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The Chicago White Sox are having an historically awful season. At 36-120 they’re one defeat away from finishing the season with the most losses in modern MLB history – a mark they can reach Tuesday evening in their home matchup against the Los Angeles Angels. The White Sox fired manager Pedro Grifol after he posted a record of 89-190 in less than two seasons.
Chicago named former player Grady Sizemore as the team’s interim manager in early August. Since taking over as the South Side skipper, Sizemore has led the team to an 8-30 record. His .211 winning percentage is worse than the .319 percentage that got Grifol fired. It’s even worse than the White Sox 2024 winning percentage, which sits at an embarrassing .231.
Still, someone needs to helm this hapless team. And White Sox general manager Chris Getz says that Sizemore is being considered to take over as manager full time, per MLB.com’s Scott Merkin on X. Getz went on to note that Chicago is conducting a full search to fill the managerial opening, so Sizemore is far from a shoo-in.
Should Grady Sizemore return to the South Side if offered the White Sox manager gig?
Of course, the larger question here is who exactly would want the job? By the time the organization is prepared to make an offer to fill the team’s manager position, the White Sox will be coming off the worst season in baseball history. It is the second straight year Chicago finished with 100 losses.
True, the White Sox made the playoffs in two of the previous three seasons. However, before that, the team finished with a losing record for seven consecutive years from 2013-2019. In that span, Chicago had another 100 loss seasons as well as years in which they lost 95 and 99 games during an 11-year playoff drought from 2009-2020.
Making matters worse, general manager Getz doesn’t plan to rebuild the team through free agency, choosing instead to rely on the players that helped deliver baseball’s most miserable season ever. And, long-time owner Jerry Reinsdorf has a history of failing to spend money to improve the franchise, which has led to former players and employees offering a scathing review of the White Sox’s boss.
Oh, and former manager Tony La Russa still holds an active role in the organization. In his position as special advisor to the executive vice president the 79-year-old Hall of Famer, who managed the team until the 2022 season, offers his wisdom to the manager and coaches – for whatever that’s worth.
The White Sox have been thoroughly run into the ground, as evidenced by their abysmal record. With all manner of dysfunction from the very top down, it’s highly unlikely that Chicago will attract top-tier managerial talent to the South Side. The real question is, should Grady Sizemore return for more of this misery, assuming the franchise offers him the opportunity to do so.
