Evaluating each of MLB's open managerial jobs
With Sunday's news that the Royals have hired Matt Quatraro as their new manager, that leaves the White Sox as the only team still searching for their next skipper.
While Chicago weighs its options and evaluates candidates, we're going to evaluate the job itself. What are the benefits? What about the potential challenges that await?
Here's a breakdown of the one remaining open spot.
White Sox
What happened: Chicago is searching for a new manager after the retirement of Tony La Russa, who left the team due to health problems on Aug. 30 and didn’t return. The club was the consensus favorite to win the AL Central in 2022, but went 81-81 and finished 11 games behind the first-place Guardians.
Benefits: The core components of a roster that made the playoffs in 2020 and won the AL Central with a 93-69 record the following year are mostly still in place. Dylan Cease, Luis Robert, Eloy Jiménez, Tim Anderson and Andrew Vaughn are all in or entering their primes, and Yoán Moncada and Lucas Giolito are candidates to rebound as they both enter their age-28 seasons. Cease has turned into one of baseball’s most dominant starters, recording a 2.20 ERA with 227 strikeouts over 184 innings in 2022, and closer Liam Hendriks remains an elite option in the ninth inning. White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf has shown a willingness to spend on free agents since the club transitioned from rebuilding to contending after 2019.
Challenges: Even if the White Sox re-sign José Abreu, how much longer can they continue to rely on him as their primary offensive force? He’ll be 36 in January and posted career lows in homers (15) and slugging percentage (.446) over 157 games in 2022. And where does Vaughn play? He can hit, but he’s been a mess on defense. There are durability questions surrounding Robert, Jiménez and Anderson, who combined to play 246 games in 2021 and 261 in 2022. Ditto for Moncada, though a bigger concern is how to get him back to the hitter he was in 2019 (140 OPS+) rather than the one we’ve seen the past three seasons (98 OPS+, including 76 in 2022). The catcher spot is a major question mark, too, after Yasmani Grandal put up a .202/.301/.269 slash over 376 plate appearances this past season. Grandal, who has one year left on his four-year, $73 million deal, will turn 34 in November. Getting Giolito back on track will also be key after the right-hander posted a 4.90 ERA. The 28-year-old received Cy Young votes in each of the previous three seasons before his downturn in 2022.
Thomas Harrigan is a reporter for MLB.com.