Associate manager Will Venable plans to remain with Rangers

Will Venable is happy where he is, at least for the time being.

The Rangers’ associate manager has drawn interest from numerous clubs with managerial openings, but he has told those teams that he will remain with Texas, according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network. 

This comes just days after Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that Venable was the “favorite” to succeed Terry Francona as manager of the Guardians. If that was indeed the case, Cleveland will have to change course.

Per Morosi’s report, the Guardians weren’t the only team with interest in Venable. While he didn’t reveal which other clubs had checked in, three others are currently looking for new managers: the Mets, the Giants and the Angels.

After finishing his playing career in 2016, Venable briefly took a front office job with the Cubs the following year, signing on as a special assistant to then-president of baseball operations Theo Epstein. 

Soon after, he took on a coaching role instead, serving as the Cubs’ first base coach from 2018-19 and the third base coach in 2020. For the next two years, he worked as bench coach for the Red Sox, occasionally filling in as the skipper when Alex Cora was unavailable. 

Ahead of the 2023 season, Venable accepted a new job as associate manager for the Rangers, where he would work under Texas’ new manager Bruce Bochy.

Venable has previously interviewed for managerial openings with the Astros, Red Sox, Cubs, Giants, Tigers and A’s, and presumably, he still has managerial aspirations for the future. 

Evidently, however, he is happy in his role with the Rangers for now. Not only does he get to learn from a three-time World Series-winning manager in Bochy, but given how well the Rangers have performed this year, it’s no surprise he wants to stick around.