White Sox manager Will Venable was the associate manager on the 2023 Rangers team that won the World Series and also on their 2024 squad that lost 84 games, despite returning a similar roster.
So the young, fun and welcoming — but also scrappy and resilient — team character Venable regularly has praised his Sox for having is what he’s least certain about going forward.
‘‘I don’t think that we can make the assumption that is going to exist next year,’’ Venable told the Sun-Times. ‘‘I’m hopeful because it’s going to be a lot of the same guys, but DNA changes.
‘‘I saw it in Texas. Got this amazing group of guys, win a World Series, have success. Offseason maybe looks a little different. Guys are in different situations in [salary arbitration], whatever. Personal stuff happens. Next year, you’re trying to create the magic, and it’s hard to do.’’
Venable spends a lot of time discussing the loose clubhouse atmosphere he works to foste, how he readily admits his mistakes because he wants his players to understand they are part of the game. But he still would concede the concept of team chemistry is better compared to alchemy. A silly but concrete example: Mike Vasil won’t be the dugout wizard next season; he’ll be pitching.
‘‘Each year is its own year with a bunch of different circumstances and things you can’t control,’’ bench coach Walker McKinven said. ‘‘This is a special year. It’s singular; it’s on its own. We’re trying to win and go as deep as we can and get to the top.’’
Part of the excitement — and the grace — extended toward the Sox, who have been playing roughly .500 ball since June 1, is that they’re ahead of schedule. The Sox enter their final six regular-season games needing only to hold serve against two last-place teams (the Royals and Rockies) to snag the last American League wild-card spot, if not the AL Central title, in a season in which they were expected to finish last in the division.
So it only can go up from here, and a young player group getting postseason experience is just a cherry on top. Right?
‘‘I suppose so,’’ McKinven said. ‘‘We’ve got a core group. Them getting this experience and achieving what they’ve achieved this season is certainly building up a foundation that you want to grow off.’’
‘‘There is this transition as you get into September, as you get into meaningful baseball, where It does not matter what I do personally,’’ Venable said. ‘‘It’s a mentality you have to go through. We have guys who are going through that for the first time, which is great.’’
But are the Sox a top-10 offense full of young hitters with upside or the middle-of-the-pack unit they’ve been since the All-Star break? Are Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith ready to drive the future of the rotation, or are there two or three slots slots to fill during the offseason? Even without Vasil and Jordan Leasure, the Sox have suffered only an average level of injuries this season, and the bill for leading the majors in bullpen innings might come due next spring.
These are the areas of uncertainty that might make the Sox regret not pushing harder at the trade deadline. But after a year of hitting coaches coaxing out bat-speed gains, improved defense and Tristan Peters, Bryan Hudson and Randal Grichuk all being acquired and thriving after being designated for assignment by other smart organizations, problem-solving is the area in which Venable reserves the most confidence.
‘‘What I am positive about is the progress of our [research-and-development] department, of our infrastructure, how we communicate things on both the pitching and the hitting side,’’ Venable said. ‘‘The underlying structural things that the organization is doing are going to expedite us being really good. Whatever our player group is and how they come together in the clubhouse is less predictable, but [it’s] icing on the cake.’’