ESPN MLB insider Author of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports”
Oct 30, 2024, 12:03 AM ET
The Chicago White Sox are hiring Texas Rangers coach Will Venable to be their next manager, sources familiar with the situation confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday night.
Venable, 42, played nine years in the big leagues before transitioning to an off-the-field role as a special assistant with the Chicago Cubs in 2017, and then as a base coach for them from 2018 to 2020. He was Boston‘s bench coach in 2021 before being hired by Texas, where he has served as associate manager next to Bruce Bochy for the past two seasons.
The majority of Venable’s playing career was spent in San Diego before he was traded to the Rangers in 2015. He played for the Dodgers in 2016 before retiring.
Venable hit .249 with 81 career home runs in 967 games, playing exclusively in the outfield.
Venable replaces interim manager Grady Sizemore, who was also a candidate for the permanent job. The White Sox fired former manager Pedro Grifol in August as the team broke a modern day record for losses with 121 this season.
The White Sox have been on a steady decline since winning the division in 2021. A 101-loss season in 2022 cost former general manager Rick Hahn and team president Kenny Williams their jobs, as longtime owner Jerry Reinsdorf hired former White Sox player Chris Getz to head the team’s baseball department.
In the past year, Getz turned over the front office and has now hired his first manager, a respected longtime player and coach.
Venable will become the 42nd manager in franchise history. He was chosen from a long list of candidates that included Guardians bench coach Craig Albernaz, Padres special assistant A.J. Ellis, Dodgers first-base coach Clayton McCollough and Sizemore, who was popular with players during his short interim stint.
MLB.com first reported Venable’s expected hiring. An announcement was expected before the GM meetings, which begin next Tuesday.
The days leading up to the 2025 NHL trade deadline were a furious final sprint as contenders looked to stock up for a postseason run while rebuilding clubs added prospects and draft capital.
After the overnight Brock Nelson blockbuster Thursday, Friday lived up to expectations, with Mikko Rantanen, Brad Marchand and other high-profile players finishing the day on different teams than they started with. All told, NHL teams made 24 trades on deadline day involving 47 players.
Which teams and players won the day? Who might not feel as well about the situation after trade season? Reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski identify the biggest winners and losers of the 2025 NHL trade deadline:
There are some who saw what the Carolina Hurricanes did at the trade deadline — or perhaps failed to do after they traded Mikko Rantanen — and believe they’re cooked when it comes to the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, based on the projections from Stathletes, the Canes remain the team with the highest chances of winning the Cup, at 16.7%.
Standing before them on Sunday are the Winnipeg Jets (5 p.m. ET, ESPN+). The Jets had a relatively quiet deadline, adding Luke Schenn and Brandon Tanev, though sometimes these additions are the types of small tweaks that can push a contender over the edge. As it stands, the Jets enter their showdown against the Canes with the sixth-highest Cup chances, at 8.7%.
Carolina has made two trips to the Cup Final: a loss to the Detroit Red Wings in 2002 and a win over the Edmonton Oilers in 2006. The Canes have reached the conference finals three times since (2009, 2019, 2023). Winnipeg has yet to make the Cup Final, and was defeated 4-1 in the 2018 Western Conference finals by the Vegas Golden Knights in the club’s lone trip to the penultimate stage.
Both clubs are due. Will this be their year?
There is a lot of runway left until the final day of the season on April 17, and we’ll help you keep track of it all here on the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide detail on all the playoff races — along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.
Points: 43 Regulation wins: 12 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 17 Points pace: 54.3 Next game: vs. NSH (Tuesday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 8
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the draw for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process can be found here. Sitting No. 1 on the draft board for this summer is Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters.
Hintz extended his stick toward Henrique, whose wrist shot sent the puck under Hintz’s visor during his club’s 5-4 loss to the Oilers. He was on the ice, with his face in a towel, as the team’s medical staff assessed him and helped him skate toward the dressing room.
After the loss, Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said Hintz was at a local hospital, receiving tests. The coach added that the initial report was fairly optimistic for Hintz, 28, who has 25 goals and 52 points.
“Everyone’s optimistic that it’s not ‘serious, serious,'” DeBoer said. “But we won’t know until we get testing.”
The short-handed Stars rallied from a 5-1 deficit before eventually losing. Trade deadline acquisition Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist in his debut for Dallas, which had its four-game winning streak stopped. Wyatt Johnston, Jamie Benn and Matt Dumba also scored for the Stars.