Sizemore’s Interim Role With White Sox Sparks Optimism But Questions Remain

Grady Sizemore has accomplished a lot in his baseball career but becoming an MLB manager just one year after working a $15-an-hour coaching internship may be the most impressive.

The White Sox say his role as manager is temporary, but Sizemore is hoping to change that. The 42-year-old told reporters that the last week has been his “happiest and most fun days in baseball”. He is less than five games into his first stint as the White Sox skipper, but the players seem to be responding to him. 

Sizemore picked up his first victory as a manager on Monday by beating the New York Yankees 12-2. The upset marked the first time since 2017 that a team with -350 odds or longer lost by 10 runs or more. While he owns a 1-3 record in his first four games, the White Sox have shown fight. The team rallied from a 7-0 deficit against the Cubs in his first game as a manager to cut the lead to 7-6 with a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the ninth. They have yet to lose a game by more than three runs under his watch. 

Progress was one of the things that GM Chris Getz was looking for. The lack of it this season is one of the many reasons Pedro Grifol’s tenure came to an abrupt end. But Getz has stated the White Sox are looking for candidates from another organization who are currently in uniform as the team’s next full-time manager. While Sizemore hopes he can parlay this opportunity into becoming the permanent manager, his lack of experience hurts his resume. 

Sizemore was awarded a role on Pedro Grifol’s staff with the designation of “major league coach”. After a disastrous  28-89 start to the season, that title was soon upgraded to major league manager after Grifol and several staff members were fired. 

Sizemore certainly doesn’t fit that description. Eight years after his decade-long MLB career came to an end Sizemore broke into the coaching ranks in 2023. He took an internship with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, coaching the Arizona Complex League team. White Sox assistant GM Josh Barfield oversaw Arizona’s player development system last season and helped set up the internship for Sizemore. When Barfield got a job in Chicago he recommended the three-time All-Star for a job on the White Sox major league staff. 

Sizemore is a fun feel feel-good story. But the jury is still out on whether he can manage at the big-league level. He walked into a low-pressure situation. The roster is terrible, the team has already been eliminated from playoff contention and he is replacing one of the worst managers in White Sox history.

The beginning of his tenure draws some striking similarities to Miguel Cairo’s stint as the White Sox interim manager in 2022. Cairo was replacing Tony La Russa, who was despised by a large portion of the fan base. After a hot start, many fans thought Cairo was the answer. In reality, he just wasn’t named Tony La Russa, which seemed good enough. The White Sox went 18-16 with Cairo at the helm and missed the playoffs. Under La Russa, they were 63-65 before he was forced to step aside due to health reasons. Minimal improvement for a team expected to win the division. 

It is easy to fall into the same trap as Sizemore. His approval rating is already high simply because he is not named Pedro Grifol. The true test will be to see if the White Sox can show the same level of fight in their final 41 games that they did in their first four. That doesn't mean the White Sox shouldn't give him a fair look. The list of quality candidates who are rushing to manage the White Sox is not very long. If Sizemore exceeds expectations he deserves consideration. But there is still a long way to go before that becomes a legitimate conversation.