The south side of Chicago thought they would be getting an accountable manager for the 2023 Chicago White Sox season. Pedro Grifol carried his words with him dominantly before the start of the year and it resulted in his words coming right back to make him look bad.
The Chicago White Sox finished 61-101 this season which was good enough for fourth place in the worst division in all of baseball.
Now, it wasn't all Grifol's fault. There were certainly more than just managerial issues. Regardless, while Grifol might be the right fit for the organization in future terms, he's not what the White Sox need to get back out of the mud at the moment.
Here are three reasons why Grifol should be fired/replaced:
1. Pedro Grifol was not the manager he promised to be
Grifol seemed like a wonderful option for the White Sox back throughout the off-season and spring training process. He seemed like a leader, he had general praise for all of his players, he had a clear plan for how spring training was going to work, etc. Then this season happened.
Grifol was not good at all. His words were repetitive, he lacked leadership, and most importantly, everything he discussed before the season never happened.
The White Sox were lazy on the base paths, had a poor approach in the box, and their defense was below average at their best. So many things went wrong for this club and the primary key/factor responsible has to be Pedro Grifol.
Again, the players had more than enough fault too but Grifol needed to step up and be accountable for his team along with his players which unfortunately never happened. The White Sox made no adjustments throughout a long and brutal year resulting in gut-wrenching failure.
2. Pedro Grifol links the White Sox to too many Royals
Pedro Grifol, Andrew Benintendi, Chris Getz, Salvador Perez, Whit Merrifield, and more are all associated with the White Sox now in some way. When are the White Sox going to realize that the Royals haven't had the most significant amount of success over the recent years either?
The White Sox, in no way, shape, or form, should be going for the veteran Salvador Perez along with the other coaches/players/staff that have been linked to Grifol and the Royals before. It sets up for a repeating cycle of failure, which was basically Grifol's time in Kansas City aside from a few years.
The solution to this is simple. No Pedro Grifol means no more Kansas City Royals links. These links are mainly because Grifol publicly vouches for all of his peers in an overly descriptive way. This makes it feel like he genuinely thinks these types of people can help the White Sox towards immediate success in 2024 which would be highly doubtful.
3. Pedro Grifol is inexperienced as a manager
Grifol is a young manager managing a team with many young players. In some cases, this situation would work in the baseball world but that wasn't the case for the White Sox.
This organization needs someone who has proven to be accountable and successful at the major league level. There are options and when you compare a specific manager's resume to Grifol's, Grifol is simply unmatched.
Take Gabe Kapler, for example. He's the guy responsible for the San Francisco Giants playing competitive baseball over the last couple of years and it's through his actions rather than his words.
Grifol has been nothing but talk and if that continues, the White Sox may have an even worse season in 2024.