In 1992, when his son Will would have been nine, outfielder Max Venable began a two-year stint playing for the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan. Over a decade later, the experience would at partly inspire the younger Venable's senior thesis for his anthropology degree at Princeton, which was titled, "The Game and Community: An Anthropological Look at Baseball in America and Japan."
"I think I got a B," Venable said. "I think a lot of people would be upset with a B. I was pumped."
Now Venable is managing a team that recently signed Anthony Kay coming off a similar two-year sojourn to Japan, but much more notably is tasked with guiding the MLB transition of famed NPB slugger Munetaka Murakami. The Sox manager was part of a Zoom call with Murakami while the team was pursuing the first baseman in free agency, but says he's been communicating with him via text -- through an interpreter -- since he's signed.
"He’s very excited," Venable said. "He talks a lot about defense. He talks a lot about competing. I know he’s really excited to get going. Going to be a big spring for him, coming over and starting his debut in the states. Also has the WBC. So, a lot of good stuff for Mune. Excited for him."
Never one to really tout his Princeton education, Venable sounds like he'd be content if his thesis work proved to be a conversation icebreaker even once. But mostly it sounds like it will just position the White Sox manager to enter the relationship with a lot of respect.
"It’s just the commitment to the game and their ability to just give everything to the game and their willingness to do that," Venable said of the big theme of his thesis. "Certainly as the manager of players, we like that in all our players for these guys to put baseball first and give everything they have. I’m excited to see what that looks like for Mune."
Kyle Teel in the WBC?
Murakami's acclimation to the White Sox clubhouse is going to be staggered by his crucial place on Japan's WBC team, which Chris Getz said was a long-agreed upon condition of their negotiations.
Additionally, Josh attended WBC media day at the Winter Meetings, where Australia manager Dave Nilsson told him that Curtis Mead was expected to be part of their roster, and Venezuela manager Omar López indicated that Lenyn Sosa is a potential backup plan at second base for their team if Jose Altuve isn't available.
But arguably the biggest long-term piece of the White Sox future participating in the tournament could be catcher Kyle Teel, whom Venable said is trending toward being placed on a roster. While the New Jersey native spending a couple weeks backing up Cal Raleigh on the USA roster seems like a nice learning experience, a Sox official specified that Teel is in line to potentially play for Italy, which should give him a real route to seeing international competition.
The team is expecting to make a formal announcement of which Sox players are participating later on.
"Everyone's good" in Venezuela
It's been less than a week since Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro was removed from power in a military raid that saw him seized by US forces and transported to New York to face trial. With Wikelman González, Jairo Iriarte, Everson Pereira and Lenyn Sosa all spending the offseason in their home country, with the latter two playing winter ball, the situation offered more than enough potential turmoil for the Sox to check in and assure their players' safety.
"We've been in contact with all those guys, everybody's doing good," Venable said. "Very scary situation but the organization, not just myself, the organization has been really proactive in locating these guys and making sure they're OK. It's been great to hear that everyone is OK."
Sean Newcomb formally introduced
After holding the first in-person press conference in almost three years to introduce Murakami to Chicago, left-hander Sean Newcomb's one-year, $4.5 million deal returned the Sox to their usual fare of holding an introductory Zoom call several days after a contract has become official. The two weeks since Newcomb put pen to paper has given the 32-year-old a moment to consider the passage of time.
"I still feel like, young in the game, but then looking at the roster I was like, 'Wow I’m probably going to be one of the older dudes once spring comes around,'" Newcomb said. "That was kind of cool, being that kind of veteran presence and starting to take that part on, which is definitely new for me."
If anyone had taken time at the start of this offseason to deeply consider Newcomb's background, his arrival to the White Sox could have been more easily anticipated. Like many pitchers on the roster, Newcomb is a native of the Boston-area and has been training at the same facility as Shane Smith and Mike Vasil this offseason, even going so far as to bounce questions off of them while he was still in talks to sign with the Sox.
Furthermore, while the Giants are not one of the four major league uniforms Newcomb has worn in his career, he pitched for their Triple-A affiliate in 2023. His recent success, which saw him record a 2.73 ERA in 92⅓ innings last year, has been heavily influenced by using a lower arm slot and how well a new sinker-sweeper (it gets tagged as a slurve) work from that release point. The seeds of those changes at least partially stem from senior advisor to pitching Brian Bannister, who worked with Newcomb briefly at Triple-A Sacramento.
"It kind of came along, actually in ‘23 I was working with Brian Bannister, who’s on your guys’ staff now," Newcomb said. "That was another part of the appeal, getting back working with him and the pitch grip and stuff. Just kind of learn more about my arm slot, learn more about the way throw the ball well and the kind of fit the different sinker grip kind of versus being four-seam, curveball my whole coming up through the minors and first few years in the big leagues. It was just part of my adjustment, finding that sinker. And with that, I was able to find my newer slider."
Newcomb says his sinker-sweeper combo is just part of what he views as a six-pitch mix that he wants to fully utilize. Between that, as well as his and Venable's descriptions of the communication about his role, Newcomb's doesn't sound like he will see much single-inning relief work.
"He is going to be in that mix for starting rotation job and we are excited to help support him and go out and win it," Venable said.
Old friend alerts
Left-handed reliever Ryan Rolison, designated for assignment by the White Sox to clear a 40-man roster spot when Murakami was signed, was claimed off waivers by the Cubs. The Sox themselves claimed Rolison off waivers when he was DFA'd by the Braves, who had acquired the former first round pick for cash in November. So, Ryan's having a winter.
Per MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, utilityman Josh Rojas has a minor league deal with the Royals. He certainly feels like a Royal.
