Two weeks ago, Miguel Cairo was a hot commodity for the Chicago White Sox. Some reports even indicated that Cairo would be sought after for manager vacancies during the offseason.
Flash forward to Wednesday and Cairo is breathing a sigh of relief after snapping an eight-game losing streak.
Miguel Cairo was forced into the unenviable position of replacing a Hall of Famer on short notice. He also had no idea how long he would be in charge.
Throw in the fact the White Sox were in their most crucial stage of the season and the White Sox bench coach had a tall task ahead of him. But he isn’t the man to lead the Chicago White Sox in 2023.
After dealing with two years of the Tony La Russa circus, most fans were just happy to see a change in the dugout. The early returns were promising. Cario immediately lit a fire under the team and received public praise from a lot of the players on the team.
With Cairo at the helm, the White Sox jumped out to a 13-6 record and closed the gap in the Amerian League Central Division standings. But the wheels began to fall off after losing a heartbreaking extra-innings game to the Cleveland Guardians on September 20th.
The Chicago White Sox are going to be looking for a new manager right away.
He made some mistakes that are expected from a first-time manager. Unfortunately for him, they were magnified by how big the game was. The loss was the first domino in a sweep and the team clearly gave up. Even when Cario called them out in the media after a 4-2 loss to the last-place Tigers, the message never seemed to get through.
The White Sox are now 14-15 under Cairo. As Tony La Russa showed, not everything on this team was the manager’s fault. It is a flawed roster that drastically underachieved.
But Cairo’s coaching experience is limited to interim bench coach with the Cincinnati Reds, Minor league infield coordinator with the Yankees, and bench coach with the White Sox. Until now, he hasn’t even managed in the minor leagues. He is learning on the fly.
With the contention window closing, time is limited. They need someone who has been through the playoff battles and will minimize mistakes. That guy was not Tony La Russa, and it isn’t Cairo, either.
It’s obvious the White Sox need a fresh perspective in the dugout. It’s time to bring in an outside guy with previous experience next season.