Pedro

Grifol

Grady Sizemore will take over as Chicago’s interim manager for the remainder of the season. Grifol went 89-190 over his one-plus seasons for the White Sox, including a 28-89 record this season. He was also at the held during the club’s infamous 21-game losing streak, which ended earlier this week, after tying the American League record set by the Orioles to open the 1988 season.

Levine also notes that White Sox’ manager Pedro Grifol plans to finalize and announce his entire staff before the week is through. Sizemore spent the bulk of his big league career in the American League Central with the Guardians, so he’s certainly familiar with the territory. While he has worked as an advisor in the Guardians’ front office, this will be his first foray into coaching at the big league level.

There are significant changes on the horizon for Chicago, but Grifol will not be among them. He’s guided the White Sox to a 53-81 record in his first season at the helm and will be given at least another additional season.

Castro had served as the assistant hitting coach for the Braves for the past eight seasons. The White Sox finalized the rest of new manager Pedro Grifol’s staff on Tuesday as well, naming Eddie Rodriguez as their third base coach, Daryl Boston as their first base coach, Mike Tosar as their major league field coordinator and Geoff Head as their senior director of sports performance. As anticipated, Chris Johnson was named as the club’s assistant hitting coach.

Montero, who managed the Blue Jays from 2019 to 2022, is the most notable addition to newly-minted manager Pedro Grifol’s staff. Ethan Katz will return as Chicago’s pitching coach and José Castro, who was the Braves’ assistant hitting coach for the last eight years, will take over as the club’s hitting coach. Former big leaguer Chris Johnson is the White Sox new assistant hitting coach.

Johnson has served as the hitting coach at Triple-A Charlotte for the past two seasons. It’s not yet clear exactly what his title will be with the big league club, though it’s anticipated that it will be as an assistant hitting coach at a minimum. Frank Menechino -- who served as the club’s hitting coach in 2022 -- will not return for the 2023 season.

Curt Hasler is also being retained in the role of assistant pitching coach for the 2023 season, and the White Sox will bring aboard former Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo to operate as the bench coach alongside new skipper Pedro Grifol. This all probably points to former bench coach and interim manager Miguel Cairo moving on from the organization.

The news was first reported Tuesday by ESPN’s Buster Olney and then made official by the White Sox on Thursday morning. Grifol, 52, had been working as a major league coach with the Royals since 2013 and was the director of minor league operations for the Mariners before that. He takes over a talented roster on the South Side of Chicago that surprisingly floundered to a .500 record (81-81) this year under Tony La Russa and then interim skipper Miguel Cairo. La Russa retired last month. Cairo is sort of in limbo.

While no official announcement has been made yet, Grifol will be able to bring in his own coaching staff and it sounds like Montoyo was the first choice to be his right-hand man. The only reported holdover from the previous White Sox staff is pitching coach Ethan Katz. That leaves departing interim manager -- and former bench coach -- Miguel Cairo in a state of limbo at the moment. It’s unclear whether there will be a spot for him on Grifol’s crew. Look for more clarity in the coming days.

The White Sox are expected to make an official announcement later this week. Grifol has spent nearly a decade on Kansas City’s coaching staff and will replace Tony La Russa at the helm in Chicago. It’ll be the first managerial opportunity for the 53-year-old, who has been a candidate in several managerial searches over the last few years. Rosenthal adds that White Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz is one of the few holdovers expected to return next season.