At What Cost?

The White Sox introduced their new manager yesterday, and Pedro Grifol alluded to all the things that have been missing the past two years—playing with passion and energy; being fundamentally sound; and being held accountable. No doubt, White Sox fans—“long suffering” comes with the territory, making that modifier totally unnecessary—couldn’t believe their ears. Here's the thing—every promise Grifol made constituted a rebuke of Tony La Russa and, by extension, the man who hired La Russa. That would be Jerry Reinsdorf, who is not known to be fond of criticism. So, if Grifol was able to say what he did at the news conference yesterday, what did it cost him? How much of his soul or self-respect did he hand over to the team owner? Because, if you want to manage this team, it comes at a cost.