White Sox manager Will Venable was named Sporting News American League Manager of the Year, as voted by his peers, on Thursday.
Venable, 43, guided the White Sox to an 84-78 record and a berth in the American League playoffs in 2026, his second season as manager. The Sox reached the postseason for the 12th time in franchise history and first since 2021, sweeping Houston in the AL Wild Card Series before losing to Cleveland in five games in the AL Division Series.
Among the White Sox accomplishments in 2026:
Led the AL Central for 96 days and improved their win total by 19-plus games for the second straight season (41 to 60 to 84). They more than doubled their win total of 41 from 2024, the season prior to Venable’s arrival;
Venable is the third MLB manager since 1901 to oversee a 19-plus win improvement in back-to-back seasons (excluding COVID and strike seasons), joining Hall of Famers Miller Huggins of the 1925-27 New York Yankees (69 to 91 to 110) and John McGraw of the 1902-04 New York Giants (48 to 84 to 106);
The White Sox became the first team in MLB history to reach the postseason after losing 100-plus games in each of the two previous seasons;
Chicago's 84 victories were the most in MLB history by a team following three straight 100-loss seasons and tied the 1974 Texas Rangers for the most in MLB history by a team coming off back-to-back 100-loss campaigns;
Only three other teams in MLB history have reached the playoffs in the season after losing 100 games: Kansas City in 2024, Miami in 2020 and Minnesota in 2017;
After a 6-13 start, the White Sox went 78-65 (.545) from April 17-end of the regular season, the fourth-best record in the AL behind Tampa Bay (87-57), New York (83-59) and Boston (80-64).
Venable is the sixth White Sox manager to win the award, joining Ozzie Guillén (2005), Jerry Manuel (2000), Jeff Torborg (1990), Tony La Russa (1983) and Chuck Tanner (1972).