White Sox Manager Pedro Grifol leans on the padded rail of the dugout during a spring training game at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Ariz., on March 24. (John Antonoff/For the Sun-Times)
CLEVELAND — As the White Sox stumble horribly out of the gate, even only 11 games into the season an unwanted light shines on the manager.
Pedro Grifol, in the second year of a three-year contract, has his hands full with a roster that not only wasn’t built to win but was projected to lose 100 games. And that was before the Sox traded their Cy Young candidate pitcher, Dylan Cease. And before their only star, center fielder Luis Robert, went down for weeks with a hip flexor tear a week into the season.
Eloy Jimenez is also on the injured list, and remarkably, Yoan Moncada is likely to join them after he suffered a left adductor strain in the Sox’ game against the Guardians Tuesday at Progressive Field.
Grifol’s job gets more challenging by the day, and it’s not clearly known where he stands with chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who, as one always unwilling to pay for fired coaches and managers, knew the Sox’ record at midseason in 2023 was worthy of firing when he fired vice president Ken Williams and general manager Rick Hahn. But Reinsdorf wanted to wait at least a year so as not to absorb so much dead money, a source said told the Sun-Times.
That came as a surprise to general manager Chris Getz, who took over for Hahn and Williams in the front office in August.
“That’s a message that never got to me,” Getz said. “Jerry really likes Pedro.
“There is absolutely no truth to the claim made by an unnamed source in a news report earlier today,” Getz said via text. “It’s simply not true. We all continue to be focused on maximizing the potential for this team and turning this around as soon as possible.”
After Hahn and Williams were let go, Grifol said in September he never felt his job was in jeopardy.
There is a school of thought among Sox higher ups that Grifol may prove to be a good manager, but shouldn’t have been hired when the Sox were in a competitive window entering 2023, coming off a .500 season managed by an ailing Tony La Russa, and with a roster that was built to win but not pieced together well by Hahn and Williams.
That was probably the time to go after Bruce Bochy or another proven manager rather than one with no experience.
In any case, Grifol, even with an organization that cut payroll and is dealing with significant injuries, will be watched in his second year.
Getz arrived in Cleveland Tuesday, a day before the team returns to Chicago.
“Obviously, we’re in a tough stretch right now, unfortunately it’s right out of the gate,” he said before the game.
Which certainly no one wants to do. Coming over here and spending time with Pedro, the staff and players, I’d like to think there’s some benefit in that.
“When you go through struggles it’s a character reveal for players and staff,” Getz said. “You’ve got to dig deep sometimes and stay positive, and this staff is professionals and have been in this game a while whether it be on the player or coaching front. It’s a test of leadership at times but they’re a resilient group. They’ll continue to work and continue to create a positive environment for our players to want to show up and get better.”
Contributing: Joe Cowley