The Chicago White Sox fired manager Pedro Grifol on Thursday — the latest shake-up for an organization that has been bombarded with turnover and losses in recent years.
“As we all recognize, our team’s performance this season has been disappointing on many levels,” said Chris Getz, White Sox senior vice president/general manager, in a statement.
“Despite the on-field struggles and lack of success, we appreciate the effort and professionalism Pedro and the staff brought to the ballpark every day. These two seasons have been very challenging. Unfortunately, the results were not there, and a change is necessary as we look to our future and the development of a new energy around the team.”
The team said the next manager will be announced at the end of the 2024 season. An interim manager has not been named yet.
The Sox have had a couple of dreadful seasons under Grifol. They went 61-101 in 2023, leading to the firings of executive vice president Ken Williams and general manager Rick Hahn. It was the fifth 100-loss season in franchise history.
And this season has been even worse. They lost 22 of their first 25 games, getting shut out eight times in the stretch.
The Sox set a franchise record with 21 consecutive losses from July 10-Aug. 5. They joined the 1911 Boston Rustlers, 1935 Boston Braves and 2021 Baltimore Orioles as the only teams in the modern era (since 1901) to record multiple 14-game losing streaks in a single season, according to Elias.
At 28-89, they joined the 1916 Philadelphia A’s (25-91-1) as the only teams in major-league history to lose 89-plus times in the first 117 games of a season.
Grifol had an 89-190 record as the team’s manager.
Before the Sox hired him, Grifol spent 10 years in various coaching roles with the Kansas City Royals, including bench coach from 2020-22. He took over as Sox manager after Hall of Famer Tony La Russa announced in early October 2022 that he would not return in 2023 because of health issues.
La Russa, who became the manager in the aftermath of the Sox and Rick Renteria parting ways following the 2020 season, was sidelined in late August 2022 because of health issues, with Miguel Cairo moving into the acting manager role.
The Sox significantly underachieved in 2023. Pundits predicted a difficult 2024. And it has been even more challenging than anticipated — with early-season injuries to center fielder Luis Robert Jr. and third baseman Yoán Moncada adding to the trouble.