Grifol Takes Over As White Sox Head Toward A Financial Reckoning

Jerry Reinsdorf was never confused with George Steinbrenner, especially not on pay days. But Reinsdorf’s White Sox have spent freely the last couple of years, without anything more to show from it than an AL Central title and one ALDS victory over the powerful Astros, both in 2021.

Rookie manager Pedro Grifol, a baseball lifer who has worked in the shadows, is replacing Hall of Famer Tony La Russa as manager. In that regard Reinsdorf and his familiar front office corps are hoping less will be more when the 2023 season begins Thursday in Houston, and if not a financial reckoning is in the offing.

The White Sox set a franchise record when they spent $128.7 million on the Opening Day payroll in 2021. But they kept spending in an attempt to win, raising the payroll to $193.4 million in ’22. That year-to-year increase of about 50 percent left a hollow feeling when it was followed by an 81-81 season, thanks in large part to injuries and disappointing production from key players.

Subsequently the Sox let their most productive player, Jose Abreu, walk away to join the Astros. They replaced him with a lesser bat, Andrew Benintendi, in the hope that shifting Andrew Vaughn to first base will both add voltage to Vaughn’s bat and improve their outfield defense, which was a glaring weakness.

It’s an intriguing gambit that risks the affection of fans who had invested in Abreu jerseys since his Rookie of the Year season in 2014. We’ll find out this summer if Reinsdorf, Rick Hahn and Ken Williams made the right decisions to salvage the investments in veterans like Yasmani Grandal, Lance Lynn, Liam Hendriks and Craig Kimbrel, as well as Yoan Moncada, Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez, youngsters signed to long contracts.

Early returns aren’t encouraging, as Hendriks has been sidelined by Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and newly signed starter Mike Clevinger continues to fight for his reputation after being cleared by MLB of domestic violence allegations. But a fast start between here and Memorial Day could energize South Side fans and help avoid what otherwise figures to be an ugly financial reckoning.

Including players holding non-guaranteed options for 2024, the White Sox are built around 10 veterans who could become free agents after the season. Lynn, Grandal, Hendriks, Clevinger, Tim Anderson, Lucas Giolito, Joe Kelly, Reynaldo Lopez, Jake Diekman and Elvis Andrus account for $100.775 million in salary.

That nicely demonstrates how easy it would be for Reinsdorf to bring the payroll down near $100 million if he decides this corp cannot compete against the Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins. The Sox could become major sellers at the trade deadline and start building around prospects like Oscar Colas, Colson Montgomery, Bryan Ramos and Jose Rodriguez.

The immediate issue for the front office is what to do with Giolito, who received Cy Young votes in 2019-21 before an off season last year. He can be a free agent after this season, and Anderson is only a year behind him.

The Sox have enjoyed having Anderson in the middle of everything for seven years under a contract that guaranteed him $25 million but the time is fast approaching when they choose between trading him or making him the first Sox player with a nine-figure contract. It’s one thing to spend big when you’re winning and another again when you’re beating your head against a wall.

This is a season when the White Sox either do the former or begin facing severe consequences for doing the latter.