Firing Pedro Grifol is only the start of challenging White Sox rebuild

The Chicago White Sox dismissed second-year manager Pedro Grifol on Thursday, but now comes the hard part: finding someone to turn around the worst team in baseball.

The White Sox (28-89) have been MLB's laughingstock this season. They recently snapped an AL-record 21-game losing streak on Tuesday, but that one win wasn't enough to save Grifol's job.

Chicago has the league's worst offense, averaging a paltry 3.08 runs per game while batting an embarrassing .216 as a team. Meanwhile, White Sox pitchers have allowed the second-most runs per game (5.2) and have the second-worst team earned run average (4.83).

The Sox wrote in a statement, "As we all recognize, our team's performance this season has been disappointing on many levels... A change is necessary as we look to our future and the development of a new energy around the team."

"The White Sox will begin a search for a new manager immediately with a replacement expected to be announced after the conclusion of the 2024 season," the statement continued.

Considering the state of the franchise, the next manager could be set up to fail.

MLB.com ranked the White Sox farm system 20th in the preseason, up 10 spots from a last-place rank at the start of the 2022 season.

ESPN recently listed the Sox at No. 8 in its updated farm system rankings following the MLB trade deadline with a major caveat.

After mentioning several of the organization's top prospects, ESPN's Kiley McDaniel wrote , "While that's a long of quality young talent, only [Jonathan] Cannon has been any good in the big leagues this year, and only [Noah] Schultz has been dominating the minor leagues."

Shortstop Colson Montgomery, No. 11 in Baseball Prospectus' preseason prospect rankings , is the team's top prospect but has 70 hits in 335 at-bats (.209 average) in 91 games for Triple-A Charlotte in 2024.

After failing to move them at the trade deadline, Chicago will still likely seek trades during the offseason for its top major leaguers, pitcher Garrett Crochet and outfielder Luis Robert Jr.

Those potential trades could bolster the team's farm system, but players acquired will likely take time to develop, which could keep the White Sox near the bottom of the league's standings.