On the heels of reporting earlier at present that the White Sox had curiosity in Rangers bench coach and offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker for his or her managerial emptiness, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning Information reported this night that the Rangers have granted not solely Ecker but in addition affiliate supervisor Will Venable permission to interview with Chicago concerning their obtainable managerial gig. Venable’s identify first surfaced in reference to the White Sox final week.
Ecker, 38, received his begin as a coach in 2015 with the Cardinals. He acted as a minor league hitting coach for St. Louis from 2015 to 2017 earlier than becoming a member of the Angels’ Triple-A membership in that very same position for the 2018 season. He first cracked the massive leagues as an assistant hitting coach with the Reds in 2019. He remained with the membership for 2 years earlier than becoming a member of the Giants as a hitting coach previous to the 2020 season, and he caught in San Francisco for an additional two years earlier than once more altering organizations to hitch the Rangers in his present position as bench coach and offensive coordinator previous to the 2022 season.
It’s a prolonged resume, and Ecker would convey views from 5 completely different huge league organizations to an infamously insular White Sox membership if employed. This isn’t the primary time Ecker has come up as a possible managerial candidate for an enormous league membership, both. Final winter, Ecker was rumored among the many potential candidates to exchange Gabe Kapler as supervisor in San Francisco earlier than they in the end employed Bob Melvin away from the Padres.
Venable has additionally seen his identify come up in previous managerial searches and has lengthy been checked out as one of many league’s high up-and-coming potential managers. After enjoying elements of 9 seasons within the majors, Venable joined the Cubs as a particular assistant to the entrance workplace in 2017 earlier than serving as first base coach within the following two seasons and third base coach in the course of the shortened 2020 marketing campaign. Venable departed Chicago following the 2020 season to turn into Alex Cora’s bench coach in Boston. He remained in that position for 2 years earlier than becoming a member of the Rangers as an affiliate supervisor beneath Bruce Bochy previous to the 2023 season.
Grant notes that Venable might be the main contender to take Bochy’s place as supervisor in Texas when the 69-year-old ultimately returns to retirement. Venable was seemingly snug with that association when he declined interviews with the Mets and Guardians final winter with the intention to stay with the Rangers, but it surely’s attainable he’s extra critically contemplating departing the Rangers this winter amid uncertainty concerning Bochy’s plans for the long run. As Grant relays, Bochy advised reporters following the tip of the 2024 common season that managing nonetheless “drives” him, seemingly leaving the door open to him sticking round past the tip of his present contract in 2025.
The 2 Rangers coaches are hardly the one candidates related to the job, after all. Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough and bench coach Danny Lehman, Tigers bench coach George Lombard, Padres particular assistant A.J. Ellis, former Angels skipper Phil Nevin, Cardinals bench coach Daniel Descalso, and outgoing Marlins supervisor Skip Schumaker have all been identify checked as potential candidates within the rumor mill, with Schumaker and McCullough getting explicit consideration as potential main candidates.
Whoever in the end takes the reins in Chicago will enter an tumultuous scenario. Not solely is the membership coming off a disastrous 2024 marketing campaign that set the trendy report for losses in a single season at 121, however the membership’s possession might be up within the air following a report yesterday that indicated longtime proprietor Jerry Reinsdorf is discussing promoting the membership to former huge leaguer Dave Stewart. Whereas all that uncertainty and the doubtless lengthy timetable for a return to rivalry may make the membership’s managerial gig appear considerably unattractive, the relative shortage of massive league supervisor jobs is bound to attract the eye of high quality expertise nonetheless.
