The ’24 White Sox are at risk of being worse than the ’62 Mets: can they avoid disgrace?

Editor’s note: The White Sox have fired manager Pedro Grifol, the team announced Thursday morning.

OAKLAND, Calif. – It was two hours before the first pitch and Chicago White Sox manager Pedro Grifol was in his office this week, just like before any other game. As his struggling club prepared to take on the Oakland Athletics, he sat behind his desk, in uniform, exuding a sense of calm that belied his predicament.

On the day he was hired, in November 2022, Grifol exuded the intensity of a baseball coach, a quality that helped him land the job. “We’re going to prepare every night to beat you up, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” said Grifola comment that has since gone viral as the White Sox have thrown very few kicks. In this second year at the helm, Grifol is 89-190. And on this day, when his team had lost twenty games, the conversation brought all the expected questions about his job performance.

In the public debate, the end of his term is being called a matter of when, not if. Sitting back in his chair, Grifol politely introduced himself. For the next ten minutes he was thoughtful at times, acknowledging the desperate desire to win a match. When asked about a radio report who claimed that Grifol had passed on all the losses to his players – part of a motivational tactic that went wrong earlier this season – his denial indicated a strong sense of the demands of leadership.

“What coach or manager in their right mind would try to separate themselves from adversity?” said Grifol. “When you’re in a group environment, when you’re all in this thing together. … It’s not my personality, it’s not who I am.”

But at other times he showed an edge.

When asked if he thought the talent in his clubhouse was better than the team’s record, Grifol said, “I’m not going to answer that question.” What is behind that question?”

When asked if he didn’t think the conversation around his team was fair, Grifol replied: “I don’t read the media. I don’t have social media. So that is a difficult question. I know where we stand as a team. I know where we want to go and what we want to achieve. But what’s happening out there, I can just imagine.

“I don’t avoid anything because I don’t hear the sound. I come here to work with the players.”

Just hours later, those same players would tie an American League record with their 21st consecutive loss. And although they returned the next day to end the losing streak, it turned out to be a temporary reprieve. On Wednesday, the White Sox left Oakland after yet another loss, a 3-2 loss that dropped them to 61 games under .500, 15 games worse than any other big league team.

As the season enters the homestretch, the White Sox remain on pace to break one of baseball’s most dubious records.

In 1962, in their first year of existence, the New York Mets did what no club in the modern era of baseball had done. In one season they lost no less than 120 games. The 2024 White Sox are on pace to lose 123 games. They will need to win 15 of their next 45 games to avoid matching the Mets’ ignominious mark. It won’t be easy.

The rest of the season is now a race to avoid disgrace, one that has become a national storyline, although the beleaguered manager seems surprised by the criticism.

“This is a tight-knit group,” Grifol said. “Here you come from outside, and no one knows you.”

In 2023, when Chicago was expected to compete, their abysmal record necessitated a trade deadline sellout. A year later, a team that started with low expectations has found a way to massively underperform, with a roster littered with hitters who have failed to live up to their career numbers. Luis Robert Jr. hit 38 home runs last year; he only has twelve this season. Andrew Benintendi was an All-Star two years ago; this season his OPS+ is 70.

Andrew Vaughn, Gavin Sheets, Nick Senzel and the recently traded Eloy Jimenez have all disappointed. Meanwhile, Robbie Grossman and Kevin Pillar struggled with the White Sox earlier this year but have improved tremendously with their new teams.

All these failures beg the question: where is this all going and what is the plan to right the ship?

White Sox general manager Chris Getz, a 40-year-old former player, was elevated to his position late last season following the firing of longtime executives Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn. He hammered the idea of ​​getting back into contention, calling this season the first year of a “layered, multi-year project” and boasting about what he believes is the growth in the organization’s pitching department.

“We’ve had a pretty strong run at the Major League level with some of our starting pitchers — we’ve been at the top of the American League for two months with our starters,” Getz said in an interview this week. “I don’t think many people believed we could achieve that.”

Yes, there was a period where the team’s starting pitching excelled, but as a whole the staff has accomplished very little. The White Sox team’s ERA is 4.83, better than only the Colorado Rockies.

This season is more painful than anyone expected, Getz acknowledged. He knows it’s hard to watch. He came in unproven, and his previous work as the club’s director of player development had not yielded many positive results. But as CEO, he believes the organization is in a better place overall now than when he inherited it.

“Ultimately, no one is going to have the feeling or belief that we’re working toward something until it shows up in the win-loss record,” Getz said. “That is the reality of our sport. That’s the reality of fanbases. Until that happens, there will be a high level of skepticism.

“But those of us who live under the hood and understand this multi-layered project before us, understand that this is part of the process that has been set out.”

Many of the fans questioning the credibility of the rebuild also don’t believe owner Jerry Reinsdorf will ever fully invest in what it takes to make the White Sox a sustainable winner. After all, the most expensive contract in White Sox history is the $75 million Andrew Benintendi earned before last season.

White Sox GM Chris Getz. (Kamil Krzaczynski / USA Today)

When asked if Reinsdorf would ultimately increase his financial investment, Getz replied firmly: “Yes.”

“There will come times when we need to tap into financial resources to go after free agents, or deploy infrastructure and technology, and continue to expand and strengthen our fronts or departments across the organization,” Getz said.

“That is all part of this plan that is in place.”

That plan seems difficult to envision, especially as the disheartening losses pile up, though the White Sox, like most big league teams, aren’t letting that stop them. This week the clubhouse functioned like almost every other clubhouse in the league. Before the game, the players occupied themselves with card games or their phones. The mood was light. Even the halftime after Monday’s game seemed typical for a big league team. Whether a team is in first place – or in the running for worst team ever – there is usually silence.

The most obvious difference: In this clubhouse, and on this team, players are asked to explain what feels almost inexplicable.

“We’re dealing with it the best we can,” outfielder Corey Julks said calmly. “We have to unite as a team.”

The trade deadline also provided cold comfort to those who hoped Chicago’s plan would make substantial progress. The White Sox were universally criticized for returning in a three-team trade that netted Miguel Vargas and two 19-year-old players for Erik Fedde, Tommy Pham and Michael Kopech.

Getz said he knew in advance that the trade could be criticized. But he said he remains very happy about the return and hopes it can mean organizational change.

“Obviously that’s why I’m here,” Vargas said. “I try to bring that LA energy, I try to bring it here. Have that culture… try to bring that here, that energy to be successful in the future.”

Vargas left a first-place club and joined a club that was on a 15-game losing streak at the time.

In the days that followed, the toll of talking to the media about the club’s problems was clearly visible on the players.

“We just haven’t scored as many runs as the other team in 20 straight games,” pitcher Garrett Crochet said before a game this week.

When asked, probably not for the first or last time, about the fear of avoiding a record loss, he said, “I’m done with this interview.”

John Brebbia, a 34-year-old workhorse reliever in his first season with the White Sox, is the oldest and most experienced player on the roster, and he believes the talent is better than the record. He understands the concerns about finishing with a worse record than the ’62 Mets.

“It’s fair, it has to be asked,” Brebbia said. “If it’s that popular, we’ll be asked about it. It’s part of the job. I can’t speak for everyone’s motivation. But from my perspective, it seems like everyone shows up and wants to win as much as they can.”

But outside the lines, the White Sox have become an afterthought. Even the team-run postgame show piled up with criticism.

Before Grifol was hired, Ozzie Guillen was reportedly one of several candidates interviewed by the organization. His ties to the White Sox run deep, both as a player and later as a manager during the 2005 World Series championship in Chicago. He was ultimately not selected for a reunion and now serves as an analyst. After a recent loss, Guillen brought up the team’s choice of Grifol, joking on air, “I don’t think I was that bad of a manager.”

The fans have also seen enough. Paper bags have become part of the standard uniform for some White Sox loyalists who still show up for games. In Oakland, in the stands behind the visiting dugout, White Sox fan Matt Verplaetse bought a ticket and sat alone. He wore a T-shirt that read what has long been a common refrain among the fan base: “Sell the team Jerry.”

Verplaetse grew up in the Chicago area and has since moved to Northern California. He loves baseball and remains a die-hard fan, although he was still self-aware enough to make fun of his presence.

There’s a lot to ask about the future of the franchise. The legitimacy of their long-term plan – and the quality of staff and players they can bring in – are key among these. But for now, over the last 45 games, Verplaetse has focused on perhaps the most important question.

“I think everyone going in expected it to be pretty bad,” he said. “But (they) never predicted it would be this bad. And now it’s almost a morbid curiosity.

“How bad is it going to be?”

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic. Photos: Getty Images / David Berding, Lachlan Cunningham)