Once again, Bob Nightengale has opinions on the White Sox.
The MLB inside reporter for USA Today appeared on 670 The Score’s “Mully & Haugh Show” on Tuesday and aired some grievances about first-year skipper Pedro Grifol.
“All spring, they were saying, ‘Look at what the new manager is doing – Pedro Grifol.’ He’s done nothing. It’s the same thing,” Nightengale said. “I was joking that they should give Tony La Russa another plaque in Cooperstown for actually winning with this team. Nobody else has been able to do it. I think they’ve got no choice but to break that thing up. Obviously, it’s not working. The third manager is unable to do much with it.”
Grifol is no manager of the year, but the degree to which the White Sox have failed to meet expectations stems from all sorts of directions – directions from which Grifol is among the furthest.
It’s a questionable take from Nightengale. Especially the bit about La Russa, where he defined winning as a first-round postseason exit and an 81-81 finish.
It’s not wrong that Grifol, for all intents and purposes, has done nothing. However, as the old saying goes, you can’t build a great house on a weak foundation. It’s like suing the pilot for crashing a plane that didn’t pass the engine inspection.
“It’s the same old story. Nothing’s changed since a year ago,” Nightingale said.
Which begs the question: If it’s the same old story, can the new guy really be to blame?
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