If you want the White Sox to hire a good manager for once, you might be in luck. Bruce Levine of 670 The Score reported this morning that future Hall of Fame manager Terry Francona is a “potential option” to become the next White Sox skipper. One should take Levine’s report with a grain of salt, but the possibility of Francona coming to Chicago is an exciting development in arguably the worst season in franchise history.
It seems like a foregone conclusion that Pedro Grifol will be gone at the end of this season. The White Sox are historically awful. However, it is unfair to blame Grifol entirely. The roster is atrocious and he does not have much to work with. At the same time though, he has not done enough to keep his job and will likely be one of the scapegoats for the trainwreck that is the 2024 season.
As a result of Grifol’s likely departure, the list of potential replacements for him has already started swirling. Current Marlins manager Skip Schumaker’s name has come up as an option in the past, and now Francona’s name has also entered the conversation. Francona has made sense for the White Sox ever since he expressed an interest in managing again, but it was simply a hypothetical until now. His name officially entering the rumor mill is a significant development as the White Sox turn the page to 2025.
Francona’s managerial résumé speaks for itself. He is one of the best managers of his era and has consistently gotten the most out of his teams. He also has previous White Sox ties, as he coached and managed in their farm system in the early 1990’s. If there is one thing we know for sure about Jerry Reinsdorf, it is that he values past relationships. He brought Tony La Russa out of retirement for that reason, and Francona could follow suit. The difference is that Francona has not been out of baseball for long. He has had recent success and would be a slam-dunk hire, unlike La Russa’s second White Sox stint which was a questionable move at best.
Health issues have sidelined Francona in recent years. He has missed periods over the last handful of seasons due to various physical problems and ultimately stepped down from the Guardians’ managerial position after the 2023 season. He is also 65 years old, so he is not young anymore.
However, Francona has expressed interest in returning to managing. It is not every day that a future Hall of Fame manager falls into your lap, but that could be the case here. The White Sox need all the help they can get, and the manager is a big part of the equation from a leadership and culture standpoint. Bringing in a respected, proven manager of Francona’s caliber would be one of the first building blocks to fall to get this ship turned around again. We are in the infancy stages of the White Sox managerial search, but Terry Francona’s name even being in the conversation is a good sign that they might get this hire right.
