Everyone and their mother seemed to have a scoop on the White Sox managerial search on Friday. Rumors ran rampant, and insiders began coming out of the woodwork on Twitter, ranging from Sports Illustrated fan accounts to hotdogs. Even Hall of Fame reliever Fergie Jenkins joined in on the fun.
If you missed it, here is a timeline of all the meaningful reports impacting the White Sox managerial search from Friday, October 21st.
11:58 am: Bochy To The Rangers
The first domino in the White Sox manager news fell at 11:58 am when the Texas Rangers officially named Bruce Bochy as their new manager. Bochy’s name had been linked to the White Sox for a while. The former Giants skipper was at the top of many fans’ wish lists. He also checked all the boxes Rick Hahn said he was looking for in a candidate.
OFFICIAL: Bruce Bochy has been named the 20th full-time manager in franchise history. pic.twitter.com/L0BohXvAPq
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) October 21, 2022
Bochy won three World Series Titles in San Fransico in 2010, 2012, and 2014. Before taking the Giant’s job, he had a successful stint as the Manager of the San Diego Padres, winning the National League Pennant in 1998 before falling just short of World Series.
12:26 pm White Sox Interviewed Guillen
Around noon ten, year NFL veteran John “Jurko” Jurkovic usually broke the news, during a segment on ESPN 1000’s show Carmen and Jurko, that the White Sox had interviewed Ozzie Guillen.
According to @Jurko64, the White Sox have interviewed Ozzie Guillen.
— Adam Abdalla (@AdamAAbdalla) October 21, 2022
This report was met with some speculation because this was the first time Jurko had dropped a bomb on the air that wasn’t in the form of a fart. On top of that, no other prominent baseball insiders had reported the news. Shortly after, ESPN 1000 brought Jesse Rodgers on the show, who said he hadn’t heard that report.
While Jurko’s report caught many off guard, it seemed realistic. Guillen’s name has been linked to the role for quite some time. He even went on television and said that “nobody in baseball knows this ball club better than Ozzie Guillen.”
1:06 pm: Joe Espada To Be Next Manager Of White Sox
Later in the afternoon, MLB insider Mike Rodriguez tweeted that Astro’s bench coach Joe Espada will be the next manager of the Chicago White Sox.
Source: Joe Espada Astros Bench Coach will be the next manager of the Chicago White Sox. pic.twitter.com/5F9FT5d9cI
— Mike Rodriguez (@mikedeportes) October 21, 2022
Rodrigues was the first to report the terms of Javier Baez’s contract but has an otherwise spotty record when it comes to breaking stories. Recently he said that the White Sox interviewed Joe Madden. Last week Madden said no one had contacted him.
However, this rumor had some legs because Rodrigues has broken big stories before. On October 17th MLB.com’s Jon Morosi said that Espada “impressed” during his interview with the White Sox.
This would be a slam-dunk hire for the White Sox. Espada has been in the dugout of a team that has gone to the ALCS for six straight years. If there is anyone that knows how to create a winning culture, it is him. But just when it looked like the White Sox had found their guy, another report dropped.
3:14 pm: Guillen To Be Interviewed Next Week
Things took another turn when NBC Sports Chicago announced that the White Sox are set to interview Ozzie Guillen next week. Jerry Reinsdorf owns a majority interest in the company, so any White Sox news they get is usually on point.
Another interview line uphttps://t.co/7bzIEjp7HG
— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) October 21, 2022
3:36 pm: Guillen likely will get an interview
Bruce Levine added to the confusion when he tweeted:
“It is likely Ozzie Guillen will get an interview for the managers job with the White Sox soon but that has not occurred yet.”
This report officially debunked Jurko’s news that the White Sox had already interviewed him. However, it added even more credibility to the fact that the White Sox are considering him.
It is likely Ozzie Guillen will get an interview for the managers job with the White Sox soon but that has not occurred yet.
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) October 21, 2022
A Retweet With Weight
Mark Berman is an Astros reporter that is very plugged into the organization. In 2021 he was the first to report that Micheal Brantley agreed to a deal with the Astros, Lance McCullers agreed to a contract extension, Carlos Correa signed with the Twins, and Alex Bregman agreed to an extension with the Astros.
He retweeted Mike Rodriguez’s Tweet that Joe Espada had been hired by the White Sox. It seemed to indicate that Rodriguez’s report was indeed accurate.
Mark Berman is as reliable as it gets when it comes to Astros reporters so this seems like a pretty significant RT of the Espada report pic.twitter.com/1Dz08tJMUu
— Alex Rude (@arude8) October 21, 2022
What to make of all these rumors?
Given all the conflicting news reports, it is fair to wonder what is true and what isn’t. Despite what Jurko said on ESPN 1000, Guillen has not yet been interviewed. He was contacted for an interview.
Jerry Reinsdorf is loyal. He is the type of owner to grant Guillen an interview out of respect for what he did in 2005. Whether or not he will get the job is anyone’s guess.
As far as Espada is concerned, he has not been named the manager. It is possible that the Espada cannot officially be named the White Sox manager until after the World Series. Espada and the Astros don’t want any distractions during the ALCS. Guillen gets a courtesy interview, while Espada gets a smoke screen to minimize distractions. Everyone is happy.
However, given the White Sox’s track record, there is time to screw it up.
The White Sox have a pretty good nucleus of players. They would have to add a few players, but they’re perfectly capable of being a playoff team, and possibly more. They definitely need to get the manager right. But, their biggest problem? Their meddling owner, who couldn’t pour piss out of a boot, even if the instructions were printed on the heal.
The White Sox rarely do things right, with the magic of 2005 being a notable exception. I don’t expect anything different with this hiring process.