CHICAGO — Will Venable has been a first-base coach, a third-base coach, a bench coach and associate manager at the major league level.

All that experience — from his time with the Cubs, Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers — has led Venable to the South Side.

The Chicago White Sox will name Venable as their new manager, a source confirmed to the Chicago Tribune, taking over a team that set a modern MLB record with 121 losses in 2024.

Venable, who turned 42 on Tuesday, spent the last two seasons as the associate manager for the Rangers — with whom he was responsible for the team’s daily schedule and outfield instruction for a club that won the World Series in 2023.

He follows Grady Sizemore, who replaced Pedro Grifol as Sox manager on an interim basis on Aug. 8.

Like Sizemore, Venable is a former big league outfielder. He hit .249 with 81 home runs and 307 RBIs in 967 games during a nine-year major league career with the San Diego Padres (2008-15), Rangers (2015) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2016).

His father, Max, played parts of 12 seasons in the majors as an outfielder from 1979-91 and then became a minor league manager (1994-95) and coach (2004-10, 2014-16). His brother, Winston, played linebacker for the Bears in 2011.

Before his professional playing career began, Will Venable was a two-sport star at Princeton. He made first-team All-Ivy League in men’s basketball in 2004 and baseball in 2005 while earning a bachelor’s degree in anthropology.

“It was very important for me to graduate in four years and not have to go back to finish it,” Venable said in a 2018 Tribune article. “I know guys who do that, and they say it’s tough. Once I decided to play baseball (after being drafted in the seventh round of the 2005 draft), I was able to focus all my energy there and have a nice degree in my back pocket.”

During his major league career, Venable recorded at least 20 stolen bases in four consecutive seasons with the Padres from 2010-13 — including a career-best 29 in 2010.

Following his playing days, the Cubs originally hired Venable as a special assistant to baseball operations in September 2017. He later spent time as the team’s first-base coach (2018-19) on Joe Maddon’s staff and the third-base coach in 2020 under David Ross.

“Some of the things they wanted me to do lined up well with the things I believed I could do well,” Venable said in the 2018 Tribune article heading into the first-base coaching duties.

Venable served as bench coach during his time with the Red Sox (2021-22) and managed seven games in manager Alex Cora’s absence.

He worked with Bruce Bochy for the two seasons in Texas ahead of coming to the Sox, with whom he’ll try to bring some stability at the managerial position.

The Sox made the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history in 2020 as an American League wild card under Rick Renteria and 2021 as the AL Central champions under Tony La Russa. Health issues cut short La Russa’s tenure in 2022, and Miguel Cairo finished out the 81-81 season.

The Sox then turned to Grifol, who went 89-190 in over one-plus seasons at the helm, including a 28-89 record in 2024.

They lost 101 games in 2023. And 2024 was worse on a record-setting level.

The Sox lost 22 of their first 25, had the most losses (71) at the All-Star break in MLB history and had an AL record-tying 21-game losing streak — one of three double-digit skids — on the way to eclipsing the previous modern-day record of 120 losses held by the expansion 1962 New York Mets.

Sizemore went 13-32 as the interim manager. The Sox reportedly discussed several options to fill the position, eventually arriving at Venable.

“We’re looking for someone that understands the situation that we’re presently in, that is up for the challenge,” general manager Chris Getz said on Sept. 24 when asked about the criteria for the next manager. “I’m looking for a partner in this to help lead this organization. That comes in different forms.”

Venable will take over a club that has some solid starting pitching — although it remains to be seen if the team hangs on to or trades starter Garrett Crochet. The Sox need to make plenty of strides offensively — they finished last in the majors in many categories, including runs (507), home runs (133), walks (395), batting average (.221), on-base percentage (.278) and slugging percentage (.340).

MLB.com’s Scott Merkin first reported Venable’s hiring late Tuesday. The Sox have not yet commented.

Venable had been through the managerial interview process before, including with the Houston Astros in 2020.

“You have to take opportunities seriously,” he said in a Tribune article at the time.

That opportunity has arrived.

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