Will Venable wins AL Manager of the Year after White Sox's historic turnaround

The Chicago White Sox were a pleasant surprise in 2026. After three consecutive 100-loss seasons, Chicago shocked the baseball world with an 84-78 record and made its first playoff appearance since 2021 before succumbing to the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Division Series.   

The surprising turnaround helped Will Venable earn the American League Manager of the Year award on Tuesday night. Venable became the sixth manager in White Sox history to win the top prize. Ozzie Guillen was the last member of the organization to win the award in 2005.    

Venable received 15 first-place votes and 111 points from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, while Tampa Bay Rays skipper Kevin Cash finished second with 12 first-place votes and 98 points. Red Sox head man Chad Tracy finished third with 47 points.  

Will Venable led White Sox to historic turnaround

The White Sox flourished under Venable in ‘26. According to Elias, Chicago's 84 victories are the most in baseball history by a team following three straight 100-loss seasons and are tied with the 1974 Texas Rangers for the most victories in MLB history by a team coming off back-to-back 100-loss campaigns. 

According to STATS, only three other teams in baseball history have reached the playoffs in the season after losing 100 games — Kansas City Royals in 2024, Miami Marlins in 2020 and Minnesota Twins in 2017. 

During the season, the White Sox used 19 rookies including Munetaka Murakami and Sam Antonacci. Those youngsters helped the team lead the American League in runs scored (776). They also finished third in the AL in home runs (221). What about the bullpen? They had 10 relievers with at least one save.   

The winning culture started during spring training.  

“For our club, there were characteristics attributes of how we went about our business that are aligned with good teams — the way this team prepared,” Venable said in a conference call. “They go out and work with that competitive spirit. The way they played for each other and held each other accountable. Those things showed up with our group early in the season — spring training even. We were really confident from the beginning of the season that we had a good team in the sense of how they operated as a unit.” 

What a difference a year makes. In his first season at the helm in 2025, Venable lost 102 games. He acknowledged he made “a year's worth of mistakes.” Obviously, he learned from them. 

His new message in '26 was clear: He wanted to win.  Of all the things the White Sox accomplished this past season, Venable is most proud of his team reaching the postseason. After beating the Houston Astros in the American League Wild Card Series, Chicago was a game away from advancing to the American League Championship Series. The White Sox lost to the Guardians lost in five games in the ALDS.  

“Obviously, that is an important measure for your team and there were so many positive things to be proud of along the way,” he said. “I’m really proud of the playoff appearance because it’s what the players believed from Day One. Nobody outside of our walls believed we were a playoff team. (Our players) were doing the necessary things to turn that into reality. To watch it was one of the coolest things of the year. The playoff appearance is evidence of their belief and turning it into reality.” 

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.