Will Venable named 2026 AL Manager of the Year as White Sox rebound to playoffs

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

CHICAGO — Will Venable has been named the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) 2026 American League Manager of the Year, the organization announced as the honour went to the second-year White Sox manager. Venable received the award in his second season with the team, according to the BBWAA announcement reported on Tuesday night as part of the AL Manager of the Year presentation.

The AL finalists named alongside Venable were Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston’s Chad Tracy. Cash and Tracy were listed as the other two American League finalists for the BBWAA award, completing the trio of nominees for the top managerial honour in the league.

Venable’s case was built on a major rebuilding effort that began after the White Sox entered 2026 following three consecutive 100-loss seasons. Chicago also posted a Modern Era single-season record of 121 losses in 2024, a context that framed the expectations for Venable’s early tenure.

In Venable’s debut season in 2025, the White Sox lost 102 games. While the team finished at 28–37 after the All-Star break that year, the overall record still reflected ongoing struggles, setting up the next stage of the turnaround that would carry into 2026.

The White Sox opened the 2026 season with adversity during an early road trip, starting at 1–5 while playing the Brewers and the Marlins, and losing 13 of their first 19 games. Despite that slow start, the team’s season ultimately shifted, and the White Sox finished 2026 with 84 victories.

The source describes how Venable emphasized team development and belief during the build-up to the season. During Tuesday’s award show, Venable said, “This group in Spring Training developed a belief in each other. Then they went out and did it.”

The White Sox’s improvement in 2026 resulted in a playoff berth as the third AL Wild Card and the sixth seed overall. Chicago’s postseason path included a Wild Card Series victory over the Houston Astros, which the source says the White Sox won by sweeping the series in two games.

After advancing from the Wild Card round, the White Sox moved into the Division Series against Cleveland. The source reports that Chicago claimed the first two games of that series, giving the franchise an early advantage in the matchup.

The Division Series eventually ended for the White Sox after three straight losses to the Guardians, as described in the BBWAA award write-up. Even with elimination following those defeats, the season was characterized in the announcement as a substantial turnaround with Venable at the helm.

The award write-up credits Venable with guiding the team to atop the AL Central standings for a sustained period, reporting that Chicago led the division for 96 days during the 2026 season. That stretch of divisional leadership was presented as one of the most concrete signs of how far the team had progressed from its prior-year results.

According to the announcement, Venable became the third MLB manager since 1901 to oversee a 19-plus-win improvement in back-to-back full seasons. The comparison cited in the announcement includes Hall of Famers Miller Huggins and John McGraw, who achieved similar paired improvements during their managerial eras.

The BBWAA announcement also highlighted historical context for Chicago’s 2026 win total. The source says the White Sox’s 84 victories represented the most wins in MLB history by a team following three straight 100-plus-loss seasons, and it reports that the 84-win total also matched the most in MLB history for a team coming off back-to-back seasons with 100-plus losses, tying the 1974 Texas Rangers for that mark.

The postseason qualification following such a difficult baseline was a further notable point in the BBWAA material. The announcement says the White Sox became the first team to reach the postseason after losing 100-plus games in both of the two previous seasons.

The award narrative further connects Venable’s approach to the on-field identity the team built in 2025 and carried into 2026. The source describes that a “team identity was established by Venable in 2025,” emphasizing playing hard for all 27 outs, keeping attention on the game at hand, and playing for each other as much as with each other.

As described in the BBWAA summary, players adopted that framing and translated it into improved performance. The award announcement links that shared identity to the team’s ability to convert progress into a postseason berth and meaningful results in October.

The award also placed Venable among earlier White Sox managers who have won the AL Manager of the Year award. The BBWAA material says this made Venable the sixth White Sox winner in the category and the first since Ozzie Guillén’s award year in 2005.

Additional White Sox winners listed in the announcement include Jerry Manuel (2000), Gene Lamont (1993), Jeff Torborg (1990), Tony La Russa (1983), and Ozzie Guillén (2005). It also notes that managers previously recognized for the AL Manager of the Year award include the group of Guillén, Manuel, Torborg, La Russa, and Chuck Tanner (1972).

With the 2026 BBWAA honour, Venable was also presented as part of the broader lineage of AL Manager of the Year winners, as the organization named him over the other finalists Cash and Tracy for the league’s top managerial recognition.