Pedro Grifol named White Sox manager; Katz asked to return per Rosey

[bmags]

1 minute ago, chw42 said:

Katz is the only guy who deserves to keep his job. McEwing sucks. Menechino sucks even more. 

Dbo also sucks.

I don't know who the bullpen catcher is, and the fact that he didn't endear himself to me like Man Soo Lee makes him also suck

[MiddleCoastBias]

4 minutes ago, Quin said:

The other possible take is the Royals wanted him, but hired Quatraro after Grifol told them he'd go to the Sox.

Maaaybe, if you squint? The timing just seems off on that, like news of Grifol would've leaked if his decision was made before the Royals hired Quatraro. 

[bmags]

1 minute ago, Buehrle>Wood said:

Also note there's a good chance Grifol would be the Tigers manager right now if not for La Russa. He was a finalist for the job then the Sox passed on Hinch and the Tigers got him.

Correct but also Avila sucks so this is all going back to @Look at Ray Ray Run's accurate point that him being hired by Hahn likely means he sucks

[Quin]

3 minutes ago, Heads22 said:

 

[Dick Allen]

1 minute ago, mqr said:

Seeing people saying it's a bad sign that the royals passed on him, but, uh, why would a new GM want to hire in house when you're taking over a dumpster fire

And another point was brought up, he's interviewing for a few jobs, if he could have the White Sox job, why take the KC rebuild? There are so many assumptions based on nothing. 

 

[bmags]

1 minute ago, fathom said:

I thought I’ve been doing that for months?  What part of “everyone” was hard to understand

That's calling for firings, I want to perform them. Some sort of driving them to the stadium and having them sit on home plate and watching all their mistakes on the big screen.

But I'm not a monster, we'd send them out with a firework show.

[HOFHurt35]

4 minutes ago, mqr said:

Seeing people saying it's a bad sign that the royals passed on him, but, uh, why would a new GM want to hire in house when you're taking over a dumpster fire

The Royals are far from a dumpster fire IMO.

[SoCalChiSox]

4 minutes ago, 35thstreetswarm said:

Well, it's not TLR.  And it's not Ozzie.  And it's not some other incestuous, keep-it-in-the-organization hire that would have the hallmarks of a JR cramdown.  In other words, this doesn't look like a ridiculous unforced error and seems to have come about as a result of a normal, wide-ranging interview process.  I'm fine with this and am prepared to give the benefit of the doubt and hope for the best.

This is a fair point. 

While in the abstract, getting a C+ on a midterm is nothing to write home about, it can be if you're a D student.

[maloney.adam]

 

[chw42]

All the leaks about the Sox hiring former players or retreads worked. I am relieved it wasn't them even though this Griftol hire would have been very meh to me had you told me this would have been the result of the managerial search a month ago. 

[Vote4Pedro]

2 minutes ago, fathom said:

I thought I’ve been doing that for months?  What part of “everyone” was hard to understand

Best part of the hire is hopefully like it’s been mentioned before is to clean house of absolutely everyone on the coaching staff no matter who got the job

[Balta1701]

4 minutes ago, HahnsKiddieTable said:

Is there a window anymore? Or are they waiving the White Flag with this hire and starting another rebuild. Another potential reason for not having Sox Fest?

 

2 minutes ago, SoCalChiSox said:

There's no window, bro.

I think it is absolutely true that he is stepping into this role with a huge amount of pressure to win the AL Central this year. Unless the GM moves to sell off 3 or 4 major pieces, that is going to be the expectation, he's going to be evaluated in that context, and frankly it's a fair standard with where this organization sits. 

If the White Sox miss the playoffs the next 2 years, and their cheaper guys are walking without replacements, he will not be around for the next rebuild. 

[Heads22]

 

[Dick Allen]

He was on the staff when KC won the WS, so he did check that box.

[Harold's Leg Lift]

10 minutes ago, HahnsKiddieTable said:

He’s their yes man

Yup.  Hahn "won."

[Balta1701]

Just now, chw42 said:

All the leaks about the Sox hiring former players or retreads worked. I am relieved it wasn't them even though this Griftol hire would have been very meh to me had you told me this would have been the result of the managerial search a month ago. 

I'm on the record early in this thread saying I had no problem whatsoever with a candidate I didn't expect and haven't heard of. Assuming he doesn't make a fool of himself any time in the near future, he gets evaluated by what we see on the field next April. 

[Heads22]

https://www.royalsreview.com/2019/10/2/20880615/royals-manager-matheny-grifol-sveum-wathan

 

Quote

Pedro Grifol, Catching/Quality Control Coach

The 49-year old Grifol was a career minor leaguer who spent 13 years with the Mariners as a minor league coach and manager, as well as director of minor league operations. He joined the Royals as a roving minor league hitting coach in 2013, and took over as Royals’ hitting coach in July of that year after George Brett stepped down, He was re-assigned to catching instructor the next May as the team struggled on offense, and has served in that position ever since. 

Grifol has served as an ally of the analytics department and a conduit for integrating their ideas with players, telling Rustin Dodd, “I love combining the old-fashioned gut feel and looking at the large sample numbers to see how they match.” He was credited with connecting Jorge Soler with a private instructor that helped the slugger have a career season in 2019. Grifol seems to have the same attitude as Yost in delegating to players and giving them some freedom, telling Alec Lewis of The Athletic: 

“When people are allowed to be themselves, if you’re good at what you do and you take pride in what you’re doing, you hold yourself accountable.”

Grifol was considered, but not interviewed, for managerial positions in Detroit and Baltimore. He is bilingual and has frequently served as an interpreter for the Spanish-speaking players on the team. His familiarity with the players and experience as a coach on a championship club could allow him to be a popular fit with the players. However, his lack of big league experience as a player or manager could undermine his authority. He has managed teams in the minors and in winter ball, and there have certainly been quite a few managers who have had success despite the lack of a MLB playing career.

 

[fathom]

5 minutes ago, MiddleCoastBias said:

Maaaybe, if you squint? The timing just seems off on that, like news of Grifol would've leaked if his decision was made before the Royals hired Quatraro. 

Rogers certainly seemed to think the decision was made a few days ago

[Jack Parkman]

Grifol is of Cuban descent, but is from Miami. I'd imagine that may have had something to do with it. 

[bmags]

Every bob nightengale tweet gives me the same reaction as listening to russell wilson talk.

[chw42]

2 minutes ago, maloney.adam said:

 

Kenny's been harping on the lack of minority hires in baseball. Bob including that last part makes me think this was also KW's choice. Not Hahn's alone. 

[Dick Allen]

Harold Baines was the bench coach of the World Champion White Sox. How come he didn't get a managerial job? 

[SoCalChiSox]

2 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

He was on the staff when KC won the WS, so he did check that box.

This is exactly what RH will say when asked how does this jive with your goal of hiring from a championship club. 

[Heads22]

https://theathletic.com/306432/2018/04/09/dodd-how-the-royals-flourishing-analytics-department-convinced-ned-yost-to-shift-on-defensive-shifts/

 

Quote

The analytics department swore by the benefits of the shift. And they had an ally on the staff in Pedro Grifol, the club’s catching and quality control coach. The goal was simple: If the infield could shift nearly 2,000 times, or close to 12 times per game, the decision would save runs.

“The numbers are validated by the sample size,” Grifol says, “so it makes 100 percent sense.”

Quote

The club has two senior directors focused on quantitative analysis, Williams and Daniel Mack, a Vanderbilt grad with a background in anomaly detection. Some of the research and data is presented to the coaching staff in the form of advance scouting reports. Yet much of the department is integrated into the day-to-day workings of the front office. And in Grifol, a coach with experience in player development, and bench coach Dale Sveum, the club has two willing liaisons between the numbers, the manager and the players.

Grifol, in his fifth season as catching coach and first in a new quality-control role, spends his afternoons searching for data that validates decisions and performance evaluation. He seeks to marry an interest in stats with a background rooted in baseball. When catcher Salvador Pérez graded poorly in pitch framing metrics, Grifol analyzed the formula and searched for answers. In the winter, he listened to a presentation from the team’s sports science coordinator and recommended later spring workouts to tap into the value of sleep. In another moment, he dived into the studies on shifting and confirmed value in the practice.

“I love combining the old-fashioned gut feel and looking at the large sample numbers to see how they match,” Grifol says.

The role requires creating a level of trust with a clubhouse full of major-leaguers, some who are natural skeptics of numbers. So on a quiet day at spring training, the team mapped out a series of meetings — one for pitchers, one for infielders — to explain the implementation of the shifts. The presentation showcased spray charts for certain hitters, some dating back to Double-A, Skoglund said. It offered numbers and percentages on where balls were hit. It sought to explain why full shifts were more valuable than partial shifts, which Grifol says are proven to not work. As the data appeared on the screen, the patterns were uncanny.

 

 

[bmags]

1 minute ago, Heads22 said:

https://www.royalsreview.com/2019/10/2/20880615/royals-manager-matheny-grifol-sveum-wathan

 

 

Good stuff.