White Sox to Name Pedro Grifol Manager
According to Buster Olney of ESPN, Pedro Grifol is expected to be the next manager of the Chicago White Sox. Grifol has been on the Kansas City Royals staff since 2013, recently serving as the bench coach. Kansas City did interview the 52-year-old for their managerial opening but hired Matt Quatraro instead. Chicago was on the hunt for a new skipper after Tony La Russa announced his retirement. The Hall of Fame manager left the team on August 30 due to health problems and never returned.
Pedro Grifol, longtime coach with the Royals, is expected to be the next White Sox manager, an announcement that could come later this week.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 1, 2022
Before Grifol, a few other names reportedly all interviewed for the job. Atlanta Braves third base coach Ron Washington, Joe Espada and Carlos Mendoza, the bench coaches for the Houston Astros and New York Yankees, respectively. Former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén was another candidate for the role.
While he was with the Royals, he previously spent time with the Seattle Mariners organization. Grifol became a minor league manager before becoming the team’s coordinator of minor league instructor and, eventually, director of minor league operations. Before transitioning to coaching, Grifol had a nine-year career in the majors. The Minnesota Twins selected him in the 1991 MLB Draft, spending five seasons in the Twins farm system and another four with the New York Mets system. Despite reaching Triple-A with both clubs, he never opened the door to the majors before ending his playing career in 1999.
Grifol has long been seen as a manager who came up short. The Miami Marlins gave him an interview but went with Skip Schumaker. Also, he previously interviewed with the Detroit Tigers, San Francisco Giants and the Baltimore Orioles in the past three seasons. He was reportedly among the finalists for the job before the Giants hired Gabe Kapler. Grifol will have the challenge of getting the franchise back on track now that Chicago has their man. After winning the AL Central title in 2021 and a postseason berth during the 2020 campaign, the White Sox went 81-81 while missing the playoffs.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
Players/managers mentioned:
Tony La Russa, Ron Washington, Carlos Mendoza, Ozzie Guillén, Skip Schumaker, Gabe Kapler
