The more significant Manager of the Year awards won't be announced until Nov. 10, but The Sporting News' version was revealed this morning, and Will Venable earned the nod for the American League, with Pat Murphy taking the honor for the National League.
It holds meaning in the sense that SN's awards are determined by peers, and the manager who wins this version tends to win the BBWAA honor more often than not. The catch is that the American League manager who won this award last season was forced to announce his own firing at the end of this season, but that's probably an aberration until proven otherwise.
| Year | SN | BBWAA |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 AL 2025 NL | Dan Wilson Pat Murphy | Stephen Vogt Pat Murphy |
| 2024 AL 2024 NL | Stephen Vogt Pat Murphy | Stephen Vogt Pat Murphy |
| 2023 AL 2023 NL | Brandon Hyde Craig Counsell/Brian Snitker | Brandon Hyde Skip Schumaker |
| 2022 AL 2022 NL | Brandon Hyde Buck Showalter | Terry Francona Buck Showalter |
| 2021 AL 2021 NL | Kevin Cash Gabe Kapler | Kevin Cash Gabe Kapler |
| 2020 AL 2020 NL | Kevin Cash Don Mattingly | Kevin Cash Don Mattingly |
Venable is the sixth White Sox manager to be named SN's Manager of the Year, and the other five oversaw pretty memorable seasons -- Ozzie Guillen in 2005, Jerry Manuel in 2000, Jeff Torborg in 1990, Tony La Russa in 1983, and Chuck Tanner in 1972.
On the player side, Chase Meidroth was named to the Sporting News American League All-Star Team at second base. He didn't make the actual All-Star team this past July, so it's a nice way to recognize that he ended the season as the most valuable second baseman in the AL by either WAR estimate. He's the first White Sox player to be named a year-end All-Star since José Abreu in 2020.
Like Venable, Meidroth is also in line for his own BBWAA award, as he's a finalist for the Gold Glove at second base.
Spare Parts
In the middle of an article about the various possibilities for the White Sox infield, Scott Merkin provided an update about Roch Cholowsky's season-ending wrist issue.
Cholowsky was the top pick overall in the ‘26 Draft and had 46 plate appearances for High-A Winston-Salem before his season was shut down by right wrist tendinitis. He’s progressing well and will likely be cleared to fully swing in early November, per the White Sox.
“He’s in a great spot. He’s just a little frustrated with not being able to play toward the end understandably,” White Sox director of player development Paul Janish told MLB.com. “I’m really excited to see how next year goes for him.
“One of the differences between us potentially and the college level in general is how much work we do on a daily basis outside of the game. Getting his body used to being able to do that and also play every day.”
Speaking of brief asides tucked into larger stories, this Ken Rosenthal paragraph is worth filing away as the probable lockout nears:
I’ll say it again: Payroll disparity is a legitimate concern. The labor agreement should be adjusted to put small-market teams on a more level economic playing field. But this bears repeating, too: The coming labor Armageddon is much more about the owners’ desire to raise their franchise values than it is about competitive balance.
I generally think there's too much at stake to lose a meaningful amount of games in 2027 -- it doesn't seem worth risking the next national broadcast deals or momentum toward expansion -- but if owners believe cost controls on payrolls are the only thing keeping their franchises from being worth as much as those in the NBA or NFL, perhaps they will take that hard line at the expense of everything else.
Something else that could change the perception of a lockout is the activity that happens beforehand. There's about a month in between the end of the World Series and the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement, and Andy McCullough says to prepare for a rush, whether because of what's effectively a Dec. 1 deadline, or because it's a weak class of free agents who might be inclined to sign quickly even in non-lockout winters.
It appears that Arte Moreno's final decisions regarding his team's leaders worked out as planned. Kurt Suzuki is indeed done in Anaheim as manager after signing an unusual one-year contract exactly one year earlier, and John Mozeliak will oversee the Angels' front office only through December, after which Stan Kronke's team will have presumably hired a new general manager or team president.
Pope news is White Sox business.
As The Ringer has shifted from writing to a podcast network with occasional articles, its authors are launching independent paid newsletters with no cohesive strategy or pricing. I'd been wondering what the deal was, but wasn't invested enough to look into it further. As it turns out, even if I did devote attention to the topic, I wouldn't be any less confused.
