Pregame notes: Pedro Grifol is barely hanging in there

It's Sunday, which means Bob Nightengale has thousands of words of notebook column, including a few paragraphs about the White Sox that are bound to befuddle, frustrate and flummox.

There's an update on Pedro Grifol's status, which seems like a series-to-series proposition at this point:

The Chicago White Sox had a lengthy private meeting Wednesday after their 17th consecutive defeat with owner Jerry Reinsdorf, GM Chris Getz and manager Pedro Grifol to address a myriad of issues with their woeful team, including Grifol’s future.

They ultimately decided not to fire him before their weekend series against the Minnesota Twins.

While Grifol could still be fired any day – or even last until the end of the year if they suddenly start sprinkling in a few victories – the White Sox have no plans to look for a permanent replacement until after the season.

Just like Robin Ventura's interminable final months, which culminated in Ventura saying "I've had enough" because either nobody was empowered or had the guts to fire Ventura themselves, it seems pointless and cruel to let Grifol dangle like this. The White Sox just paid the Orioles $4 million to take Eloy Jiménez, which is the equivalent of four Grifol seasons.

Then again, Grifol is still complimenting Reinsdorf the way nobody else will.

“You know what, I’ve said this before and I’m going to say it again,” Grifol said. “This gets taken out of context and somehow it gets turned around over and over again, how people want to perceive it. Jerry’s a winner, okay? He’s an absolute winner. He’s a competitor. No, he’s not content. Who is?”

Getz is running the show, but Reinsdorf, 88, remains hands on.

“He’s an incredible owner, an incredible man,” Grifol said. “I know how much he loves Chicago and how much he loves those fans.”

And for the third time, here's a note that the White Sox limited their market for Erick Fedde, and that Garrett Crochet's future in Chicago is only slightly longer than Grifol's:

The White Sox were never going to trade Garrett Crochet, or even Erick Fedde in the division unless completely overwhelmed.

While Fedde wound up with the Cardinals, Crochet will definitely be traded this winter.

Now, ahead to the task at hand: watching the White Sox attempt to avoid losing their 20th consecutive game.

First Pitch: White Sox at Twins

TV: NBC Sports Chicago

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