The Chicago White Sox have a new manager and he has no prior ties to the organization.
The White Sox tabbed Kansas City Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol to lead the team out of the disaster that was Tony La Russa’s second tenure running the clubhouse. He is the first manager hired with no prior connection to the franchise since 1992 when the Sox tabbed Gene Lamont.
Hopefully, Grifol has the same amount of success Lamont did.
Lamont won AL Manager of the Year winner and led the Chicago White Sox to the 1993 American League Championship Series. It would be even better if Grifol joins former manager Ozzie Guillen in winning a World Series this century.
Winning a championship is what Grifol has been brought in to do. First, he needs to re-right the ship after the 2022 season.
The Chicago White Sox were undoubtedly the most disappointing baseball team. Picked by many to win the AL Central Division and to be playing this week for a World Series title, the Sox finished a mediocre 81-81. They saw the Cleveland Guardians cruise right past them for the division title.
The Sox were mired by injuries, poor defense, and head-scratching manager decisions made by La Russa. It was not all La Russa’s fault but the way he asked the team to play every day did not help the cause. The White Sox briefly lived up to their potential when La Russa had to leave the team late in the season to address medical issues.
La Russa is now in retirement and hopefully getting healthy. Grifol now needs to direct the White Sox to better health.
He will do that by bringing in fresh ideas.
Ever since 2004 when Guillen was hired to replace Jerry Manuel, the Chicago White Sox has become an insular franchise. Managers have been partly hired based on ties to the team. Coaches have been retained based on loyalty.
That caused the Chicago White Sox to become a floundering franchise. General manager Rick Hahn rebuilt the roster to finally compete for a title but owner Jerry Reinsdorf’s meddling and loyalty got in the way of this talent reaching its potential.
Now after the La Russa mistake, a new voice with fresh eyes enters the picture. It seems it has already re-energized the franchise.
Grifol lacks managerial experience but he has been part of a franchise that won two American League Championships and a World Series last decade. For those scoring at home, that is one more American League Championship than the Sox have won all century and a title won with homegrown talent.
The nepotism is gone, and Grifol will be allowed to hire his coaching staff.
Long time coaches like Joe McEwing and Darryl Boston will not be back. Hitting coach Frank Menechino, who bore the brunt of White Sox fans’ frustrations, is also out. It is looking like only pitching coach Ethan Katz is the main assistant being retained.
The only reason the Royals did not hire Grifol was they too wanted a fresh perspective in their dugout. He was well-respected by the organization. Grifol was recommended by Hall of Famer George Brett.
If you want proof of Grifol influencing change, he was able to convince stubborn manager Ned Yost to implement new ideas.
Grifol seems to understand the issues the Chicago White Sox had last season and wants to play a better style of baseball. Bringing in a new perspective is the best way to break up the Sox two decades thinking of “that is how we always do things around here” makes champions. That thinking only has netted one only three playoffs win after 2005.
Grifol is not going to solve all the Chicago White Sox problems. Rick Hahn and the players will have to do some of the heavy lifting to get the Sox back into the playoffs next season.
