'Unique perspective' helps former White Sox closer Sergio Santos climb ranks as manager

Sergio Santos was drafted by the Diamondbacks as a shortstop in 2002 but was converted to a pitcher after six years in the minor leagues, a move that helped him carve out a six-year career as a reliever in the majors, including a closer role for the Sox in 2010-11.

In 2011, Santos had 30 saves and 92 strikeouts over 63 1/3 innings. He retired with a 3.99 ERA, as well as a minor-league hitting line of .248 /.305 /.393 and 72 homers in 829 minor-league games.

Unknown to him at the time, the two-way experience spruced up his coaching and managing résumé. Familiarity at that level with both sides of the game are not unheard of but are unusual.

“I have the unique perspective of the guy on the mound to every player out on the field. I’ve been in their shoes,” said Santos, who is getting promoted to manage the White Sox’ Triple-A team at Charlotte after managing their Double-A Birmingham team in 2024, his first in the organization as a coach. “I know what they’re going through. And I also learned by being in the big leagues the right ways to think, how to approach the game.”

After pitching for the Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees and Dodgers, Santos took on managing with the Florida Coast League Yankees in 2022 and Class A Hudson Valley in 2023.

“The Yankees were like ‘This is the only role we have’ in the FCL,” Santos said on a Zoom call Thursday. “I didn’t know if I wanted the responsibility of being a manager and everything it entailed. But the more I thought about it with my unique background, I said, ‘Hey, this kind of makes sense.’ I never played for a guy that played both spots at that high of a level.”

After two years in the Yankees’ system and leading teams to championship games both years and winning one his first year, the Sox made Santos their manager at Double-A Birmingham last season, when the Barons won the Southern League’s first-half crown, finished 72-66 and won the league championship.

That earned Santos an interview for the Sox’ managerial post, a job that went to Will Venable, but Santos was promoted to manage the Sox’ Triple-A affiliate at Charlotte.

While he didn’t get the job he aimed for, the interview process had value.

“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,” Santos said. “So, it just seemed like Triple-A would be a good fit if I couldn’t make the major-league staff.

“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. My shift then focuses to it’s about the White Sox organization. It wasn’t about me or who the next manager was.”

That was Venable, who planned over the weekend to talk with all affiliate managers, keeping them on the same organizational page. Santos is embracing his role.

“What better way to prepare players than being at the level right below 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,” he said. “So that’s where my mind shifts and my focus goes to getting those guys ready.”

Santos contemplated the rigors of what he knew as a player for 16 years, but after three days of managing he knew it was for him.

“The second I got into it, it got in my mind and that’s all I want to become,” he said.

Santos keeps it simple with players and that resonates because it clears their minds from the “clutter,” which is key in a difficult game often based on failure. Turn negatives into positives, he said.

“I try to get them to see failure as a way to success,” he said.

When players he managed approach him now and say Santos helped them develop and say, “You really helped me grow as a man. You helped me deal with adversity in all these different ways,” Santos said, “I felt like I was on the right path and this is where I should be.”

What’s next remains to be seen. The White Sox are fully invested in Venable but such is the path of managers, coaches and players. Do your job, aim to do it well and see where the chips fall or what roads might be opened.

For now, it’s Triple-A Charlotte.

“It will be a little more challenging but nothing I can’t handle,” Santos said.