New White Sox Manager Now Official: Ex-Royals Coach Gets The Job

CHICAGO — When Chicago White Sox general manager Rick Hahn pointed to what he was looking for in a new manager, he said he hoped for someone who had experience working in a championship environment.

While seven years have passed since the Kansas City Royals won the World Series, their bench coach, Pedro Grifol, has carried enough of that success with him since to impress the Sox, who named the 52-year-old baseball lifer as their new skipper on Thursday.

Grifol was introduced as the new manager at a news conference on Thursday. Grifol, who spent 10 years with the Royals, replaces Tony La Russa, who stepped down as manager due to ongoing health issues after failing to finish his second season with the Sox, who finished 81-81 and failed to make the playoffs despite being pegged as a pre-season favorite to win the American League Central Divison and possibly more.

Hahn called the process to hire Grifol an "exhaustive and expansive" search that included an initial list of between 22-30 people. The front office conducted eight first-round interviews before the final interviews were conducted in Arizona between Hahn, Ken Williams, and Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf. Hahn said within an hour of the start of Grifol's interview, Sox officials said the bar had risen based on the way Grifol presented himself.

Grifol becomes the fourth current Latino manager in Major League Baseball, joining Boston’s Alex Cora, St. Louis’ Oliver Marmol, and Washington’s Dave Martinez.

"We sit here today and with the hiring of Pedro feel we have taken a major step in putting ourselves back on track on the trajectory we felt we were on in the seasons prior to this last season's disappointment," Hahn said during Thursday's news conference.

Hahn called Grifol a renowned communicator, a modern baseball mind who is seeking to build a cohesive and inclusive clubhouse environment. After sitting down together after Grifol's interview, Hahn, Williams, and Reinsdorf knew they would reach a unanimous decision as to who the team's new manager would be.

The Sox also announced on Thursday that former Toronto Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo will join the staff as the team's new bench coach.

Grifol, who interviewed for the Royals' managerial opening in the offseason, said Thursday he has taken the "road less traveled" to reach his first Major League managerial role. He said the Sox will be fundamentally sound and play with passion and take pride in the White Sox uniform.

"This means something," Grifol said, tugging at the jersey that will include the No. 5. "We will respect the game, our fans, and earn their trust. We will be prepared to control the strike zone on both sides of the ball, we will work hard and play winning baseball every night and we will definitely hold each other accountable."

Prior to his three seasons as bench coach, Grifol worked in various roles in Kansas City including quality control/catching coach (2018-19), catching coach (2014-17), special assignment/hitting coach (2013-14), and Arizona Rookie League Surprise hitting coach (2013).

Grifol also spent 12 years working for the Seattle Mariners during his baseball career and Grifol managed three seasons for Cardenales de Lara in the Venezuelan Winter League and one season (2019) for Gigantes de Cibao in the Dominican Winter League. He guided Lara to the 2013 Venezuelan Winter League championship series.

The Royals won back-to-back American League pennants in 2014 and 2015, capturing the World Series championship in 2015 by defeating the New York Mets in five games after losing the Series to San Francisco in seven games in 2014.

Grifol joins Baltimore’s Brandon Hyde, Marmol, Toronto’s John Schneider, Pittsburgh’s Derek Shelton, the Mets’ Buck Showalter, Atlanta’s Brian Snitker, and Philadelphia’s Rob Thomson as active managers who did not play in the major leagues.