White Sox to hire Derek Shomon as hitting coach, Zach Bove as pitching coach per James Fegan

[GreenSox]

I don’t know whether these guys can coach; but I like their resumes/profile.  And some coaching churn is always healthy.  

[TheFutureIsNear]

So does Venable get any say in his staff? Or are these all Getz/front office hires? If so is that normal?

 

Genuinely asking because I have no idea.

[Lip Man 1]

30 minutes ago, TheFutureIsNear said:

So does Venable get any say in his staff? Or are these all Getz/front office hires? If so is that normal?

 

Genuinely asking because I have no idea.

That's a very good question. 

[southsider2k5]

1 hour ago, TheFutureIsNear said:

So does Venable get any say in his staff? Or are these all Getz/front office hires? If so is that normal?

 

Genuinely asking because I have no idea.

Typically a manager gets say, but it does depend a lot on how experienced and respected that manager is in a lot of cases.

[Stinky Stanky]

59 minutes ago, TheFutureIsNear said:

So does Venable get any say in his staff? Or are these all Getz/front office hires? If so is that normal?

 

Genuinely asking because I have no idea.

Just a stab here but Venable asked for it based on the timing. 

[FloydBannister1983]

On 11/4/2025 at 4:46 PM, hogan873 said:

Let’s just complain because the guy is from the Royals and not actually look at the performance of the pitchers under his guidance.  🙄

It’s not being done in a vacuum.  He’s not the first Royals hire.

[Texsox]

The brilliance of being the worst organization in baseball is you can take from any team and it's an upgrade. 

[WestEddy]

54 minutes ago, FloydBannister1983 said:

It’s not being done in a vacuum.  He’s not the first Royals hire.

It's a stupid meme. Chris Getz is not Rick Hahn. 

[caulfield12]

It's much more accurate to say the connection here is the Twins.

"Prior to his stint with the Royals, Bove spent four season with the Minnesota Twins. He was the minor-league assistant pitching coordinator from 2021-22, special projects coordinator in 2020 and pitching coach for the Golf League Twins in 2019."

Same with Shomon and Popkins on the hitting side.

 

https://www.si.com/mlb/whitesox/onsi/news/chicago-white-sox-hire-new-pitching-coach-zach-bove

 

 David Popkins and Derek Shomon were fired at the end of last season by Minnesota. Matt Borgschulte was brought in to turn things around. That didn’t exactly happen, and Popkins took his new team to the World Series (Toronto).

Now Shomon is back in the division for his next job as well.

 

 

"The role is a homecoming for Shomon. He’s an Illinois native and started his coaching career with the Schaumburg Boomers. He began coaching in affiliated ball during 2021 with the Twins. By 2023 he moved up to the major league staff as an assistant, and held that role through 2024.

He’ll return to a division he knows well, and he’ll have his hands full with a Chicago White Sox team that won just 60 games last season. They are looking to turn things around, and Shomon can be a catalyst for that change."

https://sports.yahoo.com/article/division-rival-hires-pair-former-220544378.html

Edited November 6 by caulfield12

[Tnetennba]

Of all of the guys they could have hired, these are two. 🤷‍♀️

Maybe it’s the apathy talking, but I have no strong feelings whatsoever about these hires. Coming from the Marlins and Royals isnt overly inspiring, but last I checked both orgs are in better shape that the Sox so who knows. 

[caulfield12]

https://twinsdaily.com/forums/topic/72476-david-popkins/
 

The biggest question here is how much of MN success was Popkins vs. Shomon?

Popkins now getting a ton of credit for Toronto’s offensive approach this season.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6580569/2025/08/28/minnesota-twins-david-popkins-contract/

[Texsox]

You get a job offer from the White Sox and accept. Why? 

Desperate to stay at the MLB level?

Promotion to a position that no one else will give you? 

You believe it can be a stepping stone to a better organization?

It's a great organization with stability, great facilities, an owner is trying to win, lots of resources, and you just picked up for your second DUI? 

Maybe, eventually this will stop being the place careers go to die. But I can't imagine anyone telling their agent, see if you can get me into the (white) Sox organization. 

 

 

[Jake]

My main takeaway is these guys seem to have been picked solely based on their track record and performance in the interview process. No nepotism/connections/etc. Young guys too, relatively speaking. Hope it works out. 

[southsider2k5]

6 hours ago, Texsox said:

You get a job offer from the White Sox and accept. Why? 

Desperate to stay at the MLB level?

Promotion to a position that no one else will give you? 

You believe it can be a stepping stone to a better organization?

It's a great organization with stability, great facilities, an owner is trying to win, lots of resources, and you just picked up for your second DUI? 

Maybe, eventually this will stop being the place careers go to die. But I can't imagine anyone telling their agent, see if you can get me into the (white) Sox organization. 

 

 

I mean I get everyone is down on the White Sox right now that doesn't have a vested interest in selling a story here, but the reality is that there are only 30 of each of these jobs.  There are very, very few people out there who can say no to one of them knowing that another chance will soon come.  For most of these dudes, saying no is probably the last chance they get.

Take the job.  

[bmags]

No idea if it will work out, but not a big fan of the names. what is it boveee? BOfa? that'll be fun.

[Texsox]

24 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

I mean I get everyone is down on the White Sox right now that doesn't have a vested interest in selling a story here, but the reality is that there are only 30 of each of these jobs.  There are very, very few people out there who can say no to one of them knowing that another chance will soon come.  For most of these dudes, saying no is probably the last chance they get.

Take the job.  

That's why I listed it first.

It is an interesting career choice. If you are in a great organization to you wait your turn, or jump? 

 

[Boopa1219]

On 11/5/2025 at 2:33 PM, TheFutureIsNear said:

So does Venable get any say in his staff? Or are these all Getz/front office hires? If so is that normal?

 

Genuinely asking because I have no idea.

I personally think a manager should have some input into the coaching staff but I think hitting and pitching coaches should be Gam hires since those hires dictate the hitting and pitching programs of an org. Or in the Sox case, Getz/Fuller/Bannister should have final say on these hires. 

[PaleAleSox]

3 hours ago, Texsox said:

That's why I listed it first.

It is an interesting career choice. If you are in a great organization to you wait your turn, or jump? 

 

It's more money to be the lead dog and all of these have to be confident in their ability to make guys better/do the job well.

[WhiteSox2023]

4 hours ago, Texsox said:

That's why I listed it first.

It is an interesting career choice. If you are in a great organization to you wait your turn, or jump? 

 

Well, I think we know the answer to the question regarding a bad organization — see Kenny, Hahn, and Getz.  🤣

[kitekrazy]

I doubt baseball fans get giddy over coaching hires.

My issue is collecting ex Royals - habitual losers.

[caulfield12]

Still, the Royals made the playoffs much more recently and have a far better record than the Sox the last two seasons...

Big difference between the post WS 2016-2017 KC with Getz/Grifol and the more recent teams led by Witt Jr Perez Pasquantino and lots of pitching.

[WestEddy]

1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:

Still, the Royals made the playoffs much more recently and have a far better record than the Sox the last two seasons...

Big difference between the post WS 2016-2017 KC with Getz/Grifol and the more recent teams led by Witt Jr Perez Pasquantino and lots of pitching.

Wasn't there a period where it seemed that JR and Hahn seemed a bit obsessed with the Dayton Moore Royals? Moore was even floated as a possible mentor to Getz. Chris Getz doesn't seem taken with the connection. They seem happy to filch an assistant here or there from organizations that see a promotion with the White Sox as a career builder. 

Somebody was making fun of these two hires, but Miami is now being run by a Tampa Rays dude. 

[kitekrazy]

1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:

Still, the Royals made the playoffs much more recently and have a far better record than the Sox the last two seasons...

Big difference between the post WS 2016-2017 KC with Getz/Grifol and the more recent teams led by Witt Jr Perez Pasquantino and lots of pitching.

2 roses blossomed out of a turd

they still can't break out of losing is a habit, at least they are tried the spending route.  

[Jake]

So how many Royals connections are there?

Getz — I guess, although I thought the complaint about him was that he had the stink of White Sox on him.
Assistant GM Josh Barfield — no Kansas City connection that I'm aware of.
Assistant GM Jin Wong — long history in KC organization, although it doesn't appear he is all that involved in baseball decisions with the White Sox
Senior Advisor to Pitching Brian Bannister — briefly pitched for the Royals, but post-playing career positions were only in Red Sox and Giants organizations I think
Director of Hitting Ryan Fuller — only worked in Baltimore organization prior to the White Sox
Director of Personnel Gene Watson — about 15 years working with the KC Royals with stints in a number of other organizations. I'm told he's the Rule 5 mastermind so take from that what you will
Director of Acquisitions Matt Grabowski — 3 years with DBacks, 8 years with Braves
Director of Player Development Paul Janish — hired from Rice University's staff (his MLB career didn't include Kansas City)
Director of Amateur Scouting Mike Shirley — White Sox lifer

Manager Will Venable — never played for KC, coaching and front office gigs with Cubs, Red Sox, Rangers
Bench Coach Walker McKinven — only worked with Brewers before coming here AFAIK
Hitting Coach Derek Shomon — past work with Twins and Marlins
Pitching Coach Zach Bove — past work with Royals and Twins
Assistant Hitting Coach Joel McKeithan — past work with Reds and Phillies
Assistant Pitching Coach Matt Wise — past work with Angels
Third Base Coach Justin Jirschele — White Sox lifer (but his dad coached with the Royals!!!)
Hitting Coordinator Sherman Johnson — prior work with Baltimore

I don't see a big infusion of Kansas City here, especially when you consider Bove had no overlap with those front office guys; says he didn't even know them. 

[caulfield12]

1 hour ago, Jake said:

So how many Royals connections are there?

Getz — I guess, although I thought the complaint about him was that he had the stink of White Sox on him.
Assistant GM Josh Barfield — no Kansas City connection that I'm aware of.
Assistant GM Jin Wong — long history in KC organization, although it doesn't appear he is all that involved in baseball decisions with the White Sox
Senior Advisor to Pitching Brian Bannister — briefly pitched for the Royals, but post-playing career positions were only in Red Sox and Giants organizations I think
Director of Hitting Ryan Fuller — only worked in Baltimore organization prior to the White Sox
Director of Personnel Gene Watson — about 15 years working with the KC Royals with stints in a number of other organizations. I'm told he's the Rule 5 mastermind so take from that what you will
Director of Acquisitions Matt Grabowski — 3 years with DBacks, 8 years with Braves
Director of Player Development Paul Janish — hired from Rice University's staff (his MLB career didn't include Kansas City)
Director of Amateur Scouting Mike Shirley — White Sox lifer

Manager Will Venable — never played for KC, coaching and front office gigs with Cubs, Red Sox, Rangers
Bench Coach Walker McKinven — only worked with Brewers before coming here AFAIK
Hitting Coach Derek Shomon — past work with Twins and Marlins
Pitching Coach Zach Bove — past work with Royals and Twins
Assistant Hitting Coach Joel McKeithan — past work with Reds and Phillies
Assistant Pitching Coach Matt Wise — past work with Angels
Third Base Coach Justin Jirschele — White Sox lifer (but his dad coached with the Royals!!!)
Hitting Coordinator Sherman Johnson — prior work with Baltimore

I don't see a big infusion of Kansas City here, especially when you consider Bove had no overlap with those front office guys; says he didn't even know them. 

https://allchgo.com/royal-blood-why-heavy-kansas-city-presence-is-to-be-expected-and-good-for-white-sox-under-chris-getz/

I think it was also Grifol and then at least four or five initial spring invite players with KC ties like N.Lopez Maldonado Michael A. Taylor (later) Moustakas and Brett Phillips.

A reliever or two in there as well.

Mitch Keller, for example...who blossomed eventually for the wrong Chicago team.

Edited November 7 by caulfield12