Pedro Grifol named White Sox manager
CHICAGO – Pedro Grifol (“grif-FOAL”), a member of two American League pennant winning and a World Series championship staff with the Kansas City Royals, has been named the 42nd different manager in White Sox history. Grifol, 52, has agreed to terms on a multiyear contract.
Grifol joins the White Sox after a 10-year stint in Kansas City (2013-22), including the last three as the Royals bench coach. He becomes the fourth current Latino manager in Major League Baseball, joining Boston’s Alex Cora, St. Louis’ Oliver Marmol and Washington’s Dave Martinez.
During his time as the Royals’ catching coach, Salvador Pérez was selected to start five straight All-Star Games (2014-18), was named a Rawlings Gold Glove winner four times (2014-16, ‘18) and a Louisville Silver Slugger award winner twice (2016, ‘18).
“Pedro is a bilingual, modern baseball thinker who brings two-plus decades of experience in a variety of roles – bench coach, hitting coach, winter ball and minor league manager, director of player development and scout,” said Rick Hahn, White Sox general manager/senior vice president. “He is an excellent communicator and an experienced game planner who brings a high energy and detail-oriented approach to leadership. He is committed to building an inclusive and cohesive clubhouse, and we could not be happier to have Pedro leading our club.”
Prior to his three seasons as bench coach, Grifol’s roles with the Royals included quality control/catching coach (2018-19), catching coach (2014-17), special assignment/hitting coach (2013-14) and Arizona Rookie League Surprise hitting coach (2013). The Royals won back-to-back AL pennants in 2014-15, capturing the World Series championship in 2015 by defeating the New York Mets in five games after losing the Fall Classic to San Francisco in seven games in 2014.
Grifol spent 13 seasons (2000-12) in the Seattle Mariners organization before joining the Royals. He served as manager at Class A High Desert in 2012, guiding the Mavericks to a 83-57 regular-season record and a berth in the California League playoffs. Grifol also worked as an area scout for south Florida and Puerto Rico (2000-05), manager for Advanced Rookie Everett (2003-05), Coordinator of Instruction (2006-08), Director of Minor League Operations (2008-11) and a Major League Coach (2010).
Grifol managed three seasons (2012-14) for Cardenales de Lara in the Venezuelan Winter League and one season (2019) for Gigantes de Cibao in the Dominican Winter League. He guided Lara to the 2013 VWL championship series.
A native of Miami, Grifol was selected by Minnesota in the sixth round of the 1991 draft out of Florida State University. He spent nine seasons (1991-99) in the minor leagues with the Twins (1991-95) and Mets (1996-99) organizations, batting .226 (483-2,140) with 85 doubles, 39 home runs and 273 RBI in 652 games.
Grifol joins Baltimore’s Brandon Hyde, Marmol, Toronto’s John Schneider, Pittsburgh’s Derek Shelton, the Mets’ Buck Showalter, Atlanta’s Brian Snitker and Philadelphia’s Rob Thomson as active managers who did not play in the major leagues.
Grifol played three seasons at Florida State, helping the Seminoles reach the College World Series in 1989 and 1991 and earning Baseball America All-America honors as a junior. He completed his B.S. degree in 2001 at Excelsior College/The University of the State of New York.