While we swear the White Sox are trimming down the candidate pool for their open manager job, here are two more names who are still actively in the mix, as sources told me and Josh Nelson.
Donnie Ecker, Rangers bench coach/offensive coordinator
Ecker's highfalutin NFL-style title with the Rangers was earned after two years as a hitting coach on the San Francisco Giants staff, culminating with a 2021 season that saw a roster full of aging players and platoon hitters score over 800 runs and win 107 games.
Since then Ecker has been on the Rangers coaching staff, even being held over after Chris Woodward was fired and eventually replaced with Bruce Bochy. The decision seemingly paid off, since the Rangers won the 2023 World Series after leading the American League in every significant offensive category, and won the very first issuance of the team Silver Slugger Award. In the Rangers media guide, they cite that Ecker incorporates "human movement research" and "technology-based applications" to his instruction, and that he holds biomechanical certification as an "integrated movement specialist."
All of these are pretty sweet qualifications for a hitting coach, but Ecker has a reputation as a charismatic communicator that comes into greater play as manager. His time with the Giants means that he comes with a recommendation from Brian Bannister and Ethan Katz, and a source indicates a strong interview has kept him in contention.
Danny Lehmann, Dodgers bench coach
While word that the White Sox still hoped to interview staff members of teams active in the Championship Series led to the conclusion that they're waiting to talk to Clayton McCullough (whom The Score reported they have interest in), the first base coach wouldn't be the only Dodgers assistant coach in their sights.
Lehmann has been the Dodgers bench coach for the past two seasons, after four years as their "game planning and communications coach" before that. That title sounds like someone starting to to sketch out a list of what a manager does, so surely it carried some relevant experience as well.
A former catcher, Lehmann is a Rice product. The years don't line up to make him former college teammates with White Sox director of player development Paul Janish, but both stayed involved with the program well past their playing days and it's a prior connection that Lehmann would bring to the role.
Even if the Dodgers advance to the World Series, the break after the NLCS should give the White Sox an opening to make more contact than they've been able to so far. The final product is what matters, but so far the burgeoning crop of in-uniform candidates from other organizations resembles the sort of search that Chris Getz foreshadowed in August.
