PHOENIX -- Halfway between the clubhouse and the food room, there's a sign on the wall of the White Sox complex at Camelback Ranch that simply lists out:
TRUST
PROFESSIONALISM
EXECUTION
It's not formatted to emphasize any acronym, and Will Venable didn't reference it in his short media session on the first day of spring training. New managers can often pick up easy points by simply differentiating from the unsuccessful person they replaced. Recently that's been an avenue available for all new White Sox skippers. Rather than declare of a new brand of White Sox baseball with a loud statement against which every hiccup and losing streak will be judged, Venable sounded more at peace with what he no longer has to control.
"The last few, I was the guy in charge of the schedule and took a lot of responsibility in that," Venable said. "Today as we got going I was checking the schedule and some of those same nerves and anxiety were there, and I realized that’s not my responsibility and was able to float around and see some different guys."
Venable addressed the White Sox clubhouse Wednesday morning, but it was about team expectations for pitcher fielding practice and relationships between catchers and pitchers, since bullpens were the primary agenda item for the day. Upon questioning, he did reveal that he arrived at the team complex at 5 a.m., but matter-of-factly explained that it's a necessary component of finding time to work out before the facility's gym fills with players.
In a certain light, Venable could be seen as keeping in line with Chris Getz's tack of not wedding himself to specific expectations or contention timelines, so the White Sox don't repeat the unfulfilled expectations of the previous administration nor inspire confidence that the tough times are nearing an end. In a more literal interpretation, Venable's approach doesn't involve announcing a standard and hoping everyone contorts themselves to fit alongside it.
"To be honest, I'll continue to learn that," Venable said when asked how he can affect wins and losses. "For me today, I think it's just creating a positive environment for these guys to come to every day, as well as structure and support to help them do the things they need to do individually. We know that there's going to be a lot going on in the season, but to stay positive and make sure these guys are coming into a place every day where they can feel comfortable and be themselves."
The one-year, $1.95 million signing of Michael A. Taylor became official right before Venable addressed the media, with Jesse Scholtens moving to the 60-say injured list even though he's in camp and throwing after last spring's Tommy John surgery.
While Venable acknowledged the idea that Taylor could give Luis Robert Jr. days off from playing the field, that specific usage plan seems less than fully finalized. The manager more directly described Taylor as someone who could match up offensively against left-handers (.732 career OPS), and that his superlative defense at every outfield position could make him a key part of closing games with glove-first substitutions.
"We talk about ending games and finishing games, and to have [Robert and Taylor] out there, talking about Austin Slater and [Mike] Tauchman as well, we feel really good about our defense out there late in games," Venable said.
Andrew Benintendi was the team's home run leader last season, but also its poorest-rated defender amid last season's Achilles troubles, so he could be an easy target for accommodating such an alignment
Bryan Ramos confirmed that he experiences soreness in his right elbow when throwing. It's a complete non-issue for his hitting and he minimized the severity of the issue, but obviously how much it lingers and prevents him from playing defense is the question that can impact his spring, his Opening Day roster chances and 2025 season.
Overall, Ramos was upbeat about his offseason, which included Venable shadowing a day of his offseason workouts, and most importantly included a trip to visit family in Cuba. After earning his US citizenship last summer, Ramos hopes to make annual trips back home.
Davis Martin has pitched 113⅓ career major league innings and never made an Opening Day roster before. So to hear him talk like a senior member of the White Sox rotation, who kept tabs on the likes of Jonathan Cannon and Sean Burke during the winter, could be enough to convince a nine-year member of the beat that youth is dead and the ravages of time have made this planet unrecognizable.
But it's still affirming to hear someone talk about the White Sox as ready for a new era, rather than defined by all the talent they've wasted or shipped out.
"I learned from [Dylan] Cease, I learned from Lance [Lynn], I learned from Garrett [Crochet], I learned from all these guys that have had success in the big leagues and definitely have a decent blueprint of what I want to do to be a big part of this rotation," Martin said. "You look at team control from a GM side of things, all these guys, we could be together for a while. I think we have a great camaraderie, we have a great competition within ourselves. The best thing is we want the best for each other. It's not a toxic environment."
The volume of competition for spots at White Sox camp is ultimately reflective of their lack of mainstays and established regulars. But after years of being wed to a slate of unreliable core players who inevitably gave way to unsatisfactory injury replacements, it's more compelling to watch someone trying to emerge from the churn in Cactus League. For the players themselves, employment insecurity is part and parcel with their line of work, so the idea that the decisions will at least be guided by a true meritocracy is exciting.
"There's a lot of competition for spots," Cannon said. "Competition breeds success. It challenges everyone to be a little bit better every single day, me included. I'm really looking forward to that."
Having won a College World Series at Ole Miss, 2023 first round pick Jacob Gonzalez enjoyed winning a Southern League title with Double-A Birmingham, but is too much of a straight shooter to talk it up as the peak of his life in baseball.
"I wouldn't say as cool," Gonzalez said, comparing the two events. "It was all right. Our stadium wasn't sold out. I felt like the most exciting game besides the walk-off was in Montgomery in the first game. We ended up beating them by a lot."
Gonzalez had three hits and three RBIs apiece in that game in Montgomery, using a new leg kick as a loading action to keep his weight back, after offseason work to maintain his direction at the plate forced him to rework his timing through a season where he slashed .238/.307/.343 across two levels. It was only a small handful of games that Gonzalez was able to try out the move with a swing that's been remodeled in multiple ways at this point, but the initial results encouraged him to keep working on it through the winter.
"It was a work in progress, I was just trying to get used to it then," Gonzalez said. "But the whole offseason I worked at it, just being comfortable and athletic while I'm hitting. Now the main goal is to get comfortable to do it with two strikes. But I'm pretty comfortable with it and it's probably going to stay."
Gonzalez had a swinging-strike rate under 10 percent last year and has yet to post a strikeout rate even as high as 17 percent at any level of professional baseball, so his desire for a smaller version of his leg load to use with two strikes is more about comfort than addressing a lack of contact in his game. And if this is the method that ultimately allows him to drive the baseball consistently, Gonzalez is fine with a poor statistical year leading him to it.
"I had a rough stretch in the middle of the season after the All-Star break," Gonzalez said. "That made my numbers look bad and that makes it look like I had a bad year. You can't just get rid of a month of baseball, but besides that I feel good and I feel going into this year."
