Our New Barons 2024 Manager, Sergio Santos

Sergio Santos, a former Birmingham Barons relief pitcher, has been named Manager of the Barons for the 2024 season. This will be Santos’ first season as a manager in the Chicago White Sox organization.

“I am excited to be managing the Barons,” said Barons' first-year Manager, Santos. Expectations are high when you start the season, but you have the unknown with the players we will have. I want to bring my style of baseball, which will be a competitive culture. We will play good, hard, fundamental baseball. I am looking to have a great year.”

Santos made his professional coaching debut as Manager of the FCL Yankees in 2022, where he led the club to the FCL Championship and was named the league's Manager of the Year Award. “Managing just came up with the Yankees,” added Santos. “The more I thought about it and the way my career uniqueness seemed to fit so well. Few managers can relate to every player in a dugout, but I can. As a pitcher and a position player, it made sense for me to manage. I fell in love with it and looked to see what the future holds.”

Santos was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first round (27th pick) of the 2002 MLB June Amateur Draft as a shortstop, but after seven years, he switched to pitching full-time. “The doors seemed to close on being an everyday player, so I felt confident about it and was glad it all worked out.”

In 2009 Santos became a pitcher, playing with all four Chicago White Sox minor league teams that season. The hard-throwing pitcher played eight games in Kannapolis, eight in Winston-Salem, seven with the Barons, and three with the Charlotte in 2009. “The only leverage it had was that the Chicago White Sox only signed me for one year,” said Santos. “That sped up the process. They came up with a plan at each level. This is where I truly believe in a process. My ERA numbers were not good coming through the minors, but I realized on that journey that I was getting better after each outing. I refused to look at the box scores, but I knew I was improving in the process.”

“In the Spring of 2010, I confidently entered spring training. I made the team and am very grateful for the opportunity.”

In 2010, with the White Sox, Santos went 2-2 with a 2.96 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 51.2 innings. In 2011, with the White Sox, Santos went 4-5 with a 3.55 ERA and 30 saves. He had 92 strikeouts in 63.1 innings. Santos had a career-high 30 saves in 2011, and across 194 career MLB appearances, he posted a 3.98 ERA with 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings. During the 2011 season, Santos established a new Major League record by posting 25 straight scoreless appearances on the road to start the season, which Mariano Rivera of the Yankees had previously held.

“When I came to the majors, I realized when I was in the big leagues that I had only 38 innings in my lifetime,” said Santos. “Your mentality when you compete is so important. Everyone has abilities, but what will separate you from other players in the major league? There is a certain set quality of doing in discipline, the little things, the way you can forget about negative feelings and come back the next day and compete confidently. I want to help change these players' careers for the better.”

Santos pitched for six seasons in the majors with the White Sox (2010-11), Blue Jays (2012-14), Dodgers (2015) and Yankees (2015). In his last season with the Yankees, Santos pitched only 3.0 innings in two appearances before an elbow injury ended his season.