CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox are on course to finish with baseball’s worst record of the modern era. Change clearly is needed.
The White Sox made a switch in the dugout, firing manager Pedro Grifol and three coaches on Thursday, two days after the team ended a 21-game losing streak that tied the American League record.
Chicago began the day 28-89, on pace to finish 39-123, which would be the worst major league record since the National League’s Cleveland Spiders were 20-134 in 1899.
The White Sox ended the losing streak with a 5-1 victory at Oakland on Tuesday night, then wasted a two-run lead in a 3-2 loss on Wednesday. The 21 losses tied the mark set when the 1988 Baltimore Orioles started 0-21.
“We know the flaws in this roster,” general manager Chris Getz said. “But with that being said, we expected to win more games — we did. These factors led to the decision.”
Grifol was in the middle of his second season as a major league manager after a long career in the game, lugging an 89-190 record.
He was the first manager fired this season. Getz said a replacement likely will be hired from outside the organization after the season and it would be someone currently in a major league uniform.
Major league coach Grady Sizemore will take over as interim manager, with his first game scheduled for Friday when Chicago hosts the crosstown Cubs. A three-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove center fielder with Cleveland, he is in his first season as a White Sox coach after serving as a minor-league instructor with the Guardians and a coach with the Arizona Complex League Diamondbacks in 2023.
Chicago also fired bench coach Charlie Montoyo, third base coach Eddie Rodriguez and assistant hitting coach Mike Tosar. They have been replaced by Doug Sisson (bench coach), Justin Jirschele (third base coach) and Mike Gellinger (assistant hitting coach).
The White Sox had a 14-game losing streak from May 22-June 6, setting a team season record that lasted only until the skid that followed the All-Star break.
“My mentality and the way I look at things is we’re all in this thing together, and I’m the first one to take blame for anything that happens on this team. I’m the manager, right? And I’ve done that since day one. I did it last year. I’ll do it again this year,” Grifol said on July 30. “I don’t hide away from blame. Blame is what it is. I’ve got the position, the office, that’s the chair. I would never blame our players for this season. That’s not my makeup.”
The 54-year-old Grifol presented a positive outlook in spring training, after the White Sox went 61-101 in his first season for their worst finish since going 56-106 in 1970. The optimism quickly evaporated, though, in a 3-22 start.
“We knew this season was gonna have its struggles based on the roster that we had,” Getz said. “When you make a change, you want to be very certain that it’s going to be effective, and there are a lot of different factors in why a team is underperforming.”
Getz plans to sell potential candidates on the idea of “building something special from the ground up.” But he doesn’t have a track record to fall back on, in his first full season on the job after being promoted in late August to replace longtime executives Ken Williams and Rick Hahn.
“They have to have faith in the direction of our organization, that message comes from me and certainly others,” he said. “I’m very confident we’re going to find someone who is going to be a great fit for moving forward, in filling a need that is a high priority for us moving forward. I’m excited to begin this search and I know there’s a long list of worthy candidates.”
The White Sox made the playoffs in 2020 and won the AL Central in 2021, but they’ve stumbled hard since. Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa stepped down late in the 81-81 season in 2022, and Grifol was hired to replace him. The former minor league catcher, who had four seasons of minor league managing experience in the Seattle Mariners system, spent 10 years in a variety of coaching roles with the Kansas City Royals from 2013-22.
The White Sox were one of baseball’s worst hitting teams last season, when Williams and Hahn were fired in August. And there hasn’t been much to work with on Chicago’s South Side lately.
Relievers Aaron Bummer and Gregory Santos were traded away in the offseason, and ace right-hander Dylan Cease was dealt to San Diego in March. Then, All-Star center fielder Luis Robert Jr. and key hitters Yoán Moncada and Eloy Jiménez were sidelined by significant injuries early this season.
The White Sox also have been hurt by lackluster production from first baseman Andrew Vaughn, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 amateur draft, and veteran outfielder Andrew Benintendi, who signed a $75 million, five-year contract for 2023.
At the trade deadline, the White Sox kept Robert and ace starting pitcher Garrett Crochet, but they dealt designated hitter Jiménez to Baltimore, pitcher Tanner Banks to Philadelphia and infielder Paul DeJong to Kansas City.
The White Sox are headed toward their sixth 100-loss season, which would be the first time in franchise history it’s occurred consecutive years. Their all-time worst winning percentage (.325) was recorded in 1932, when they went 49-102-1.
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