Tony La Russa has been a horrid manager all season long. The Chicago White Sox players deserve some blame for underachieving but they are not being put in a position to succeed. They would be much better with a manager like Joe Girardi.
La Russa likes to put the worst hitter on the roster as the designated hitter, bat the wrong man lead off, and use one of thier three best hitters low in the lineup in addition to lots of other mistakes. Girardi, although not perfect, would be a significant upgrade.
The Philadelphia Phillies fired him on Friday and now he is free to go to whatever team wants him. The Phillies had a brutal bullpen in 2021 and did nothing to fix it going into 2022.
They play in the same division as the very good New York Mets, a pesky Miami Marlins team, and the defending World Series Champion Atlanta Braves so you need to more to compete there right now.
Instead of helping that bullpen, they spent over 200 million dollars on two guys who would be better as designated hitters in Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos. He also wasn’t hired by Dave Dombrowski (Philadelphia’s GM) so he wasn’t his guy.
Joe Girardi would be much better for the Chicago White Sox than Tony La Russa.
That is similar to what is happening in Chicago with the White Sox. Tony La Russa is not Rick Hahn’s guy as Jerry Reinsdorf went above him as the owner to bring back his friend. That is not a recipe for success and now the Phillies are ahead of the curve.
If it was Rick Hahn’s decision and Rick Hahn’s decision only, the White Sox would be much better off with Girardi in the dugout. He would, at minimum, put out better lineups and bring continuity to this group. He would probably also be much better with other managerial decisions like bullpen and strategy management.
Nothing can be worse than what Tony La Russa has brought so far this season. It has been horrid all season long and something needs to change. Joe Girardi (or anyone for that matter) would bring in a fresh voice that might get more out of the group.
This core played harder for Rick Renteria than they do Tony La Russa which is a serious problem because Renteria was a horrible manager in terms of Xs and Os. Whether it’s Girardi or anyone else that Rick Hahn chooses, it would be better than what they have.