Rick Hahn characterized himself as "pissed off" when he sat down to meet the media before Monday's series opener against the Rangers. Not because the team was twelve games under .500 or because his squad was again vastly underperforming. His frustration stemmed from a radio segment with Jon Heyman on 670 Score.
Heyman was asked about Grifol's sharp-tongued "talk to Jerry" response to a reporter's question about Jake Burger being dropped to eighth in the batting order.
"That frustration really showed," Heyman said. "He had Burger batting eighth. I really don't know what to make of that other than he's frustrated. I don't know if he's frustrated with his bosses or the questions or what, but it wasn't a great look. He's supposed to be a disciplinarian. Should probably show some discipline on his own. I guess it's nice we got a window into his frustration, but I would say if this year doesn't turn around, he could be one-and-done.
"I would say they're giving him the year likely. …But he cannot be in great standing at this point. They have underachieved immensely."
Grifol has been at the forefront of criticism recently. All the talk of embracing analytics and holding players accountable before the season has done little to net results during it.
The first-year manager has done little to inspire confidence, and his refusal to move Tim Anderson out of the lineup despite an extended slump was puzzling. When he finally decided to move Anderson down for a game, he moved just one spot to second in the batting order, something that left many fans scratching their heads.
Moving the player with the second most home runs and RBIs on the team down to eighth when you are ranked 22nd in offense in the MLB was also puzzling.
Grifol could have explained why but instead snapped back at the reporter for asking a valid question. At least when Tony La Russa did it, he had a plaque in Cooperstown and a resume of success to point to.
Grifol has yet to earn the benefit of the doubt at this point in his career to expect the public to trust him without explanation in decisions like that. It dosn't help that the team is 5.5 games out of first place and injuries continue to affect the roster.
Amid all this frustration, Hahn did not take kindly to Heyman's comments. When he spoke to the media, those frustrations boiled over.
"Apparently, there was a very well-respected out-of-town reporter speculating about Pedro's job security on a local sports station," Hahn said. "…This underperformance that we've had so far or any of the issues we've had thus far in this season is not on Pedro and on the coaching staff. I don't think we could have been more clear about that."
He also "cautioned against" the credibility of reports from people who don't cover the team every day.
"People want to speculate about what's going to happen around here and what's not going to happen, Hahn said. "I would caution against putting too much credibility in reports that don't come from people that are here all the time."
He also said he called Heyman to ask where the report came from.
"We had a great talk, and he shared that he was simply answering a question with his own speculation and not something that he was reporting," Hahn said.
It's clear that the White Sox general manager was trying to give Grfiol a vote of confidence in the midst of recent comments from national reporters.
Aside from Heyman's comments, Bob Nightengale wrote that "several" players told him they would not mind getting traded away from the White Sox at the deadline. However, nobody on the team has asked for a formal trade request.
Another report from Ken Rosenthal said that the White Sox would only be willing to trade players with expiring contracts at the trade deadline, indicating that a soft sell may be coming.
The White Sox have a .459 winning percentage during Hahn's tenure. It's easy to see why frustration from fans and players is mounting as the rebuild inches closer to being labeled a complete failure.
