When Miguel Cairo took over as interim manager, the White Sox received an immediate boost. Players raved about the fire he lit under the team, and the wins began piling up. With Cairo at the helm, the White Sox went on a 13-6 tear and resembled the type of team most fans expected from the start of the season.
Players like Liam Hendriks, Josh Harrison, and Yasmani publicly praised Cairo for infusing energy into the locker room. Some baseball pundits even had Cairo as a trendy managerial candidate during the offseason. Cairo’s stock was at an all-time high.
Flash forward to late September, and the White Sox have come crashing down to earth. On Wednesday night, they lost their seventh straight game. Cairo got thrown out of the game in the sixth inning, the offense could only muster two hits, and morale sunk to an all-time low.
The White Sox season is effectively over, with ESPN giving them a less than one percent chance of making the playoffs. The catalyst for this free fall came on September 20th. The White Sox dropped a heartbreaking must-win game against the Cleveland Guardians. Cairo took full responsibility for the loss to try and deflect blame from the players.
The following day the Guardians blew the doors off the White Sox in an 8-2 beatdown. They eventually left town with a sweep and firm control over the AL Central Division. The White Sox folded. After a hot 13-6 start under Cairo, the team is now 13-13.
To Cairo’s credit, he tried to call out the team in the media after a lifeless effort against Detroit that resulted in a 4-1 loss to the last-place Tigers.
“Today was the worst one,” Cairo said. “That’s not acceptable. That’s not baseball. That’s not what the Chicago White Sox are about. It was terrible.”
But unlike the fiery locker room speech he gave when he first took over, the message did not get through. It is clear the team has given up. This is not a knock on Cairo.
The 48-year-old has done the best he can in challenging circumstances. He knows his place. Cairo publicly praised La Russa to try and minimize a manager controversy brewing in the media. He even talked to La Russa on the phone every day. The former bench coach says all the right things in the media, such as taking accountability for losses or calling out a lack of effort when necessary. Cairo also has a clear passion for the game and adds energy to the dugout. Yet it wasn’t enough to save the White Sox season.
While he provided an initial two-week bump, his effects quickly wore off, mainly due to the lack of motivation after missing out on the AL Division Title. His lack of experience as a manager is also an issue. This was on display on September 20th when he made some questionable in-game decisions during a critical must-win game. The White Sox haven’t won a game since.
Cairo’s stint proves that the White Sox need a fresh face to come in and clean things up. It also shows that Tony La Russa was not the main issue with this team. That still doesn’t mean La Russa did a good job as manager. Two things can be true.
So where do the White Sox go from here? Anyone with eyes can see they need a fresh start to clean things up. They need to hire a qualified manager outside the organization to get this team to where they need to go.
Maybe with a few more years of seasoning Cairo will be a decent manager. But he is clearly not ready for the job at this time.