Chicago White Sox manager Pedro Grifol is doubling down on a bad take with another bad comment
By Todd Welter
Chicago White Sox manager Pedro Grifol is doubling down on his displeasure with the team's performance on Sunday.
His players see the Sox almost getting no-hit on Sunday differently. For the most part, the team thinks it just ran into Kyle Bradish, a very good pitcher, on a day when he was dealing. Grifol thought the team was bleeping flat.
Now it might be nice seeing Pedro start calling it like he sees it instead of going with his traditional need to flush a defeat and onto the next one. The problem is he should have played the upset card in May of 2023. That is when he could have established losing a game where one hit equaled one run is something he is not going to tolerate.
Instead, it was just flush those kinds of losses, and no wonder why the team is 77-141 under his leadership. Also, it is the sign of a man who is desperate to save his job.
Grifol's reasoning for doubling down came with his customary ability to make terrible points.
Grifol: "We all have a responsibility here in the Major Leagues to come out and give it our very best every single day. We have a responsibility to our owner, we have a responsibility to this uniform that we wear, to the fans who come see us play.."
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) May 27, 2024
Grifol: "It’s all about respecting the uniform, respecting the opportunity to be a Major Leaguer. It’s a privilege to be here. Obviously everyone in this building has earned the right to be here, but you still gotta earn the right to stay here."
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) May 27, 2024
Giving the very best for the owner? Really Pedro? Really?
Jerry Reinsdorf just authorizes what Chris Getz is allowed to spend. Otherwise, Reinsdorf sits in the stands with the rest of us. He is the owner who assisted in ruining a team that should be a contender right now with his refusal to spend on quality players at key positions such as second base and right field. He also rehired Tony La Russa as manager and that was a disaster.
Reinsdorf is also asking for tax dollars to build him a new stadium. He is not exactly beloved by the public, nor is he a guy owed the very best from his players. Plus, all he cares about is tickets being valuable in September. He is not interested in winning during October. Sure, he would like to, but he has said just being good enough at the end of the season is just as good.
Yes, it is nice to see a team giving the very best the collection can give. The White Sox fan base is not naive. Everyone is aware this team is bad. Also, everyone is aware calling a team flat after managing eight months of baseball (six months last season, two months is year) that is too little, too late.
Then saying players have to earn the right to stay in the big leagues is rich coming from a guy who called Andrew Benintendi, currently the owner of the worst OPS in baseball among qualified batters to be ranked in that category, as a pillar of the lineup. Andrew Vaughn's OPS is not much better, and he is still getting regular at-bats. Martin Maldonado is batting under .100 through two months of the season and he is still getting playing time.
Pedro is very selective when it comes to who he deems should stay in the big leagues and usually his selection is not good. He has buried Oscar Colas in the minors and Dominic Fletcher on the bench. While they have contributed to their struggles, they are still young players who have been given nearly no patience while veterans like Benintendi, Vaughn, and Maldonado get complimented by the manager.
Pedro can invoke Jerry and the fans all he wants. The majority of fans do not like him and the only reason Reinsdorf has not fired Grifol yet is he does not want to pay what it takes to make Pedro go away.
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