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4 months ago

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  • Associated Press

Nov 8, 2024, 03:58 PM ET

CHICAGO — Will Venable is a busy man these days.

The new manager of the Chicago White Sox is learning his way around the organization. He is talking to his new players and working with the front office on its offseason plans.

As Venable assembles his first coaching staff with Chicago, he has at least one name in mind: Grady Sizemore, interim manager for the White Sox at the end of last season.

“There’ll be a role for him,” Venable said Friday after slipping on his new No. 1 Chicago jersey during a news conference at Guaranteed Rate Field. “I think it’s going to be about how to best utilize him and how to best complement his skill set.”

Venable, 42, has never been a major league manager before, and he is stepping into a daunting rebuilding project. Pedro Grifol was fired in August and Sizemore ran the team the rest of the way as the White Sox went 41-121 to break the post-1900 major league record for losses in a season.

Venable was an associate manager for Texas for the past two years, helping the Rangers win the 2023 World Series. He left that position last month when he agreed to take the top job in Chicago, and it sounds as if everyone is getting along swimmingly — so far.

“There’s so many decisions that go in every day as a general manager,” White Sox GM Chris Getz said, “and what I’ve noticed in this short period of time is I’m comfortable calling Will about any one of those subjects and talking it through. And that’s what I was looking for. I was looking for a partner in this, and I think it’s a pretty good sign that it’s already as natural as it is.”

Venable and Getz are both former big leaguers. Venable was an outfielder during his nine years in the majors with San Diego, Texas and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Venable’s father, Max, played parts of 12 seasons in the majors, and also was a minor league manager and coach.

Will Venable said the adversity he faced as a player — the difficulty of making it to the majors and staying there — helped prepare him for his new job’s challenges.

“I feel like William’s a good communicator,” Max Venable said, “so I feel like that’s a good trait to have. I just feel like, too, that’s he’s pretty honest, and I feel like players just want someone that’s honest with them.”

Before he became a big leaguer, Will Venable played baseball and basketball while majoring in anthropology at Princeton. He was an All-Ivy League performer in each sport.

Venable said his education at Princeton has helped him throughout his baseball career. He wrote his college thesis on the cultural differences of baseball in Japan and the United States.

“I think now when you’re talking about communicating with a diverse set of people and what I had to do as a player and communicating with people from different places, it’s absolutely helped me,” he said.

Venable also has worked for the crosstown Cubs and was Boston’s bench coach in 2021 and ’22, managing the Red Sox for one game in 2021 when Alex Cora attended a graduation and for six in ’22 when Cora tested positive for COVID-19. Venable interviewed with the White Sox before Grifol was hired in November 2022.

This time, it worked out.

“This is an opportunity to continue to help build and be part of the foundation that’s already being laid here,” Venable said. “And I know that every one of these jobs is challenging. Every group going into every year has their work cut out for them, and I’m excited for the challenge that this group presents.”

Also Friday, the White Sox announced they had agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Justin Dunn, who will report to big league spring training.

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Nats, Orioles settle lengthy dispute over TV rights

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2 hours ago

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March 4, 2025

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Nats, Orioles settle lengthy dispute over TV rights

  • Associated Press

Mar 3, 2025, 10:20 AM ET

NEW YORK — The Nationals and Orioles ended a legal fight over television rights dating to 2012 when Major League Baseball announced Monday that Washington will be freed from its deal with the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network after the upcoming season.

MLB said Nationals games will be broadcast by MASN in 2025 under a new, one-year contract.

“After this term, the Nationals will be free to explore alternatives for their television rights for the 2026 season and beyond,” MLB said. “As part of the settlement, all disputes related to past media rights between the Nationals, Orioles and MASN have been resolved, and all litigation will be dismissed.”

MASN was established in March 2005 after the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington and became the Nationals, moving into what had been Baltimore’s exclusive broadcast territory since 1972. The Orioles were given a supermajority partnership interest in MASN, starting at 90%, and Washington made a $75 million payment to the network for an initial 10%.

The agreement called for the Nationals’ equity to increase 1% annually, starting after the 2009 season, with a cap of 33%. The network’s rights payments to each team were set at $20 million apiece in 2005 and 2006, rising to $25 million in 2007, with $1 million annual increases through 2011.

After that, the network was to pay fair market value with disputes over the Nationals’ rights to be resolved by MLB’s Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee, a group of three MLB club officials. The RSDC started to hear the case in 2012 and lawsuits over the decision were filed two years later in New York Supreme Court.

Litigation over the 2012-16 fees resulted in a 2019 RSDC decision that valued them at $296.8 million. After arguments that went to the New York Court of Appeals, the sides agreed to a settlement in June 2023.

A 2023 RSDC decision held Washington was owed about $304.1 million by MASN for 2017-21, after an adjustment downward of almost $45.5 million for the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. That decision was confirmed in New York Supreme Court.

Another RSDC decision in December had awarded the Nationals approximately $320.5 million for 2022-26. The rights fee was set at about $72.8 million each for 2022 and ’23 — matching 2021 — and dropped to approximately $58.3 million annually from 2024-26, citing deteriorating economics of regional sports networks.

A court hearing on that decision had been scheduled for March 13.

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Braves starting catcher Murphy out 4-6 weeks

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2 hours ago

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March 4, 2025

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Braves starting catcher Murphy out 4-6 weeks

  • ESPN News Services

Mar 3, 2025, 11:36 AM ET

Atlanta Braves starting catcher Sean Murphy will miss the start of the season with a rib injury.

The one-time All-Star and Gold Glove winner is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks with a cracked rib on his left side, the team said Monday.

Top prospect Drake Baldwin is a candidate to replace Murphy behind the plate for Opening Day at San Diego on March 27.

Murphy, 30, struggled last season after an abdominal strain on Opening Day and batted .193 with 10 homers and 25 RBIs in 72 games with the Braves in 2024. He is a career .233 hitter with 77 homers and 240 RBIs in 510 games with the then-Oakland Athletics (2019-22) and the Braves.

The Braves declined Travis d’Arnaud‘s $8 million option during the offseason, clearing the path for Murphy to be the No. 1 catcher. D’Arnaud signed with the Los Angeles Angels.

Chadwick Tromp is the only other catcher on the Atlanta 40-man roster. He hit .250 in 19 games in 2024.

Murphy made the National League All-Star team in 2023 and collected a Gold Glove at catcher with the Athletics in 2021.

Field Level Media and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Moustakas will sign 1-day deal, retire as Royal

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2 hours ago

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March 4, 2025

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Moustakas will sign 1-day deal, retire as Royal

  • Associated Press

Mar 3, 2025, 09:46 PM ET

SURPRISE, Ariz. — Mike Moustakas will retire with Kansas City after spending 13 years in the majors and winning the World Series with the Royals in 2015.

The Royals announced Moustakas’ retirement Monday. The 36-year-old infielder will sign a one-day contract with his first big league team on May 31, and he will be honored before Kansas City’s home game against Detroit that day.

Moustakas hit .247 with 215 homers and 683 RBIs in 1,427 games, also playing for Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Colorado and the Los Angeles Angels. The three-time All-Star appeared in his last major league game with the Angels on Sept. 30, 2023.

Moustakas was the No. 2 pick in the 2007 amateur draft. He broke into the majors with Kansas City in 2011.

He became a key performer for the Royals during a memorable stretch for the franchise. He hit .284 with 22 homers and 82 RBIs in 147 games in 2015, helping the team win the AL Central. Then he drove in eight runs in the postseason as the Royals won the World Series for the first time since 1985.

Moustakas bashed a career-high 38 homers for Kansas City in 2017. He set a career best with 95 RBIs while playing for the Royals and Brewers in 2018.

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