The Chicago White Sox are the worst team in MLB.
It’s not particularly close, either: they are 28-89 and are on pace to finish with one of the worst records in the history of the sport.
Their run differential is an atrocious -248.
The second-worst differential in the league, which belongs to the Colorado Rockies (-179) is still much better than the Sox’s.
Someone had to pay the price of Chicago’s awful campaign, and it was manager Pedro Grifol.
The team announced on Thursday that Grifol was no longer the skipper.
The organization acknowledged that the last two seasons have been “challenging”, but the results have not been there.
Grifol led the White Sox to a lousy 61-101 record last year, but his .239 winning percentage this season was historically bad.
White Sox fans certainly don’t deserve such an uncompetitive team.
They have been, historically, one of the most traditional and relevant franchises in MLB.
The blame shouldn’t be placed entirely on Grifol, though.
The team signaled its intention to rebuild a long time ago.
Between injuries and the White Sox trading away some of their best players (Dylan Cease, Paul DeJong, Erick Fedde, Eloy Jimenez, and Michael Kopech, just to name a few, were shipped away this year), Grifol didn’t exactly have a lot of talent to work with.
Still, the Sox had to do something to ignite at least a reaction from a group of players that has lost 22 of their last 23 games.
The team announced that they will begin the search for a new manager immediately, with a replacement to be revealed after the season.