Subscribe
Follow Us
The Chicago White Sox are on pace to finish with the worst record in modern baseball history. In the midst of a catastrophic season, the White Sox fired manager Pedro Grifol and named former player Grady Sizemore interim manager of the dysfunctional team. While no manager could possibly turn things around for Chicago this season, Sizemore has the support of a Hall of Famer.
Former Cleveland Indians great Jim Thome is a believer in Sizemore, according to Scott Merkin of MLB.com. The two former All-Stars crossed paths in Cleveland in 2011 when Thome made a brief return to the team he cut his teeth with during Sizemore’s last season with the club.
The White Sox are just 2-8 during Sizemore’s tenure, entering play on Wednesday. But considering the team is 30-97 on the season, the interim manager hasn’t done too badly so far.
Thome has a sense of Sizemore’s abilities through their time together as teammates. “He’s a quiet guy, but there’s a lot of passion,” the legendary slugger said of Sizemore per Merkin.
While the White Sox are keeping their options open for a permanent hire, Thome believes Sizemore is the best candidate. “There’s no doubt about it … In life or in the game, you have these guys that there’s just this feel of watching him. Obviously, it’s very short term right now and at the beginning, but boy you could see the making of someone that really could do very well,” Thome said via MLB.com’s Merkin.
Is Grady Sizemore the best option for the White Sox?
Thome is more than just a former teammate. He’s the White Sox’s special assistant to the general manager – a role he’s had since 2013. So it’s possible his opinion will carry significant weight with Chicago’s general manager Chris Getz, who ultimately must decide between hiring a new manager and sticking with Sizemore, who’s in his first season with the White Sox.
Chicago has been impossibly bad in 2024. The team has already officially been eliminated from playoff contention and is just three losses away from back-to-back 100 loss seasons. The White Sox tied the record for the longest losing streak in American League history this season when they dropped 21-straight games. They’re 67 games below .500 and 44 games behind the first-place Guardians in the AL Central. Things have been so bad for the White Sox the team even failed to move their highly-coveted trade chips Garrett Crochet and Luis Robert Jr. at the trade deadline.
While Sizemore escaped the mass firings that took place after Grifol was released, it’s going to be very difficult to evaluate his true abilities as a manager this season.
Still, he has Thome’s backing. “When he played, he worked hard… I would describe it as someone who is an extremely great listener. And when he spoke, the room stopped because of his credibility,” Thome said, per MLB.com.
Sizemore played for 10 seasons in the majors, picking up three All-Star selections, two Gold Gloves and a Silver Slugger. But Thome believes his intangibles make him the right person to manage the White Sox.
