it’s not safe
20 games under .500 in 1-run games…
That can happen when your bullpen is poo and you can’t hit the ball over the fence.
The White Sox need to stop ignoring the NPB market. Haven’t had a Japanese player since a washed up Fukodome.
Trade for Suzuki on the North Side??
The White Sox presence in Asia is about to change: sportsmockery.com/chicago-white-sox/significant-po…
The White Sox also recently broke ground on a new Baseball Academy in the Dominican Republic after previously just concentrating on their longstanding Cuban pipeline: sportsmockery.com/chicago-white-sox/significant-po…
Finally, the White Sox are reportedly ready to steal a 12-year old Dominican prospect from the Yankees for a record $6MM signing bonus when he can be signed in a few years: sportsmockery.com/chicago-white-sox/white-sox-repo…
I believe these new developments are a direct result of soon to be new majority owner Justin Ishbia. 🙂
My goodness, “chandlerbing” just when I thought you couldn’t get more hyperbolic and quick to exaggerations…
I think he just spends all day refreshing this site and hoopsrumors and fires off whatever first-thought nonsense he can on every article. He’s also obsessed with the Mets for some reason.
I’m a little surprised. I though the young talent was brought along well throughout the course of the season. Things got much brighter on the South Side this year versus the previous. And they have proven….it can always get worse. It got 19 games better.
Think its just a case of allowing Will to bring in his own people. Given his solid job as a teacher and communicator, lot of faith in his baseball connections. If they’re tied in with the pitch and hit lab coordinators that’s great news. Bummed they’re letting Sergio Santos go, he did a terrific job but they ptolly figured he was eventually in the running for major league jobs in the future and maybe wanted to do him a solid by giving him a chance to position himself somewhere else as a bench coach.
I agree about Santos. Players have had nothing but praise for him and his approach.
I think you let the guy leave for one of those jobs, not cut him loose and hope he gets one..
I guess improving journeymen pitchers had nothing to do with Ethan Katz. Idiots.
agreed. .I thought Katz did well as did Thames. I’ll be interested to see their replacements.
Glad Thames is gone, what a waste of time he was. Katz.. not sure, one could argue his pitchers did over achieve with him, but it just seemed a lot of times he was not paying attention and was not getting pitchers to adjust quick enough.
I’d say more of the credit goes to Brian Bannister.
Ehhh overhauling the coaching staff is fine imo.
Yeah glad Thames is gone. Not sure if all of these guys will be superstar hitters, but you cannot have a team of .220 hitters and expect to win more than 60 games.
Katz, not sure but I think the team will be better with someone else. I just saw him with his face buried in the tablet too many times, and not going out to talk to his pitchers until after the give up a few runs (including game tying ones)
I recognize most those names as marginal players. I guess this is step one in getting old.
You don’t exactly drip with knowledge.
found Drew Butera’s account
I trust Venable… he’s seen plenty of effective MLB coaching staffs with Maddon, Cora and Bochy. I like Grady, but shedding everything that stinks of the Grifol era is the way.
After one season with Venable the team made serious improvements. Win 15 more next season thats 75 wins. That would be my goal 75+ wins in 2026.
Not just the wins but run differential. If they improve in one run games, read- finally developing a lock down closer that could result in an additional 8-10 improvement. Running the committee they did this year made a lot of sense to see what they have/had.
Maybe with Thames gone, the team will hit more than .232 (yeah just looked it up, I guessed .220 and was not far off..) . Typically,no team is going win more than 60 games with a team batting a collective .232
Thank God that lame POS Katz is gone. Now fire the training staff and Doctors and maybe pitchers will have a chance now.
Fire Reinsdorf!
Katz did seem to have been promoted beyond his ability level.
Geez negative to be negative. Katz getting the most out of journeyman (Fedde, Houser, S. to flip was a highlight as was uncovering rule 5 pickups in Shane Smith and Vasil. Guess they figure with the #1, #1A prospects in Schulz, Smith and Thorpe, they want a top tier pitching coach. Maybe analogous to replacing Doug Collins with Phil Jackson.
Giving too much credit to Katz. Katz had his face buried in his iPad all the time, and typically seemed to always visit the pitcher too late (IE after giving up runs). Seeing Kopech talking to Grifol (of all people) while Katz had his face buried in his tablet spoke volumes…
Maybe the pitchers regress, but I doubt it.
Not liking him is one thing but calling him him a POS seems unnecessary.
He must be fun at parties
My thoughts when I saw Bob Melvin and company shown the door was too bad it didn’t happen last year. Then reality set in and I realized they probably would not have been interested in working for the White Sox. My opinion is Venable will eventually be a fine manager. He needs more time to learn. I also believe Ethan Katz and a few of the other assistants let go are decent coaches. For those that believe the White Sox will keep losing 100 games watch and see. This will be the last season for awhile with a triple digit loss column. Don’t count on Ishbia being a savior either.
You will be amazed how fast Venable “eventually” becomes a “fine manager” when he gets a few more better players.
Well that will then mean ownership has to open the checkbook and give Getz a chance to hit on a FA or three (lord knows His predecessors had a hard time doing that after 05).
Mckinvan and McKevinthan retained. Hmm. Maybe they need to bring on Mckobithan, McKarlthan, and McKonnorthan to complete the set.
The Sox will probably try to trade Quero for a major league ready OF. Sosa may be another player they could move.
Quero doesn’t have that much trade value in him. Let Quero develop into a catcher before you trade him or Teel for a position in need if necessary. They could always just carry 3 catchers instead of trading one of them.
I love having 3 catchers. I also love how Will rotated all their versatile IFs across all 4 positions. Quero has a rocket arm and all 3 can guide a young staff.
Having 3 catchers is awesome… just not when you only have one outfielder.
“Quero doesn’t have that much trade value in him.”
I’m not saying that they should “dump” Quero for a 4th outfielder. However, if a team is willing to trade an OF ranked in the top 100 for him… it would be stupid not to.
Good young catchers always have trade value.
Quero is still an undeveloped catcher which is why teams almost never trade any rookies in the first place. Whenever Quero is developed in a few years and if the Wsox continue to have a black hole in LF/CF then fine.
Smart thing is to keep them both for next year, let them prove they can not only grow, but be genuinely good for more than half a season. Then trade whichever is worse. They aren’t competing next year. Even another 19 game bump leaves them with a losing record, so Sox can be patient. This coming year is about seeing what they really have.
At the very least let them develop for a few years before trading one of them for a position of need to begin with. I also don’t rule out not trading either of them and carrying 3 catchers on the roster to begin with. They could always trot out Teel in the 1B/OF if he flames out as a catcher.
Have you watched the games? What would possibly make you think that Teel would “flame out as a catcher”? He might regress as a hitter, but then he’d have absolutely no value as a LF or 1B.
Why do fans fall in love with their prospects, when they have so many holes to fill?
“Smart thing is to keep them both for next year, let them prove they can not only grow”
That would be the safe thing for Getz to do but not the smart thing.
Baseball teams need 3 outfielders and 1 catcher. The young talent includes:
– Kyle Teel
– Edgar Quero
– Corey Lee
– Braden Montgomery
That math doesn’t math.
First, a team needs two catchers, not one.
Second, if anyone’s going to be traded from their catching corps, it’ll be Lee. He won’t have the value of the other two, but he’s a competent backup. Then Teel can play LF or 1B or either can DH when they’re not catching.
Third, neither Teel nor Quero have enough of a track record to tell for sure who will be better. C is one of the most important positions in the game as well as one of the most difficult to fill with a game-changer, so it behooves the Sox to get it right.
And finally, you’re right that having only one bona fide OF prospect is a problem, but trading a C now while their value isn’t fully established isn’t smart. If both keep performing at the same level or better next year, their value will be much higher, despite the one year less of control because they’ll be proven. Instead of getting a top 100 prospect back, they could bring back a couple top 100. If they improve significantly, that value goes up further. You want them to sell low because you’re impatient to fill holes. When staring at another lost season, that’s a mistake.
As said before let them develop for a couple seasons before trading Teel or Quero for a position of need. The Sox don’t have to do this but if they have trouble finding a LF and CF not named LRJ then trading one of them is fine.
“First, a team needs two catchers, not one.”
I obviously meant one catcher in the starting lineup (as evidenced by the 3 outfielders).
“Second, if anyone’s going to be traded from their catching corps, it’ll be Lee. He won’t have the value of the other two, but he’s a competent backup.”
Yes, and you will receive a backup outfielder like Dominic Fletcher for him… useless.
“Third, neither Teel nor Quero have enough of a track record to tell for sure who will be better.”
If both were available at the same price, 90% of GMs would take Teel over Quero. That’s a no-brainer.
“Trading a C now while their value isn’t fully established isn’t smart.”
Better to sell high on one of the catchers for a top quality OF, than wait and be forced to sell low on the one hitting .239 at the deadline.
You have no idea that 2026 will be a “lost season”. Things turn for better and worse much more quickly now in MLB. The Sox could be close to a .500 team next season with what they have on the roster right now. If they sign Naylor to play 1B, bring back Houser, trade for a high quality OF and promote some of their top pitching prospects, they could contend for the division.
You’re probably right about them taking Teel over Quero as of right now, but we’re talking all of 700 PA’s combined. And defensively, at least per dWAR and statcast blocking, Quero is significantly better.
As for this nonsense about turning it around quickly, the White Sox won 19 more games this year than last. It was great progress. But doing that again leaves them at a 79-83 record, i.e., missing the playoffs again. Really not sure what you’re smoking that makes you think they have enough still in the farm or available to spend in FA to get them better than that. For next year, the goal should be respectability. Going from worst to first without massive cash outlays is what happens in movies, very rarely in real life.
Regarding your plan, Schultz and Smith hit roadblocks. Disappointing year for both. I wouldn’t pencil either in as an impact player next year. If Smith can’t get his BB rate down a lot, he might not be in the majors at all. Naylor will have too many other suitors (to wit, at least one) to seriously consider the Sox. Plus, Jerry just won’t spend real money.
Finally, they played at a 70-win pace after the ASG. It’s an improvement over the first half, but I don’t think the current core has another 11-game improvement just on their own.
2027 is the earliest they’ll have a decent shot at a WC, let alone the division.
” I don’t think the current core has another 11-game improvement just on their own.”
That’s why they need to make some moves.
What would you say if Pittsburgh offered Konnor Griffin for Quero or Teel + two more high level players?
That depends on the “two more high level players.” Obviously, Griffin is worth more than either Teel or Quero. But that’s not how this works. You have to match up team needs and directions. Pittsburgh has no direction, so they aren’t going to feel the need to trade the top prospect in the game to upgrade over Bart.
For this, what you need is a team that is contending or looking to contend, has a strong farm system or, at least, a strong headliner, and needs an upgrade at C. Texas is the best example that comes to mind, but they’re not going to give up Walcott for even Teel. If Teel takes it to the next level in 2026, though, maybe. Which is my point about why they should keep them. Neither Quero nor Teel is likely at peak value.
Why trade Q or for that matter any of the young core- they are the future to this team. They are young and will get even better. Q will be the Best catcher when all is said and done .
“Why trade Q”?
– Teel is superior offensively, defensively and is far more athletic.
– Corey Lee is an outstanding defensive catcher and a very good #2
– Most importantly, the White Sox have no outstanding OF prospects after Braden Montgomery..
– The Sox would love to unload Benintendi’s contract, which would decimate their OF even more.
– Tauchman is 34 and injuries are catching up to him.
– How much longer will Robert be around?
Trading from strengths to fill weaknesses is the wise thing to do.
They could always strictly use Teel as a DH to allow him more playing time or just carry 3 catchers to begin with. They could also throw Lee in the OF as a short term experiment.
Why would they use Teel as the DH and let Quero catch, when Teel is the better defensive catcher? Just because Quero lacks the athleticism to play another position, doesn’t make it wise to waste Teel’s abilities.
Corey Lee is the best defensive catcher of the three… why would they waste him in LF? Also, Quero would return a much better player than Lee in a trade.
Imagine the Sox trade Quero for a quality young LF and they go with Teel catching 110 games and Lee 52 games…. and both have good seasons. Would anyone at that point say “I wish we had Quero on the bench instead of a good leftfielder?
I appreciate your loyalty to the young players, but the Sox need to improve to .500 next season and be contenders in 2027… they don’t have years to watch players develop at the major league level.
Just let Teel and Quero develop into catchers before thinking about trading them for a position of need at minimum. As said before, if LF/CF is still a black hole by 2028/2029 then I’ll be fine with trading Quero.
I think Sosa is their starting 1st baseman next year (no, really). He is the most consistently good bat they have currently (which is a bit sad).
I like Quero, but Teel just has that energy and leadership ability to be more valuable.. So naturally there is a really good chance that the Sox will trade him for some has been player who was good 10 years ago and watch Teel be an all star on another team.
“He is the most consistently good bat they have currently (which is a bit sad).”
Exactly… which is why they should trade him for a quality 1B.
The Blue Jays should offer Bochy whatever he wants to come manage in Toronto for the next 2-3 years.
That’s a lot of job openings, hmm… naw.. I don’t think I’d like a Windy City. I’ll decline.
Letting go of Sergio Santos is not the right move. Not even a White Sox fan but this is not the right decision in my opinion.
That’s the White Sox.. Unless there is more that we do not know that was going on.
These moves inch closer the returns of Daryl Boson and Nardi Contreras. If there is a Will, this is the quickest way for the Sox to return to being a serious contender. Both were outstanding coaches and remain highly-respected throughout MLB. Having these two help guide our promising young charges and the sky is the limit. Get’er done, Will.
I know a lot of fans had soured on Katz, and with the BP struggling so mightily, I get it. Move still surprised me, though.
A year too late on Thames. I will never understand how he kept his job through this year after last year’s team was one of the worst offensive units since the deadball era. Really hoping the White Sox can find someone who knows what they’re doing this time and can communicate well with the players. Even with the second half surge, I don’t think he gets the credit for that so much as bringing up the young guys. First half was more of the same as last year.
Obviously, I don’t know if there was friction with Butera or what they didn’t like about him, but it seemed Quero and Teel were both improving, so I’m curious to know what’s behind that firing.
What,. a team batting a collective .232 (in 2025) will not do well?
I am sooo glad Thames is gone, just disappointed I did not notice until today..LOL
Katz was not as good as everyone says he is.. Often face buried in a tablet and his pitchers getting knocked around on the field… Visiting them AFTER they give up a few runs, or the tying runs…. Yeah you can say Venable should do something, but he has to rely on his pitching coach its one of the reasons he is there.
Looking at the White Sox history and their present team, well I couldn’t stop yawning. They put me right to sleep.