Chicago White Sox manager Pedro Grifol is known for making foolish statements that make it feel like he does not have the best grasp on the current state of the team.
His latest commentary on the team's current state might be the worst statement he has ever made during his awful tenure as manager.
“Of course I want to be here. This is what I’ve dreamed of all my life, this is what I have a passion for. This is what I think I’m good at. Whether the record displays it or not, I think we’re in a better spot than what people think we are. Even if that’s hard to see.”
The White Sox are on pace to be finish with less than the 40 wins the 1962 New York Mets posted. That is the least amount of wins in the 162-game era and the Mets somehow only played 161 games that season. The Sox are also on pace to top the 2003 Detroit Tigers for the most losses in a 162-game season.
It is nearly impossible to see how the White Sox are in a better spot than what their awful record indicates.
The Sox lost 80 games before winning 30 games. They still have not even reached 30 wins. There is a better chance of the team reaching 90 losses before finally winning three more games to get to 30.
That is how bad it has gotten.
The White Sox have been around since 1900 and never had two losing streaks in a season that reached 14 until now. This year's version set the single-season franchise record for losses at 14 this season and then beat it with the current losing skid they are on.
This 16-game losing streak and counting also set the franchise record for an overall losing streak (the Sox had a 15-game losing streak that started at the end of the 1967 season and went into the 1968 season).
The Sox have won three games so far in July. The team has nothing but losing since Pedro Grifol was hired as manager.
It is incredibly difficult to see how the team is in a better spot despite this gosh awful record. Garrett Crochet, Jonathan Cannon, and Drew Thorpe provide hope. This team cannot score runs, the bullpen cannot protect leads, the defense is awful, and the team is terrible at running bases. Kind of hard to see how this team is in a great spot outside of three pitchers.
The Sox tried to trade Crochet before the deadline. Pedro Grifol is not qualified to a manager and the only reason he still has his job is because ownership does not want to pay him to sit around and do nothing.
Getz on whether Grifol will be the manager for the rest of the year: "We just wrapped up the Deadline and just wanted to focus on that and then we'll get through tonight and kind of once again debrief and look through the players we acquired and move forward from that."
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) July 31, 2024
The hope is owner Jerry Reinsdorf allows GM Chris Getz to can Pedro after the season as Grifol is barely qualified to be a roving instructor.
The report is Pedro is a good man, and the roster construction failure falls on Getz. Grifol's in-game decisions have cost the team precious wins. He believes he is good at this job despite everything indicating he is not qualified to run a Target.
His grasp on the current state of the team is another example of why the team must fire him as soon as ownership authorizes it.