Will Venable wins AL Manager of the Year after historic turnaround

Flashback: Venable was hired ahead of the 2025 season, replacing Pedro Grifol, who was fired during the Sox's historically awful 2024 campaign, when they lost a modern record 121 games.

State of play: Entering this season, most baseball analysts had written off the Sox, predicting another finish near the bottom of the standings.

• Even the Sox front office was focused on rebuilding and developing young players rather than spending big on free agents.

Yes, but: Players including rookie Munetaka Murakami, pitcher Sean Burke and infielder Miguel Vargas helped the Sox exceed expectations.

• Venable's aggressive bullpen management and pinch-hitting decisions helped propel the Sox to their first playoff series victory since 2005.

By the numbers:

• 6: Venable becomes the sixth White Sox manager to win the award, joining Tony La Russa (1983), Jeff Torborg (1990), Gene Lamont (1993), Jerry Manuel (2000) and Ozzie Guillén (2005).
• 21: Years since a Sox manager last won the award. Guillén won during the team's World Series championship season.
• 43: More wins for the Sox in 2026 than in their historically awful 2024 season, when they lost a modern MLB record 121 games.
• 3: Venable is just the third MLB manager since 1901 to oversee consecutive season-to-season improvements of at least 19 wins, joining Hall of Famers John McGraw and Miller Huggins.

The bottom line: Venable enters 2027 with something the White Sox haven't had in a while: high expectations.