Following his report earlier in the day, Jon Morosi joined 670 The Score to discuss the ongoing White Sox managerial search.
The MLB Network insider said on the Parkins & Spiegel Show that he can confirm both Pedro Grifol and Joe Espada have interviewed with the organization. Morosi believes the two could be part of a smaller group, perhaps consisting of six active candidates or so.
“It doesn’t sound to me that the White Sox have a massive group at this juncture,” Morosi said. “I think it’s probably down to five, maybe half a dozen that are still active candidates.”
Morosi continued the conversation by throwing out Chris Getz as a potential internal candidate that isn’t getting talked about enough.
“I think Chris has that really good blend of dirt under his spikes, having been in the dugout. But also really understands the front-office dynamics of the sport. Really, somewhat of a similar background to what you see with A.J. Hinch and the Tigers.”
“I don’t have it confirmed that he’s interviewed,” Morosi continued. “But he fits, to me, the type of internal candidate that you’d think about if you wanted to have more of a real fusion between the modern style of the game, and then maybe where things were under Tony La Russa.”
Getz, 39, played for seven seasons in the majors, two of which came with the White Sox (2008-09). Since his retirement, he has worked in the Royals’ front office and currently serves as the Assistant General Manager/Player Development for the White Sox. Though a move to the dugout wouldn’t be completely shocking, Getz seems to be more on the front-office track at this time.
The other name Morosi highlighted is one we’ve seen reoccurring in reports, Ron Washington.
“I think that he is certainly a possibility,” Morosi said of Washington. “Now that the Braves have been eliminated, I think certainly Wash, if he is going to be a candidate, that’ll crystalize pretty clearly here in the next couple of days.”
Washington, 70, has been with the Braves for their past few postseason runs. He’s also managed in the World Series several times with Texas Rangers from 2007-2014. It’s well-known around the league that his specialty is defense, and the White Sox would no doubt benefit from his knowledge and expertise, given they were a bottom-five organization in terms of defensive metrics last season.
More importantly, Washington is regarded as a coach that players enjoy playing for, and could certainly bring a missing spark to this organization. However, given his older age, there’s no guarantee that he will want to return as a manager and may instead opt to remain as the Braves’ third base coach.
With previous reports having already confirmed the White Sox’s internal interest in Washington, their known list of confirmed managerial candidates seems to include Miguel Cairo, Grifol, and Espada. While Bochy, Shildt, and others have all been rumored as top candidates, there have still not been any official reports to confirm their interest or interviews with the organization to date.
As more become available on the South Siders’ managerial search, we will continue to provide updates.
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