The White Sox's October run was brief, but at least they actually made it to October. The Twins and Indians both bowed out after two-game sweeps, meaning they stalled out on the last day of September. The depth of the AL Central failed to rise to the occasion, but the White Sox represented themselves the best of the bunch.
And given the circumstances, the White Sox represented themselves well enough.
That kinda reads like a loser's standards for a $10 billion industry, but I try to maintain some sense of internal consistency, and here are the elements I'm trying to square up:
- The original standards of this season? Completing it without major illnesses.
- A White Sox team beat its projected 60-game standings by four wins.
- Their best pitching option for a Game 3 was the guy they just drafted.
The projections said Rick Hahn built the best third-place team in the American League, and the White Sox finished as the best third-place team in the American League. The team had a shortage of starting pitching options and also a bad run of health in the bullpen at the trade deadline, but the front office added no arms.
For his part, Rick Renteria, a guy who has at best a passing interest in the opener or other alternate-starter strategies, had to patch together a bullpen game in a do-or-die scenario. Contestants in "The Great British Bake Off" will practice techniques and desserts that aren't in their wheelhouse for the times it's necessary for getting by, but Renteria's unwillingness to experiment resulted in him winging his way through a mixture he'd seldom studied, and he spent much of the game in a position Paul Hollywood would identify as "soggy bottom."
"A competitive loss in a best-of-three series against a team with a better record" kinda feels like the expected outcome, does it not? It's on the White Sox to make me expect more, and they didn't get me there.
Some of it wasn't in their control. The pandemic halted the normal pipeline of developing reinforcements and rehabbing injured or ailing players, which doesn't help a team with a one-ply roster. Two of their top position players were physically compromised when the postseason arrived, and they lost their primary weapon for Game 3 with forearm tightness just as Garrett Crochet appeared to be on his way to validating Renteria's strategy.
But the White Sox also passed on trying to bolster the team at the deadline. You can look at the Phillies bullpen in September or Mike Clevinger's absence from San Diego's postseason roster to show that late-August acquisitions wouldn't have been guaranteed to help, but the inaction signaled that Hahn was more comfortable being a year away than trying to make this team into more of an immediate threat. That left Carlos Rodón as the biggest potential September pitching addition, and look how well that went.
So in the end, the White Sox lost because their lineup was susceptible to deep, right-handed pitching staffs, they lacked the starting pitching depth to absorb a Dallas Keuchel dud, and their manager isn't adept at cobbling together effective pitching performances without a conventional starter. Some of the talent wasn't there. Some of the available talent didn't perform. Some of the strategy didn't work. The White Sox came up short because they were short. It makes too much sense to get all that upset.
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For a year that could have been lost, the White Sox managed to net a whole bunch of positives out of 2020. Luis Robert looks like the real deal, with the 487-foot homer the latest evidence of his necessary adjustments from his September slump. Nick Madrigal's offense isn't the issue with him. Dane Dunning was healthy and surprisingly effective despite no proper minor-league rehab. Tim Anderson and Lucas Giolito backed up their breakouts. Hahn's big free-agent swings paid off, and José Abreu might've used the first year of an overly charitable three-year deal to win the dang MVP.
Most importantly, the White Sox navigated the season without any complications from the pandemic. Yoán Moncada dealt with issues while recovering from COVID-19, which he'd contracted before the season, but the White Sox seemed to adhere well enough to the protocols that allowed the season to exist.
The Sox have problems to address, but there's no mystery what they are -- a right fielder and a bat that can DH, preferably lefty for one or both. They could use a veteran starter of some acclaim. They'll have to mull the futures at closer and backup catcher after the wildly successful team-control periods of James McCann and Alex Colomé lapse. And just like every other team, they could use a minor league season to give their depth a proper structure.
How the Sox and the rest of the league will go about solving these problems remains a great mystery than usual. The pandemic is going to alter the offseason calendar and compel teams to make unusual financial decisions, and there's no longer an official agreement between Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball.
The White Sox should be stepping on the gas. They should be an enviable destination for quality players, and the Offseason Plan Project will offer plenty of ideas on whom the front office should attempt to lure in order to complete a roster that can topple the Twins. Whether the White Sox front office and ownership can overcome this environment to see it through is the open matter we'll be following for the next several months.
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Speaking of "several months," I'd like to extend a special thanks to the Sox Machine community for sticking with us through all of the uncertainty the COVID-19 outbreak generated. When I learned at the start of the year that my wife and I would be moving to Nashville and I had the opportunity to pursue Sox Machine full-time, I imagined frequent trips to Birmingham, occasional trips to North Carolina, in-person looks at draft prospects at Vanderbilt, and live events in Chicago. Instead, the entire world was grounded, and I haven't traveled outside of the metro area since I got here.
Your support allows Sox Machine to remain feasible. I greatly appreciate your generosity, especially given just how difficult everything is right now, and I intend to repay you in the form of a new White Sox Outsider.
Thanks to Josh for his work directing the Sox Machine Podcast and our draft coverage, and for bringing so many ideas to the table. Thanks to Patrick, Ted and Greg for another great year of opponent previews, Sporcle Saturdays, Wake-Up Calls and so much other assistance. Thanks to Billy for his handsome designs all over Sox Machine, and thanks to Carl for allowing us to showcase his artwork.
If you found Sox Machine this year, I encourage you to stick around. We'll be spending the rest of the month dissecting the postseason, reviewing the regular season, following the October action, and launching the Offseason Plan Project in a couple weeks. After that, we'll be tracking winter news, delving into history and oddities, recommending things to each other, and who knows what else we'll dig up. I guess we'll all find out how much content a COVID winter will provide for us, but if the league slows down, we'll find ways to work around it on a daily basis. It'd be dumb to stop just as things are starting to look good.
(Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire)
