Will Venable wins AL Manager of the Year award after huge turnaround with White Sox

The Chicago White Sox won 60 games in Will Venable's first season as manager. One year later, the team had a two-game lead in the ALDS before its fairytale season came to an end.

Because of that, Venable was named the 2026 American League Manager of the Year on Tuesday. He beat Tampa Bay Rays skipper Kevin Cash and Boston Red Sox manager Chad Tracy as finalists for the honor.

While Cash led the Rays to an AL-best 98 wins and Tracy saved the Red Sox from an abysmal 10-17 start, voters went with the man responsible for the biggest turnaround in baseball in 2026.

The White Sox improved their win total by 24 games from 2025 and finished second in the AL Central after leading the division for much of the year. The team came into the 2026 season expected to finish last in the division.

Venable played a pretty significant role in the White Sox's resurgence, particularly on the pitching side. In order to get the most out of a shaky rotation, he showed a willingness to utilize openers and bullpen games to give his team an edge.

Venable is the sixth White Sox manager to win the award, joining Ozzie Guillen (2005), Jerry Manuel (2000), Gene Lamont (1993), Jeff Torborg (1990) and Tony LaRussa (1983).

While Venable benefitted from the team's collective breakout on offense, he also utilized platoons to put players in the best spots to succeed. And it worked: One year after finishing 14th in the AL in runs scored, the White Sox led the league with 776 runs scored in 2026.

MLB collects its end-of-year votes ahead of the postseason, but even so, Venable put those same skills on display during the team's surprising playoff run. The White Sox won their first four postseason games, sweeping the Astros in the wild-card round and going up 2-0 on the Guardians in the ALDS, despite using a conventional starter just once in that stretch. The Guardians went on to win that series 3-2.

With Venable at the helm, the White Sox are poised to have even more success in the years to come. After proving himself in 2026, Venable will be out to show that he and the White Sox are the real deal in 2027.