Whether it's the assassination of Julius Caesar or Adam LaRoche's sudden retirement from the White Sox in the middle of spring training, the Ides of March has long been something to beware. The former won't reach a notable round number to commemorate for another 18 years, but the latter marks its 10th anniversary today.
There probably isn't a reason to save the date much further, at least if you're a rational, well-adjusted human being. Unless you count the recent closure of LaRoche's Nashville steakhouse, which was run by a LaRoche sibling who didn't play in major league baseball, there hasn't been a material update on the topic since Dan Hayes' story that commemorated the clubhouse implosion's five-year anniversary in 2021. Some questions remain unanswered, and the absence of input from Spanish-speaking players has always been a glaring omission, but every attempt to rehash the story more or less tells the tale of a confederacy of dopes, and the next party that comes away looking better for having been associated with it will be the first.
What struck me when revisiting the five-year coverage was the idea that the White Sox had put the saga past them. The Sox had made the playoffs in the pandemic-shortened season the year before, and the arrow was pointing up for the next 162 games in the spring of 2021. Indeed, they coasted to an AL Central title before being bounced by the Astros in the ALDS, but it was a season that met those high expectations, more or less.
But it didn't take long for it to unravel all over again. It only took a year for the clubhouse to fracture anew, and highly compensated veteran additions were identified as at least one source. It was far less of a spectacle, yet somehow more disturbing with regards to simple human decency. As the White Sox crawled toward the end of their record-setting 121-loss season of 2024, Jesse Rogers recounted a then-untold story of White Sox veterans who didn't want to show up for Liam Hendriks' cancer comeback the year before and found "one longtime White Sox staffer" who told Rogers it was "one of the worst things he had ever witnessed in professional sports," and they presumably would've been on hand for L'Affaire LaRoche as well.
Basically, everybody who allowed circumstances to foment in such a poisonous way the first time never should've been afforded the chance to do it again, but the next seven years were wasted instead. Chris Getz is mostly saying and doing the right things with regards to addressing organizational deficiencies, but he and Will Venable have yet to oversee a clubhouse that can afford to be unhappy. When a pocket of players attains enough standing to question how things are run, that's when the rubber will meet the road.
Spare Parts
James joins Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley to answer all sorts of questions about what the White Sox are trying to do.
Mike Vasil was cruising along in his Saturday start against the Dodgers, until he wasn't. He walked the final two batters he faced and departed with a trainer after 3⅔ scoreless innings, which required just 46 pitches even with the sudden abandonment of his control. The White Sox said he will undergo further evaluation.
In case you're just rejoining White Sox coverage after a winter of ignoring them, Tim Dierkes' summary of their offseason activity is a comprehensive one.
Sam Antonacci's return to White Sox camp will be delayed by at least a few more days, as Italy upset Puerto Rico to advance to the WBC finals. By taking an Edwin Díaz slider off his shin guard in the eighth, Antonacci showed he can rack up HBPs against high-level competition.
When Kyle Teel departed Team Italy due to a strained hamstring, it invited debate about why the White Sox and other teams who supply their talent to the World Baseball Classic would risk having their players get injured in games that don't count. Then you see the reaction of the Venezuelan fans after their team defeated Japan, and it certainly looks like it matters. Also, Munetaka Murakami should be back at White Sox camp in short order.
wow. wow wow wow.
— jen ramos-eisen (@jenramose.online) 2026-03-15T04:23:46.722Z
