In recent days, an MLB insider had been criticizing teams for failing to prioritize diversity in their managerial searches.
She stated that seven teams headed into the offseason with managerial openings, and not one of them had hired diverse candidates.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that the Chicago White Sox will be hiring Pedro Grifol as their new skipper for 2023, and hopefully beyond.
Grifol was born in Miami, Florida, but has Cuban heritage.
It could be considered a step forward, but Rivera states that the Grifol news doesn’t do much to solve the main problem: minorities getting a fair shot at managing an MLB team.
“The hiring of Pedro Grifol does not lessen the issue of extremely qualified minority candidates not getting a fair shot. We will address this in an off-season feature, but for now, please know that there are a lot of people out there who believe the process needs to be better,” Rivera tweeted.
The hiring of Pedro Grifol does not lessen the issue of extremely qualified minority candidates not getting a fair shot. We will address this in an off-season feature, but for now, please know that there are a lot of people out there who believe the process needs to be better. https://t.co/TiDK7UvFrh
— Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) November 1, 2022
Is The Selection Process For Managers Flawed Or Influenced?
Some Latino managerial candidates who took interviews at some point during the offseason are Ozzie Guillen, Miguel Cairo, Joe Espada, and Luis Rojas.
Of the current MLB managers, only Dusty Baker (Houston Astros), Dave Roberts (Los Angeles Dodgers), Oliver Marmol (St. Louis Cardinals), Alex Cora (Boston Red Sox) and now Grifol can be considered minorities.
Dave Martinez of the Washington Nationals was born in Brooklyn but his parents are Puerto Rican.
MLB is a league with a lot of Latino influence, but it’s becoming evident that teams prefer this influence to come from players and not necessarily from managers.
It’s certainly something to examine and analyze.
NEXT: Dusty Baker Had A Hilarious Problem Monday Night