The Chicago White Sox – amid the worst season in franchise history – dismissed manager Pedro Grifol on Thursday. The 28-89 White Sox snapped a 21-game losing streak on Tuesday and will begin the search for their third permanent manager since the 2022 season only days later.
Grifol was fired less than two years after Chicago hired him for what turned out to be a thankless job. The organization was trending backward when they announced Grifol as skipper and is hitting rock bottom at the time they let him go. With the fanbase itching to get a new owner, the White Sox managerial position isn’t exactly one that candidates will be eager to take. Still, there's a sense of pride in managing a major league ballclub and the chance to lead Chicago out of the basement might appeal to a candidate.
The White Sox are staring down the barrel of a lengthy rebuild, a far cry from their 93-win season in 2021. There is talent on the roster but it likely makes more sense to sell the rest of their stars and build prospect capital with an eye toward competing in four or five years. If fans think 2024 is ugly, the future doesn’t seem too optimistic either on the South Side of Chicago.
White Sox general manager Chris Getz has his first crack at hiring a manager. He can go in several directions, but it typically makes sense for a rebuilding team to hire a first-time MLB manager. While several of those candidates will garner interviews, there are coaches with big-league managing experience primed to be in the running for the White Sox job.
Reigning manager of the year gets a new gig?
Our list begins with possibly the top managerial candidate on the market next offseason, Miami Marlins skipper Skip Schumaker. Schumaker is expected to leave his perch in South Beach after the 2025 option in his contract was voided before the season.
Hired by Kim Ng in 2022, Schumaker won National League Manager of the Year in his first season in charge after leading the Marlins to the playoffs in 2023. This season has not gone as swimmingly and after Ng's departure, Schumaker asked for the option to become a free agent at the conclusion of the season.
The Marlins are battling the Colorado Rockies for the worst record in the NL and traded a bunch of players last month to supplement the farm system and open holes on the major league roster. There is a slim chance that Schumaker will return as the new regime turns in a different direction this winter.
Schumaker will be a hot commodity and a team with more to offer than the White Sox would probably be above Chicago on his list of preferred landing spots. The White Sox should still take a crack at offering him the position but would need to pony up a big offer to get his signature.
As far as candidates go, Skip Schumaker is perfect for this position. He would be the ideal manager to guide the White Sox through this rebuild and would be afforded the leash of a few bad seasons to be there for the contending years.
Cubs World Series winner moves to the South Side
David Ross was a well-respected player and seemed to be received openly by players while he was the manager of the Chicago Cubs. Unfortunately for Ross, the Cubs didn’t do much winning while he was in charge and the first-time skipper lost his job after four seasons. Ross was not happy about being let go and is definitely a candidate to get multiple interviews this winter.
A baseball lifer, Ross played 15 seasons in the MLB and won two World Series titles. He played in 25 postseason games and homered in the last game of his career, Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. Few in the baseball world have seen what Ross has seen and he might be what the White Sox need to get out of their funk.
He's not a first-time option and doesn’t have any ties to the White Sox, but David Ross will likely get another managerial job and could land one this upcoming cycle. He is familiar with Chicago having spent six years of his playing and managerial career with the Cubs.
Jon Greenberg of The Athletic wrote that Chris Getz is close with Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer. He mentioned that Hoyer might give Ross a vote of confidence to Getz. If the White Sox hire Ross, he'd become just the third person to manage both Chicago teams.
Chicago gives Astros coach first managerial job
Baseball is a family sport and there are plenty of success stories of multi-generational figures weaving their way into the sport's lore. While most that come to mind are probably players, there is a coaching lineage in Major League Baseball right now that could lead to a father and son managing at the same time.
Troy Snitker, son of Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker, has coached in the big leagues for over five years and has interviewed for managerial positions before. He was among the leading candidates for the Cleveland Guardians job last year. Could he find his way into the dugout of another AL Central team?
Snitker comes from a winning organization in the Houston Astros and has coached one of the most potent offenses in the league for six seasons. He has the making of a major league manager and he fits the mold of what the White Sox are looking for: a young but experienced coach with a great background.
The White Sox reportedly intend to hire outside of the organization. They should begin their search in Houston and at least pluck the Astros' hitting coach for an interview after the season. If they don’t, Troy Snitker might find his first MLB managerial job in another clubhouse.
A familiar face returns to the White Sox dugout
The more things change, the more they stay the same. It would be poetic to see Ozzie Guillen back in a White Sox uniform nearly 15 years after his last season managing the ballclub. He hasn’t managed in the MLB since 2012, but Guillen remains around the game and is beloved by the White Sox fanbase.
The World Series-winning manager works for the White Sox as a television studio analyst and has been known for dropping some interesting quotes during this dreadful season. Guillen has hinted at wanting to manage the White Sox again and made a remark earlier this week about Pedro Grifol.
“I don’t think I was that bad a manager, but they picked Pedro in front of me,” Guillen said, per The Athletic.
Whether Guillen actually had a shot at being hired in 2022 remains to be seen, but it does make some sense to bring him back when you think about it. Despite his differences with the organization over the last decade or so, Guillen's love for the White Sox has never wavered.
Perhaps his patience is better suited for a team on the verge of winning, but Ozzie Guillen could be seen as a good bridge manager to guide the White Sox through some bleak years. At the very least the 60-year-old would bring in some fans thinking about dropping their season ticket package. There's a possibility he still has that type of pull in Chicago and the White Sox might need a shot of publicity next season.
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