Pedro Grifol

Pedro Orlando Grifol

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 197 lb.
• School Florida State University
• High School Christopher Columbus High School (Miami)

• Born November 28, 1969 in Miami, FL USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Catcher Pedro Grifol played and managed in the minors and coached in the majors. He was named manager of the Chicago White Sox for the 2023 season.

Grifol backed up Dan Wilson as Team USA's catcher in the 1987 World Junior Championship. He was 2 for 6 with a run for the Silver Medalists. He also played with Wilson in the 1989 Intercontinental Cup when the USA went 1-5.

He was taken in the 6th round of the 1991 amateur draft by the Minnesota Twins. He played several seasons in the Twins system before being picked up by the New York Mets in the minor league phase of the 1995 Rule V Draft. He played in the Mets organization through 1999.

Grifol was a scout for the Seattle Mariners and managed the Everett AquaSox from 2003 to 2005. He was then a minor league instructor in the Mariners system. In 2011, Grifol was the Mariners' Director of Minor League Operations. He returned to the field as manager of the High Desert Mavericks in 2012.

In 2013, Grifol was a roving hitting instructor in the Kansas City Royals' minor league system, until he was named as assistant hitting coach for the big league team on May 30th. That day, the Royals reassigned hitting coach Jack Maloof and his assistant, Andre David, to their minor league operations, while naming team legend George Brett as acting hitting coach, whith Grifol as his assistant. Brett stepped down on July 25th, explaining that he felt he had done the job that had been asked of him, as the Royals were now hitting much better than they had been, and Grifol took over as the team's hitting coach. Just under one year after being named to the big league staff, Grifol was replaced as hitting coach on May 29, 2014 by Dale Sveum, with the Royals struggling mightily at the plate. Reportedly Grifol resigned rather than being fired and was named catching coach for the remainder of the year. In 2020, under new manager Mike Matheny, he was named the team's bench coach.

Following the 2022 season, the Royals parted ways with Matheny, and interviewed Grifol as a potential successor before settling on Matt Quatraro. At the time, Grifol was being seriously considered for at least two other job openings, those of the Miami Marlins and of the Chicago White Sox. On November 1st, various media reported that he had been selected for the job in Chicago, replacing manager Tony LaRussa, who had been forced to resign late in the 2022 because of a health issue, and his interim successor Miguel Cairo. The White Sox were deliberately looking for someone from outside their organization who could bring in a fresh perspective, after selecting all of their managers in house for the previous three decades. The hiring was made official on November 3rd.

As a scout, he signed Rene Rivera, Evel Bastida-Martinez and Jeffrey Domínguez.

Preceded by Miguel Cairo

Chicago White Sox Manager 2023-

Succeeded by current

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
2003	Everett AquaSox	Northwest League	32-44	4th	Seattle Mariners
2004	Everett AquaSox	Northwest League	41-35	2nd	Seattle Mariners
2005	Everett AquaSox	Northwest League	42-34	3rd	Seattle Mariners
2012	High Desert Mavericks	California League	83-57	1st	Seattle Mariners	Lost in 2nd round
2023	Chicago White Sox	American League	61-101	4th	Chicago White Sox
2024	Chicago White Sox	American League			Chicago White Sox

Further Reading

• Scott Merkin: "White Sox set to name Grifol as manager ", mlb.com, November 1, 2022. [1]
• Scott Merkin: "For Grifol, team culture all about 'respect, hard work, care, love'", mlb.com, February 7, 2023. [2]
• Andrew Seligman (Associated Press): "White Sox make it official, say Grifol is their new manager", Yahoo! News, November 3, 2022. [3]