Fired White Sox coach Eddie Rodriguez: 'I'm disappointed. But I understand the dynamic'
SAN FRANCISCO — Eddie Rodriguez was on the golf course with Tony La Russa 12 days ago, the morning after the White Sox returned from a 1-5 road trip that ended in Oakland. He was on the second hole when general manager Chris Getz’ name appeared on his phone.
“This is not going to be good,” Rodriguez, the Sox third base and infielders coach the last two seasons, thought.
Rodriguez was right. Getz informed him he was being let go. Manager Pedro Grifol and coaches Mike Tosar and Charlie Montoyo were also fired.
After having a job in professional baseball since 1978 as a minor league player, coach or major league coach, Rodriguez, 65, was out of a job.
“I’m disappointed,” Rodriguez said. “But I understand the dynamic. When the wins are not sufficient, then change has to come about.”
The Sox were 28-89 at the time and had finally stopped a record-tying losing streak at 21 games two days earlier. From spring training on, when he was arriving at Camelback Ranch at 4 a.m., coordinating that day’s camp work plan, Rodriguez was a tireless worker.
As the losses mounted, during a 3-22 start and streaks of 14 and 21 games that followed, Rodriguez stayed the course.
“Man, it hurt [to be fired],” Rodriguez said from his home in Miami, where he is processing a foreign feeling of waking up with no job to go to. “I don’t like to use the word hurt, but it was a lot of disappointment.”
Rodriguez knows results matter the most.
“Getzy explained what the situation was and I had no rebuttal. He thanked me for the work I had done there and that was it, really. That’s it.”
La Russa was surprised when Rodriguez told him the nature of the call.
“He looked at me and said, ‘Don’t lie to me,’ ’’ Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said La Russa was “totally surprised” about Grifol getting fired, too.
“Tony and I had just talked the night before about hitting some balls in the morning and that was it,” Rodriguez said. “I wasn’t expecting anything. I was going out on an off day to enjoy a golf game with Tony. The way he looked at me, I don’t think he knew.”
Rodriguez was on the last year of his contract.
“I’m going to see if some of the people I’ve crossed paths with know my work ethic and what I bring to the table,” he said. “Would I love to stay in the game? Absolutely. I still have something to offer, you saw me out there working every day, age aside.”
“He’s one of the best defensive coaches I’ve worked with,” rookie shortstop Brooks Baldwin said.
Rodriguez was at Guaranteed Rate Field after he was fired to make arrangement for his car when interim manager Grady Sizemore spotted him by the guard shack.
“He happened to come by, I shook his hand and said, ‘Good luck,’ ’’ Rodriguez said. “That’s all you can do.”
Was Sizemore a good choice for the interim position?
“I couldn’t tell you,” Rodriguez said. “He obviously has experience having played. His personality is good for where the club is now. He’s going to do what we were trying to do. For me it’s just a different voice. The personnel hasn’t changed.”
The personnel, or lack thereof due to injuries, trades and a non-competitive roster even before them, led to Grifol’s dismissal.
Rodriguez talked with Grifol, a friend from way back, the day after.
“Pedro is doing all right,” Rodriguez said. “He’s as disappointed as we all are. His wait of 22 years to get this opportunity and it ending like this wasn’t what he wanted or how it was expected.
“Pedro was really well prepared to manage a big league game. The communication was always there. With that ballclub, you just need help. You need the key players to be healthy to be successful. Missing the three key guys [Yoan Moncada, Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez] for extended time hurt.”
“But as I told somebody in a text, ‘life goes on. And the game will go on as well.’ ’’