Santos climbing managerial ladder in White Sox system

CHICAGO -- Sergio Santos interviewed for the White Sox manager’s job this past October, fully intending to become the organization’s next leader at the Major League level.

That job eventually went to Will Venable, with Santos moving from Double-A Birmingham -- where he managed the Barons to the 2024 Southern League championship -- to being named manager at Triple-A Charlotte, as announced by the team this week.

Based on his upbeat demeanor during Thursday’s Zoom, the 41-year-old Santos quickly jumped from one possibility to another with great excitement and focus.

“Look, to me it’s simple. I had an opportunity, I went for it, I didn’t get it. OK, it’s not the end of the world. Maybe it’s not my time now,” Santos said. “Again, it’s about the White Sox organization. It wasn’t about me or who the next manager was.

“I was fortunate enough with [general manager] Chris Getz where they gave me an opportunity, and so I went through that process. It was such a learning experience for myself just to go through it, see what questions were being brought up, and it raised a lot of curiosity in myself where I was like, ‘If I did run the ship, how would I do it’ type of thing. It just seemed like Triple-A would be a good fit if I couldn’t make the Major League staff.”

Santos begins his fourth season as a Minor League manager, having reached the championship round of the postseason in each of the previous three. Santos also won the 2022 Florida Coast League championship as part of the Yankees system.

Seven players who saw innings action with the ‘24 Barons -- Drew Thorpe, Ky Bush, Jairo Iriarte, Jake Eder, Bryan Ramos, Brooks Baldwin and Duke Ellis -- reached the White Sox during this same season. Santos also worked with top prospects such as left-hander Noah Schultz (No. 1 White Sox, No. 16 overall, per MLB Pipeline) and catcher Edgar Quero (No. 6, No. 59).

The prevailing theme was the same across the board: they found nothing but positives playing for Santos and his staff, including pitching coach John Ely, hitting coach Nicky Delmonico and bench coach Angel Rosario. Now Santos continues those same basic ideas one level away from the Majors, with Stoicism continuing on as a strong principle within his work.

“Stoicism has been big for me. To me, it works across the board,” Santos said. “I got such great feedback from the players because when you are in the thick of it and you are on the ground, boots running, you get lost in so much as far as result-oriented. These guys want to move up. There are so many variables out of your control.

“It’s your focus on those things, and take your own game out. I really harp on them daily to just focus on what you can control and worry about that, and also bad things are going to happen. It’s inevitable. You are going to go through a rough patch. You are going to make some errors. What are you going to do about it? The true power lies in how you react to it, right? A hitting slump is around the corner. Are you going to let it eat you up and waste a month, or snap out of it and become the player that you should sooner rather than later?”

Discussions with Venable have already started for Santos, trying to get the messaging on the same page from the Major Leagues on down. In fact, Santos and Venable had a call set up shortly after his Thursday Zoom.

Having played as a position player and then transferring to a pitcher in the Minors, leading to two strong bullpen seasons with the White Sox and 30 saves in 2011, provides Santos with a unique perspective. He also will take what he learned from the managerial interview process into a proven successful base.

“What better way to prepare players than being the level right below, right in Triple-A, where I know there’s going to be a big group of players that might not make the team out of Spring Training but still are going to be very important pieces to Chicago next year,” Santos said. “That’s where my mind shifts and my focus goes to getting those guys ready.

“We are teaching them baseball. But for me personally, I’m trying to teach these men about life lessons and things that can help them beyond the baseball field.”