The Chicago White Sox found their next manager.

They officially announced Kansas City Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol will take over the job vacated by Tony La Russa.

The managerial position was open because Russa announced in October he would not be back in 2023 because of multiple health issues. He was away from the team since Aug. 31, and the White Sox announced on Sept. 24 he would not return during the 2022 campaign.

Bench coach Miguel Cairo managed the team while La Russa was away.

While La Russa is a Hall of Famer with three World Series titles and four Manager of the Year awards during a career that included stops with the White Sox, Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals, the 2022 season was a massive disappointment for Chicago.

The team won the American League Central with a 93-69 record in 2021, and anything short of a deep playoff run in 2022 would have been falling short of expectations.

Chicago didn't even make the postseason and finished with an 81-81 record. It was a major step back in a winnable division, as the Cleveland Guardians' 92-70 mark was the worst record for any division winner in all of baseball.

The White Sox won the 2005 World Series with Ozzie Guillen as the manager but have made the playoffs just three times since without a single postseason series victory. One rival executive called them "the most underachieving team in the last 50 years," per Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

That is the backdrop for Grifol as he begins his new role and attempts to do what Robin Ventura, Rick Renteria and La Russa couldn't after Guillen and lead the team back into the World Series.

Grifol faces plenty of pressure in a major market, and last year's failures in Chicago only serve to underscore the urgency for a team that features a number of notable players, including Luis Robert, Dylan Cease, Eloy Jiménez and Tim Anderson.

The expectation will once again be the American League Central crown at the very worst even though it is Grifol's first season as a Major League manager.

He has experience as a scout, minor league instructor, hitting coach and, most recently, the bench coach of the Royals. He is familiar with the division from his time in Kansas City and will now look to establish a consistent winner in the Windy City.