White Sox' Grifol hire snaps decades-long managerial trend

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At the onset of the White Sox' managerial search process, GM Rick Hahn said, “having that history with the White Sox is not necessarily a characteristic that we're looking for this time."

Of course, that excluded bench coach Miguel Cairo, who earned a look for the job after his performance as acting manager during Tony La Russa's health-related absence. The Sox also interviewed former manager Ozzie Guillén.

But Hahn and Co. ultimately went outside the organization with Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol — which snaps a lengthy trend in the organization's managerial hires.

Grifol is the first White Sox manager without some past connection to the team since at least Jerry Manuel. Manuel managed the White Sox from 1998-2003, and every manager since had a link to the organization.

— Guillen, who played 13 seasons with the Sox, was hired as manager in 2004.
— Robin Ventura, who played 10 seasons with the Sox, replaced Guillen in 2012 
— Rick Renteria, Ventura’s bench coach, replaced him as skipper in 2017 
— Tony La Russa returned in 2020 after previously managing the Sox from 1979-86

Still, even Manuel was briefly a scout in the White Sox system before then-general manager Hawk Harrelson fired him in the mid-1980s.

And even Manuel’s predecessor, Terry Bevington, managed in the White Sox farm system in the late 80s.

That takes you back to Gene Lamont, who had no ties to the White Sox when hired as manager entering the 1992 season.

RELATED: Grifol 'blew away' White Sox during interview process

Grifol, who turns 53 this month, also has none. He played nine seasons in the minor leagues with the Twins and Mets before embarking on a 13-year run in the Mariners organization post-playing career.

He’s spent the past 10 years in the Royals organization, joining Kansas City’s big-league coaching staff in May 2013. 

Hahn vowed having "White Sox DNA" was not a requirement for candidates when this search process started a month ago.

And in the end, the Sox' wide-ranging search took them outside the organization for La Russa's successor.

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