The White Sox’ managerial search has come to an end.
The White Sox have hired Pedro Grifol, longtime Royals coach, as their next manager. This was first reported on Tuesday by Buster Olney on ESPN.
Grifol, 52, played nine seasons in the minor leagues between the Twins and Mets organizations. After the former catcher failed to break through Triple-A, he transitioned into other roles, most notably serving as the Director of Minor League Operations for the Mariners over several years.
Grifol joined Kansas City in 2013 and has held a variety of positions during those 10 years, including the team’s special assignment coach, hitting coach, and catching and quality control coach. For the past three seasons, he’s served as the Royals’ major league bench coach under the recently fired Mike Matheny. The Cuban-American has also led minor league teams on separate occasions and managed in the Dominican Republic and Venezuelan winter leagues.
When it comes to managerial searches, this is nothing new for Grifol. He was a candidate for the Tigers (on two different occasions), Orioles, Giants, and even the Royals before they opted for Matheny. Though failing to ever make it out of the final round, Grifol clearly has earned some level of respect amongst his peers. One glance through his resume and Grifol has done nearly everything possible to prepare for this chance.
There has been much written about Grifol, who has largely gone as an under-the-radar candidate throughout this process. Both Russell Dodd of The Athletic and Mark W. Sanchez of KNBR have written excellent pieces about some of the work Grifol has been doing within the Royals’ organization:
- How the Royals’ flourishing analytics department convinced Ned Yost to shift on defensive shifts
- Meet Pedro Grifol: From hailed Royals helper to finalist for Giants manager
From Dodd’s piece specifically:
“Grifol… spends his afternoons searching for data that validates decisions and performance evaluation. He seeks to marry an interest in stats with a background rooted in baseball.”
With this, it appears that while Grifol doesn’t check *all* of the boxes the White Sox were looking for – such as recent experience in the playoffs – he does bring an analytical mindset with a feel for the “old-school” mentality of baseball.
As the White Sox make this move official and the team’s coaching staff begins to take shape, we will provide you with more information.
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Featured Image: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
@MJC72
MLB Trade Rumors is also reporting that there will be coaching changes in addition to the hiring of Grifol as manager. It appears that only pitching coach Ethan Katz is a sure bet to return in 2023.
I think Ozzie was the better fit!!!
Pedro Grifol does have some fairly recent deep postseason experience as the Royals catching coach when they reached the World Series in 2014 and won the championship in 2015. Solid hire as a former catcher with a versatile MLB coaching resume, minor and international league managerial experience along with his work as the Mariners Director of Minor League Operations. His Cuban heritage should also come in handy on a White Sox team loaded with them.
So the Sox do the opposite of what they claim. They hired someone who was desperate and will work cheap. After they announce this latest joke… they will also put of the press release that the entire coaching staff is being retained (because Jerry is too cheap).
WASH+RINSE+REPEAT= Chicago White Sox Baseball, Mediocrity Continues!!!