Why Is Pedro Grifol Still Here?

In the off-season following the White Sox worst campaign of our lifetimes (most of us), it’s surprising, what question I hear surface most without an answer. Well, when you can get over the constant unimaginative Reinsdorfian reign of terror memes and the Jason Benetti pity party world tour, the next most popular refrain is

Why Is Pedro Grifol Still Here?

It wasn’t that long ago that local media, quasi media and fans alike were throwing bouquets at the first time skipper following his opening press conference. Apparently he had won it (I’m unaware of the prize). Now this was back when the shine had worn off the artist formerly known as Teflon Hahn, but still prior to his dismissal a near 9 months later. It allowed for those that had invested heavily in his geniusness to hold up this hiring as a great conquest to finally show how right they were 10 years in the offing.

I was personally skeptical and you can read that skepticism HERE. Not being entirely sure why people were instantly enamored, I listed a variety of concerns that well, started surfacing nearly as quickly as that blog dropped. Alas, we end up here, after the aforementioned horrible season, last Hahnian core scrapped and sold for parts. The Getz era upon us. The question still stands. Why is Pedro Grifol still here?

Pedro Grifol Failed at 3 Tenets of Managing

Tactical

Pedro Grifol noted in his opening presser that he would “exploit every edge.” This seemingly turned out to be the opposite of his actual strategy in practice. Whether it was to constantly emptying the bench prior to the 9th inning early in the season, leaving batless hitters up in high leverage spots or batting his new found slugger Jake Burger 8th with certainty, he was employing some analytics you, me and the wall ain’t never seen.

Grifol seemed to be married to Lance Lynn going a certain amount of pitches no matter the result (it was usually bad). He had Reynaldo Lopez assigned to damn near the highest leverage spots you could possibly find and he forced Tim Anderson to continue to lead off well after his OBP had plunged below .300 and he looked cooked. The hits rolled on with his “exploit every edge” strategy. Oof.

Culture / Clubhouse

There was a video surfacing of him talking about how every night they’ll prepare to “whip your ass” that made the rounds on twitter for awhile after he was hired. Then it made an encore lap as the White Sox were tumbling out of the gates and through a horrendous season. I don’t blame Pedro entirely for the fact that the White Sox were a bottom tier defense. You can only do with what you have and what he had wasn’t a whole helluva lot. However, I can’t remember a less prepared team in all my years watching the White Sox and that’s saying something. That’s on the field.

Off the field, the White Sox clubhouse seemed to have implied and surfacing issues throughout the season. I’m even inclined to wave away comments by known snitch Keynan Middleton and confirmed by known asshole Lance Lynn, as part of this mess. Shane Riordan reported in season that Tim Anderson and Yasmani Grandal got into a scuffle. There was Luis Robert “quitting” on the field back in an April game against Tampa (it wasn’t, but still). On field knock-outs. OSCAR. COLAS. The “fun” was damn near endless.

Public Relations

I made this meme before the season after watching an interview that Alex Feuz did with Pedro. I started piecing it together in October / November 2022 that this part of the managing might be a problem. Pedro just didn’t seem to have a lot of personality. That can be a problem when it comes to talking to the media everyday and currying some favor with the fanbase at large. It doesn’t have to be. Sometimes being a super basebally guy and talking basebally stuff will get you over the hump. But he didn’t seem to have that in there either. Materially he was an abject failure at being the White Sox main communication to you the fan.

He said weird stuff about what they were going to do. Including that they wouldn’t sacrifice development for wins, which every one does even when they aren’t cruising to a 100 loss season. Grifol would go out of his way to undress Oscar Colas (probably deservedly so) and then NEVER criticize his veterans. He’d bark at beat writers when they asked about Jake Burger batting 8th, with nothing close to an actual reason. Either be basebally baseball guy or be smart and reasoned and provide an answer or just be charismatic, but being none of the above hurts. A LOT.

The Chicago Cubs, right across town just spent top dollar for the second time in the last 9 years on a manager who handles this function in an exemplary fashion, so there has to be something to communicating with the public that is high in the value proposition for a manager.

So why on God’s green earth is Pedro still here????

Chris Getz’ Plausible Reasons for Keeping Pedro Grifol

Intel

Chris Getz’ top incentive in my opinion to keep Pedro Grifol around is intel. Pedro has information about the goings on in the clubhouse that just won’t be that easy to acquire otherwise. Now, it’s going to be slanted in Pedro’s direction, but YMMV on processing that data. It helps to have an inside man when trying to turn an organization over and Pedro seems like the type of guy willing to share that information with the new top guy.

Which guys are working hard. What guys are behavioral problems? Who was banged up, etc, etc. I’m sure it went a long way in Getz’ evaluation of the coaching staff that he just gutted. Finding out processes and procedures that he wanted to replace and the types of coaches that made the most sense to install for the personnel. He and Josh Barfield seemed to attack that veraciously and I’d have to think at least making Pedro feel a part of the analysis, probably helped move that along much faster.

Jerry Reinsdorf Family Trust

The Chairman was already paying TLR (his good buddy) and now Pedro Grifol for a reportedly 3 year deal (so through 2025). I doubt paying a 3rd manager is something high on his priority list. Other than the cost savings there is also a savings in asking for changes. Getz has already added new positions on the coaching staff and in the front office that weren’t there before. Asking to remove and search for another manager might be a little bit more than he wants to task the Chairman with in year one. There is obviously a honeymoon period, but you still don’t want to spoil that by asking for everything you intend to disrupt in the first 6 months.

Also, the other changes they are making are probably more immediate needs. For you and I that have to listen to the manager speak everyday, removing him seems like table stakes, but for a team who’s championship core imploded into 101 losses in the blink of an eye, they might have bigger fish to fry. Possibly?

Pedro could improve vastly in Year 2

Yes, I am typing this. Pedro Grifol might improve drastically from his Rookie Year. It does happen. I remember a fair amount of White Sox fans really excited for AJ Hinch. Maybe they’d be less excited if they looked at his initial stint as manager. I’m not saying it will happen. Nor am I saying that I’d be willing to bet on Pedro Grifol Manager of the Year in 2024, but I would think we’ll see some improvements.

Last year was an unmitigated tire fire and some of it definitely falls at the feet of the skipper. However, you have to admit, that’s one of the worst spots a rookie manager could possibly inherit. Did he do a terrible job with it? YES! Can he learn from mistakes in year one? Of course. I think that is at least part of why he’s getting a year two, when you, me and the wall would’ve launched him before More Than Dawgs closed up shop on the season.

As an observer, I’ll be looking for those improvements, because he has the entire swath of what I would consider vital tasks for a manager as fertile ground for growth.

A Final Getzian Thought

This is more an “Odd” than it is an “End”, but it has applications to Pedro, so I am putting it here, so I don’t lose it. I think one important factor that is currently being mocked, misunderstood, ignored, is the specific language Getz and crew are using around this tenure. They are talking about “Competing” and they aren’t using the term “Rebuild”. For the average fan, fuck, even for the non-average fan, this has become a sticking point, but I am understanding it differently, so if you have 15 more seconds, hear me out.

The last time the team used the term “Rebuild” it became a time that was implicit with “you can’t judge us right now we are trying to lose”. I think Getz wants the opposite. He wants the ability to be critical of any / all positions even if the White Sox are trotting out a 62 projected win team in 2024. “Competing” is about competing for your fucking job, your fucking professional life, about going hard everyday. Not hitting some sort of projected win total in ZIPS that gives you an above median chance of making the playoffs. That’s why I think there will be a critical analysis of all position, including Pedro and he’s not just a “Getz guy” or whatever. I could be wrong.

-BeefLoaf