Spare Parts: White Sox coaching staff will include Grady Sizemore
When Justin Morneau signed with the White Sox back in 2016, Conor McKnight took a photo that perfectly represented the intersection of desperation.
Morneau, an accomplished hitter trying to stave off a premature end to his career, brought a quiet anguish to the team he said he despised when he was on the rival Twins. He surfaced just as the White Sox slipped to 29-30 after a 23-10 start, and McKnight’s photo showed a man who knew it wasn’t going to end well for anybody.
This is a man who greeted Chris Sale Ed Glosser-style, urging him to not slash the jerseys a month from now. Nobody knew what the poor bastard meant.
The White Sox have cycled through a lot of famous players in their final years, but Morneau might’ve looked the least suited for it. However, whenever we see Grady Sizemore wearing the black and white pinstripes, that could be a close second.
Bruce Levine reported that Sizemore “will be a part of White Sox manager Pedro Grifol’s coaching staff,” coaching outfielders and baserunning. It’s a sneak peek of a staff that Levine says will be revealed in full later this week, and I doubt there will be a coach that’s harder to envision for the same AL Central-specific reasons.
Sizemore played in 103 games against the White Sox during his run with Cleveland from 2005 through 2011, and injuries cost him 30something more. He faced Mark Buehrle more than any other pitcher, and Matt Thornton more than any other reliever. The White Sox actually kept him check, but the danger was seldom over, what with guys like Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner lurking on deck or in the hole.
It’d be weird to see any of them with “Southside” emblazoned across their chests, but Sizemore’s up first. He was teammates with Josh Barfield during his Cleveland days, so maybe he won’t be the last of the former Indians.
Spare Parts
Bob Nightengale says the White Sox “desperately tried to trade” Tim Anderson before declining his option, and that they want to hear other teams’ offers for Dylan Cease.
As far as White Sox slogans go, I don’t think “Change the Game” will age as poorly as “All In,” but it does capture the failed promise as well as it captured the swaggering optimism back then.
The Dodgers have been strangely quiet over the last couple of hot stove seasons thanks to the uncertainty of Trevor Bauer’s suspension and lining up their budget for Shohei Ohtani, but they should generate even more action now that Clayton Kershaw is out until at least midseason due to shoulder surgery.
- How the Cubs swooped in to hire Craig Counsell and shocked the baseball world — The Athletic
- Brewers owner Maark Attanasio discusses Craig Counsell’s departure — Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
It worked when the Cubs lured Joe Maddon away from the Tampa Bay Rays, and now they’re going to the same playbook by spending whatever it takes to land one of baseball’s most highly regarded managers. As for the Brewers, their stance is that Counsell is dead to them.
That seems like the kind of headline that’s always used to sell a former player who doesn’t have experience as a non-player after he’s suddenly named the manager.
The Marlins found their replacement to head their front office after letting Kim Ng leave, and it’s a former SB Nation blogger.
Speaking of bloggers, we’ve apparently regained our powers by forcing Dusty Baker out of the game. Considering Baker managed 4,406 games, it’d be perfectly natural if he just lost the desire to handle the public-facing parts of the game at age 74, but that might be a concession to age that he’s not wired to make.
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The injuries certainly took a major role in shortening Sizemore’s playing career. I wish Grady success but I hope he doesn’t coach the players on how to get hurt. That’s one area where the White Sox players seem to excel.
He’s been designated to give the “You’re about to come off the IR…” talk. Always lead with your strength.
There aren’t many players with as much success prior to age 25 who fell off a cliff like he did. 4 straight seasons with a WAR between 5 and 7, then 2.2 at age 26, and never a season over 1 after that. Pretty epic.
Yup, was a 20-20 guy, had his first 30-30 season at 25, then toast.
So does this mean there’s already been a new Hitting Coach selected?
Also, no word on if Montoya is coming back? If he does, does that put to rest that Montoya was forced upon Grifol by Hahn/Williams?
Sizemore had a very impressive career before random testing.
Random drug testing started the year before Sizemore came up.
You, the narrative destroyer.
Am I the only one seeing that for Getz, signing coaches is like Hahn signing relievers. We have seen a plethora of coaches signings since Getz took over. Maybe the White Sox new strategy is “get as many coaches as possible” to replace the tried “get as many relievers as possible”. I just wish they tried the “get good players” strategy. It alsmot always work.
With Grifol as manager, maybe it is logical to have all these coaching for everything since Grifol is coach of nothing.
Incoming players should have a lot of questions about staff, because they already know the manager is a zero. Getz is probably trying to create some good vibe to sell with…they have a culture to create, you know.
There could be a little bit of it, but why go through all that trouble when firing Grifol will do the trick.
If firing Grifol isn’t an option for Getz, then this is all he can do.
Now I am reading Jason Bourgeois and Drew Butera are also gonna be named a coaches in some capacity. We are gonna have more coaches than players.
Could be a sign we are going young, or at least they recognize that their guys still need more coaching.
I justed used Sizemore in Immaculate Grid on Sunday. I don’t know why I’m sharing that.
Marcus Thames? What?!?
He was in LA one year, but he coached a home run champ. He might have learned something about launch angle.
True. Being around Trout and Ohtani can’t hurt in your quest to coach how to hit a baseball.
If he can get Gavin Sheets to elevate the ball he’ll have been more than worth the hire.
He played in Asia too, I thinkโฆwould be nice to see the Sox establish some presence there.
I don’t know much about Thames but it seems sensible enough. He was the Yankees hitting coach from 2017-2021, so he’s at least been with a successful organization. The Yanks had some excellent seasons during that stretch, too. I’m interested to hear more, at least.
Going over his experience it seems like a solid add for the big club.
I hope he has a good plan for getting Vaughn to change his current approach and if Eloy stays, getting him to get more elevation in his hits.
I’d like to see more emphasis system wide on obp but that’s more to do with scouting and development than what happens with the big club’s hitting coach.
His biggest project is to get Eloy to hit the ball in the air. He should be a 30-40 home run per year hitter.
When I see clips of Eloy as a rookie, it seems like he used his legs to get more lift on his swing. I wonder if it’s a mechanical issue, or if his leg injuries have led him to change his swing.
The latter probably. I have tried to find it, but I have been unsuccessful. I once saw a picture of Eloy in shorts, where you could see his legs, and I kid you not, those were very skinny legs that didn’t match with the rest of the body. It could have been the angle of the picture, but I remember thinking “those are some needle legs Eloy has”.
Looks like a solid move. Coached a lot of good hitting teams. So far it looks like Getz’s hires are pretty good. So why is Grifol still manager? That will negate any good feelings about the other hires.
Only logical answer (if logic ever counts for WS) is it was dictated by JR.
Not to be super dour here but…Does it really matter THAT much? The Sox lineup is more than likely going to be putrid regardless and when we hire a new manager in a year, he will more than likely be gone.
Does hiring Marcus Thames mean this team will drastically improve offensively? No.
Is it a good sign that the Sox made this hire instead of promoting someone unqualified from within? Yes.
I think it’s a solid hire FWIW.
My point was mainly A) He’s not going to have a lot to worth with and B) It may be a short lived role. I’ll be curious to see what he can do with Vaughn and Eloy.
I just hope he does not get sucked into this Grifoland world of Nothingness where not even the players appears to know the names of their coaches. I meant, Jose Castro? I heard of him on his hiring day, and then on his firing day. The other coaches were like invisible. Even Katz look withdrawn. Grifol is like a baseball dememtor.
If he works with Moncada and Eloy, and gets them hitting near their potential, that makes them eminently more tradable in the case of a 2024 tank. The Yankees fell off the table in 2023 once they let Thames go.
I haven’t researched the stats yet, but my general perception is that Sizemore was a plus fielder and baserunner. I do recall he handed the Sox a critical win by dropping a line drive right at him. Doing better than D Boston is a pretty low bar to hurdle.
Boston’s bar was a string sitting on the ground. Not hard to clear that.
Sizemore was one of those guys you hated when he played your team, but it also bummed you out to see him fall off a cliff with the injuries because he was so good. He was a good players who played hard, so any of that rubbing off on to this septic tank of a team would be a plus.
W Sox new OF coach
He did that with Philly? I guess he knows what death threats are too then.
Don’t have the tweet in front of me but Robert Murray also said that they’re about to hire a Japanese interpreter….
Maybe he also happens to be Ohtani’s masseuse.
Does he know how to translate “seat at the table”?
Do we need that? With Rick gone I figured we were done pretending that we even wanted the seat.
Now it’s just “seat at a table”. Then no one needs to specify which one
ใใฌใผใ
For Enquiring minds, that’s Japanese for, Parade.
They are hiring all the Angels coaches to make him feel comfortable. What more do you want?
“Further changes are surely on the horizon, and Murray further reports that retired big league catcher Drew Butera could be added to the Chicago staff in some capacity as well.”
BP catcher maybe?
I remember his dad in Minny.
Butera was catching coach in Anaheim. I pointed out to Murray, and Murray said that is the spot Butera will be with the White Sox.
https://twitter.com/ByRobertMurray/status/1721941668700799346
Considering Matt Thais was not even a catcher in the pros until he was in Anaheim under Butera that’s a pretty nice feather in his cap. Add to it any magic he contributed to O’Hoppe’s rise and I’m very encouraged.
These coaches could be good hires, but the problem is I have no confidence in this organization to do anything well as long as Jerry Reinsdorf has the final say in this organization. It feels like Thames might get here and realize Sox coaches have been stuck using VHS tapes to break down video and the only VCR the team has can’t rewind.
Thames appears to be one of the rare Sox hires that actually has something resembling success to point to:
https://twitter.com/CHGO_WhiteSox/status/1721921163872370688
Last season’s hires seemed to be chosen for “building culture”. This one seems to be more about “not being the worst fastball-hitting team by a mile”.
I seem to recall a recent coach preaching something similar – aggressive in the zone. Maybe Steverson?
Yes, same dumbass mindset. The last thing any new Sox hitting coach should be saying is we need more aggression. And no, the opponent pitcher’s know the Sox will swing at anything so nothing is in the zone. A better first message from Thames would be: “No one is allowed to swing at anything unless they have two strikes” See more pitches and put more stress on the starting pitcher. OPS will go up accordingly.
The Sox certainly need to be more willing to take walks, but the aggressive approach heโs preaching is with fastballs in the zone. 2023 Sox swung at everything, getting themselves out with pitches well out of the zone. The Angels were an improved team offensively from 2022 to 2023 (23rd to 14th), including an increase in BB%. Pair that with Thames along with rising through the coaching ranks in the Yankees org, he seems like a solid hire.
Narrator: “And he soon became the worst version of a coach he could be. Legend has it, Jerry asked him to chill on the firework budget in an effort to make the game ‘quieter’. This was called White Sox Culture to those from afar but merely ‘Jerry’s World’ around the team.”
Consider me burned out of all the “new coaches will fix things!” stuff. I dont know if any new hires will make or break this season since I’m assuming this year is going to be dog doo, so with that said good luck newbies…you will need it at 35th and Shields.
While I don’t think a slew of new coaches will make a bunch of middling MLB players into champions, I do hope that they can instill a program up and down the minors that has continuity so that progress towards goals can be measured and deficiencies overcome through recognition and teaching.
How’s that for a run on sentence?
Any time you can bring over coaches who helped the Angels’ talent overachieve, you do it.
Regarding Grady Sizemore, I lived in Ohio during the peak of his career. That means this is the first thing that came to mind upon hearing the news he was coming to Chicago.
There’s been a Miguel Cairo sighting as he shows up to be the new Nationals bench coach.
Watch your back Davey!
Best White Sox manager in the last 10 years.
Another name for the staff
https://twitter.com/scottmerkin/status/1721979855099576599
Doing what I wonder? Maybe Quality Control?
He will write up Grifol’s press conference flashcards
Merkin really needs a new caricature for his newsletter. He looks like Dr. Frankenstein.
Will Bourgeois be on the 26 man coaching staff or the 40 man?
So are the guys complaining about hiring too many coaches the same ones who complain about not putting enough resources into player development?
Yes.
Appears so, Sox fans are a surly, jaded bunch these days. Rightfully so.
We come by our surly jadedness honestlyโฆ
That sounds like a gift I’d give my wife after really pissing her of…a bracelet made from surly jadedness.
As far as potential marketing slogans go, โI donโt like our team,โ is not exactly โgood guys wear blackโ but it does resonate!
https://x.com/cst_soxvan/status/1722012903669412023?s=46&t=ku_yMeKYKSwTsoUogcIxpg
Very interesting comments and somewhat refreshingly candid. This team stinks, with or without Cease and Robert Jr. it appears he is open to moving both, which honestly is the only way to jump start this rebuild.
That was not your typical Hahn presser which is appreciated.
I like what he is saying. So much different to Hahn’s word salads that say nothing.
Staff announcement
https://wgntv.com/sports/white-sox/white-sox-announce-coaching-staff-under-pedro-grifol/
So Chris Johnson ends up taking a job with the Nationals instead of the “reassignment” to the minors.