The Chicago White Sox have finally ripped the band aid off. Amid what can only be described as a dismal and historically disastrous 2024 season (they’re currently 28-89, worst in MLB by 14 games), the team has fired manager Pedro Grifol after less than two years at the helm.
“As we all recognize, our team’s performance this season has been disappointing on many levels,” White Sox GM Chris Getz, who was hired to replace longtime GM Rick Hahn during the most recent offseason, said in a statement. “Despite the on-field struggles and lack of success, we appreciate the effort and professionalism Pedro and the staff brought to the ballpark every day. These two seasons have been very challenging. Unfortunately, the results were not there, and a change is necessary as we look to our future and the development of a new energy around the team.”
A search for a new manager will begin “immediately,” but won’t be announced until the end of the current season. The White Sox did not announce who will serve as interim manager in Grifol’s place.
Grifol was hired in November 2022 to replace Tony La Russa, who had stepped away from managing due to heart issues. He was chosen in an attempt modernize the management of the team while building on what worked. While La Russa may have not been the best choice to relate to the younger and Latin American players in the clubhouse, his 2022 White Sox finished with an 81-81 record. The year before, the 2021 White Sox finished with a 93-69 record, the franchise’s best since 2005 (when they won the World Series).
Grifol was hired to build on past success, but that is not what he ended up doing. The Southside Sox won just 61 games in 2023, 20 fewer games than the season before. But in 2024 the White Sox have been truly putrid. With a 28-89 record, they are in the running to be one of the losingest teams in history, and Grifol’s winning percentage is third-worst all-time.
391 managers have managed at least 279 games.
Pedro Grifol’s .319 winning percentage is the third-worst among them. Only John McCloskey (Louisville, 1895-1896; St. Louis, 1906-1908) and Doc Prothro (Philadelphia, 1939-1941) were worse.
— David Salituro (@DavidSalituro) August 8, 2024
The 2024 White Sox are on pace to lose 120 games, which would easily beat their current record of 106 losses set in 1970. It’s likely they’ll hit that mark, especially considering they recently snapped a 21-game losing streak that is now the second-longest in modern MLB history. (They came two games short of tying the 1961 Phillies’ record 23-game losing streak.)
If the Sox keep losing at this rate, their 120 wins will tie the worst season in modern MLB history. That was played by the 1962 Mets, who went 40-120-1 in their very first year as an MLB team. To avoid hitting that mark, they have to win 15 of their final 45 games. Maybe without Grifol they’ll be able to avoid tying one of the worst records in MLB history.
