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

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

OAKLAND, Calif. — It was two hours before first pitch, and Chicago White Sox manager Pedro Grifol sat in his office this week as he would before any other game. As his scuffling club prepared to face the Oakland Athletics, he settled in behind his desk, in uniform, and projected a sense of calm that belied his predicament.

On the day he was hired, in November of 2022, Grifol flashed the intensity of a baseball coaching lifer, a quality that helped him land the job. “We’re going to prepare every night to kick your ass, and that’s just what we’re gonna do,” Grifol said, a comment that has since gone viral because there have been precious few ass-kickings delivered by the White Sox. In this second year at the helm, Grifol is 89-190. And on this day, with his team on a 20-game losing streak, the conversation brought all the expected questions about his job performance.

In the public discourse, the end of his tenure has been referred to as a question of when, not if. Sitting back in his chair, Grifol politely introduced himself. For the next 10 minutes, he was at times thoughtful, acknowledging the desperate desire to win a game. When asked about a radio report that claimed Grifol had pinned all the losing on his players — part of a motivational tactic gone wrong earlier this season — his denial indicated a firm sense of the demands of leadership.

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

But at other times, he flashed an edge.

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

When asked if he felt the conversation surrounding his team wasn’t fair, Grifol said: “I don’t read (the) media. I don’t have social media. So that’s a tough question. I know where we’re at as a team. I know where we’re trying to go, and what we’re trying to get accomplished. But as far as what’s happening out there, I can just imagine it.

“I’m not avoiding anything because I don’t hear the noise. 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 though they’d come back the next day to end the losing streak, it proved to be a temporary reprieve.  On Wednesday, the White Sox left Oakland on the heels of another loss, a 3-2 defeat that dropped them to 61 games below .500, 15 games worse than any other big league team.

With the season entering the homestretch, the White Sox remain on track to break one of baseball’s most dubious records.

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

The rest of the season is now a race to avoid infamy, one that has become a national storyline, though the beleaguered manager seems taken aback by the scrutiny.

“This is a close-knit group,” Grifol said. “Here, you come from the outside, and nobody knows you.”

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In 2023, when Chicago was expected to compete, their abysmal record necessitated a trade deadline sell-off. A year later, a team that began 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 has just 12 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 earlier in the year with the White Sox but have vastly improved with their new teams.

All this failure begs the question: Where is this all headed, and what is the plan to right the ship?

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

“We made a pretty strong run at the major-league level with some of our starting pitchers — for two months time being at the top of the American League with our starters,” Getz said in an interview this week. “That is not something I think many people believed we were going to be able to accomplish.”

Yes, there was a stretch where the team’s starting pitching excelled, however, as a whole the staff has accomplished very little. The White Sox team 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 hadn’t yielded many positive results. But as a GM, he believes the organization is in a better place now, overall, than when he inherited it.

“At the end of the day, nobody’s going to feel or believe that we’re building toward something until it shows up in the win-loss record,” Getz said. “That’s the reality of our sport. That’s the reality of fan bases. Until that happens, there’s going to be a high level of skepticism.

“But for those of us that are living under the hood and understand this multi-layered project in front of us, they understand that this is part of the process that was set out.”

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

When asked if Reinsdorf would eventually increase his financial investment, Getz answered definitively: “Yes.”

“There’s going to be times when we’re going to have to tap into some financial resources to go after free agents, or pour infrastructure and technology and continue to expand and strengthen our front or departments throughout the organization,” Getz said.

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

That plan seems hard to envision, especially as the disheartening losses pile up, though like most big-league teams the White Sox don’t let on. This week, the clubhouse functioned like almost any other around the league. Before the game, players occupied themselves with card games or their phones. The mood was light. Even the quiet 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 mostly silence.

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

“We’re handling it fine, as best as we can,” outfielder Corey Julks said quietly. “We’ve got to rally as a team.”

The trade deadline similarly gave cold comfort to those hoping to see Chicago’s plan substantively advance. The White Sox were universally criticized for their return in a three-team trade that netted Miguel Vargas and two 19-year-old prospects for Erik Fedde, Tommy Pham and Michael Kopech.

Getz said he knew ahead of time the trade might be criticized. But he said he remains very happy with the return and hopes it can represent an organizational shift.

“Obviously, that’s why I’m here,” Vargas said. “I’m trying to bring that LA energy, trying to bring that here. Have that culture … trying to bring that here, that energy to be able to, in the future, have success.”

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

In the days following, the toll of talking to the media about the club’s struggles was evident in its players.

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

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

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

“It’s fair, it should be asked,” Brebbia said. “If it’s trending that way, we’re gonna get asked about it. It’s part of the job. I can’t speak for everyone’s motivation. But from my perspective, it looks like everyone shows up and wants to win as much as possible.”

But outside the lines, the White Sox have become a sideshow. Even the team-run postgame show has piled on with criticisms.

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

The fans, too, have 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 displayed what has long been a common refrain among the fanbase: “Sell the team Jerry.”

Verplaetse grew up in the Chicago area and has since moved to Northern California. He likes baseball and remains a die-hard fan, though he was still self-aware enough to poke fun at his attendance.

There is a lot to ask about the franchise’s future. The legitimacy of their long-term plan — and the quality of staff and players they’ll be able to bring in — are chief among them. But for now, over the final 45 games, Verplaetse has zeroed in on perhaps the most important question.

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

“How bad is it going to get?”

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