Other than the specific timing, this didn't catch anyone by surprise.
A newly unemployed Pedro Grifol sounded at peace when reached by phone Thursday morning. And White Sox GM Chris Getz opened a nearly 45-minute press conference by reeling off things that had been true for a while to explain firing the manager, bench coach Charlie Montoyo, assistant hitting coach Mike Tosar and third base coach Eddie Rodríguez. The latter two are long-time friends and associates of Grifol, dating back multiple organizations.
"You look at the 2023 season, the 2024 season, winning projections, win-loss projections and how dramatically below we were in the win column," Getz said. "As the season began, it was the first time really with to work closely with Pedro, with this staff from Opening Day on. Recognized there was some misalignments along the way. Some different belief systems, and there was lack of production overall. You look at how many games that we’ve led early and weren’t able to finish or how many games we haven’t been able to come back to get a win. Obviously there was something that was broken."
Getz said that the way the White Sox came out of the All-Star break (the whole 17-straight losses thing) provided the immediate impetus for the decision, but also that a managerial change had been discussed between him and chairman Jerry Reinsdorf for "weeks, if not months." Acknowledgement that this roster was supposed to struggle but still wildly underperformed was frequent.
"A major league roster is a reflection of upwards to five years of work," Getz said. "So when you've got a manager that's just in Year 2, you want to make sure that you're making the right decision. And as time went on, and we were learning more about what the needs are of this organization and where the direction we want to head, it became clearer and clearer that it was time for a change."
With a slew of future pieces on the major league roster -- Jonathan Cannon, Brooks Baldwin and Miguel Vargas come to mind -- Getz said they hope this change will help build some momentum during the close of the season. He did not cite avoiding an all-time record for losses as a specific benchmark for determining that momentum has been created.
"It's certainly something that we would like to avoid," Getz said. "No one wants to be associated to a record like that. Now, with that being said, it has not been the highest priority, being that we just went through a trade deadline and moved on from players that obviously were attractive to other clubs."
Who will be the next manager of the White Sox?
The first subhead was going to be "Why Grady Sizemore?" but since Getz's parameters for his search for the next Sox manager clearly eliminated him from consideration, it took some of the steam out of tabbing the former three-time All-Star with light coaching experience to see out the final two months. Getz said he has long kept a list of ideal candidates, and it appears that no one currently in the White Sox organization is on it.
"I think it's important to bring in a new voice, a fresh voice, perhaps that’s been exposed to areas of this game that we don’t currently have in our organization," Getz said. "I’m very curious to learn more about some of these individuals and then we’ll get it to the finish line and name the next manager."
Getz also made a point of saying the next manager will be someone currently in uniform elsewhere, pushing back at suggestions that coaxing someone out of retirement or off a TV set would satisfy the need to get an outside perspective. But everyone here is old enough to remember that Rick Hahn's stated preferences for who would replace Rick Renteria did not wind up matching Tony La Russa.
The specific goal of hiring away from another current team will place some restrictions on immediately conducting a new search, which Getz said could consist of talking to contacts and colleagues of potential targets for now, rather than direct interviews before the close of the season. He did not take the step of guaranteeing any current assistant coaches would be retained, nor declare that the new manager would entirely hand-pick their own staff. But Getz did imply that the job anxiety that current assistants will feel for the final two months is sort of part and parcel with being 60 games under .500.
"We do have coaches here on our major league staff or other areas in the organization that should be strongly considered," Getz said. "But with that being said it starts with our manager and we’ll work from there."
ESPN's Jesse Rogers asked straight up if the Sox would be willing to deviate from their typical three-year contract for new managers and offer a five-year deal; both as a way to compete in bidding and provide assurances for someone joining a turbulent organization. That seems like a call to be made over Getz's head, but he said the White Sox would be "open-minded."
At the same time, Getz said they're open to hiring a first-time manager, citing the success of Stephen Vogt in Cleveland. First-time managers tend not to command five-year deals.
Why Grady Sizemore?
"Grady is certainly one of the most respected people in our clubhouse," Getz said of the 42-year-old who previously held the title of major league coach. "That showed very early on once we hired Grady, how players gravitated toward him, staff members gravitated toward him. He's got a strong understanding of the game, how to play the game. He's very authentic and honest with his communication ability. And so we felt that Grady would be the right fit for getting us to the end of September and building this environment that's more more effective for our players."
Montoyo was hired by the previous front office and would have been hard-pressed to establish a clean break from a previous failed administration, but Getz seemed to be aware of the experience shortfall he's created with the choice of Sizemore. Longtime Sox field coordinator and former Royals first base coach Doug Sisson is serving as a "co-bench coach" along with catching coach Drew Butera (also a former Royal). And Getz cited Triple-A manager Justin Jirschele's extensive history with players who have come through the Sox farm system for why he's joining the staff as the third base coach.
(Note: Mike Jirschele, Justin's father, was a longtime third-base coach for the Royals, and is the current manager of their Triple-A affiliate.)
The Charlotte Knights have seen a mid-season manager change more often than not the last three years, and bench coach Pat Listach will take the reins at Triple-A for the rest of the season.
Why is it only coaches getting the boot today?
"I feel really good about the process we’ve made throughout the organization," Getz said when asked to self-assess his tenure up to this point. "This was not going to be something that could be turned around overnight at the major league level."
Heaping praise upon last month's draft, Getz made more than a few references to having a consensus top-10 farm system, to which he said he expects to keep adding. The recent history of this organization is such that even having a clear-cut No. 1 farm system didn't bring long-lasting happiness. Getz was asked about that and answered in a way that suggested potentially more changes coming; especially if you've been noticing all the high-dollar international signings they've been releasing of late.
"The success of an organization isn’t just the farm system, either," Getz said. "You need to continue to draft well, you need to develop well, acquire players regularly on the international side to supplement the draft, you need to be sharp on minor league free agency, major league free agency, you need a coaching staff that can adapt regularly to the needs of the major league club and that permeates all the way down through the organization."
Largely it seems like Getz feels like a lot of those areas have improved under his watch, but that he gets why few are currently buying the product.
"Your major league club is a reflection of years of work," Getz said. "There are holes on our major league roster and 40-man roster and within the organization still that need to be improved. I realize that the skepticism and criticism will not stop until it shows up in our win-and-loss record at the major league level. That’s understandable."
Of course, long-term underperformance by a franchise that will now have both a fairly new manager and general manager rightly puts the focus on how much ownership's conduct has hindered winning. To that end, Getz was compelled to give a standard fare on-record defense of his boss.
"I don’t want to speak for Jerry Reinsdorf, but what I can say is he’s been extremely supportive to me and our staff," Getz said. "Having the conversations, making changes are never easy but he understands the direction that we need to head and where we’re going and I’m very confident he’s going to be supportive along the way so he is someone that watches games closely, he’s a fan of the game, some one who wants the White Sox to compete and win every night. So it’s hard when we’re coming up short. That said, he understands where we are and he understands the plans we have to get us where we need to go feel like we’re accomplishing something special for our fans."
Manager aside, when will this team be any good?
It would take historic levels of improvement for the White Sox to pivot from historic levels of losing in 2024 to relevant in any playoff race in 2025. With the state of attendance, viewership, stadium and new TV network, it's hard to imagine a huge uptick in Sox spending coming this winter.
"I wouldn’t say we’re too far," Getz said for when they will become more aggressive in free agency. "It isn’t going to be right now. There’s a maturation to players in our minor league system and our 40-man and 26-man roster, you need to figure out where your needs are and those are still evolving. There is going to be a financial component to improving our major league club. The time is not right now but I would say we’re not too far off from being able to do that but in the meantime let’s get our organization as strong as possible with the players we have here, continue to make good decisions and know the big decision as it stands today is finding the manager that can get us where we want to go."
As a team currently touting a credible major league rotation and little else, and a farm system rich in pitching but lighter on the hitting side, Getz made an allusion that the many calling for a "hitting version of Brian Bannister" (if such a thing exists) will find interesting.
"The hitting has been something we’ve struggled with for years," Getz said. "We’re going to do deeper analysis of what is going on, on the hitting front. If that means we bring in people from outside the org, we’ll do so. Hitting is an area that needs a tighter focus on. Ultimately, we have new department heads, our farm system is rising towards the top, we have one of the best pitchers in the game, we have a center fielder that can change the game.
"We have talent here. We need to uncover more talent and perhaps acquire more talent along the way. We’re going to need a new manager and staff members to be on board and be part of something special. If we find the right competitor and someone that has a vision, they could look at this opportunity as something they don’t want to pass up.”
Did Chris Getz seem at all remorseful for ruining James' off day?
Yes, he did. But he still ruined it all the same.
