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

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