With the news that Pedro Grifol was dismissed from his position as White Sox manager, White Sox fans were very excited, as it was long overdue. But, it seems that Chris Getz is not done yet, as he has continued to shuffle the coaching staff.
Just a few hours after firing Pedro, the White Sox have announced that they have promoted Grady Sizemore as the interim manager.
This is a very interesting move, as Sizemore is in his first year with the team. After 11 years in the major leagues as a very talented outfielder from 2004-2015, the White Sox gave him his first major league coaching opportunity this season.
Now, Sizemore is thrust into the midst of a historically bad season. As a recent former player, perhaps he can resonate with the ball club and get more out of them than Grifol could.
The old White Sox would have promoted Charlie Montoyo to the manager role and let the rest of the season play out. Now, they go with an outside of the box name. Sizemore gets an opportunity to show he can be a major league manager, or at least continue to work his way up the ranks. Simply winning a few games here and there is an improvement, so he could throw his hat into the ring for next season.
While the White Sox should look outside the organization for their next manager, I like this move for the rest of the season. If he does well, he could stick around in another role, or find himself on another MLB coaching staff.
Also in the press release, the White Sox have also fired bench coach Charlie Montoyo, who was speculated to take over Grifol’s spot as manager, as that is typically how it goes when a manager is fired midseason.
While it is unclear how much of a decision making role Montoyo had with the team, it seems that Chris Getz wants to rid the team of all of this losing, as there was clearly a culture issue. No major league team should be this bad at this point in the season.
Chris Getz also made some other significant moves, as they have fired third base coach Eddie Rodriguez and assistant hitting coach Mike Tosar. The White Sox are replacing them with Doug Sisson as bench coach, Justin Jirschele as third base coach, and Mike Gellinger as assistant hitting coach. Whether any of these names stick around past the 2024 season remains to be seen, but they have an opportunity to prove they belong in a major league coaching staff.
This is a step in the right direction for the team, as change was needed. I’m not sure how safe hitting coach Marcus Thames’ job is, as they are clearing house and the offense has been one of the worst in the league. If they don’t fire him now, he could be fired at the end of the year when they announce the new manger.
Ethan Katz may be the only one with a safe job, as he, along with Brian Bannister, has done some great work with the young arms. Whether the new manager keeps him around remains to be seen, but with Katz already surviving a managerial change, it is likely that he sticks around.
Today is a big day for the future of the White Sox, as all of these moves were long overdue. It could give the White Sox a little boost for a few series, but things won’t change until the White Sox are allowed to operate like a big market team.
