Podcast: White Sox Sputtering Offense Leads to Series Split in Texas

Record Date: 8/7/2022

Rundown:

  • Josh and Jim still don’t know why the White Sox offense is struggling.
  • Two White Sox hitters needing to step up: Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada
  • Two White Sox hitters who are stepping up: Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert
  • Dylan Cease’s shot at White Sox history
  • State of AL Central
  • P.O. Sox
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Michael Kenny

You mentioned Chris Sale’s 2.17 ERA in 2014. It could’ve been as low as 1.96 had Mike Trout swung and missed at this pitch like a normal person. That’s how hard it is to maintain an ERA this low.

soxygen

One of the things I have learned from the internet, a cesspool of human communication, is that Yoan Moncada is great and anyone who says otherwise is itching for a fight.

Right Size Wrong Shape

Really? Because some of the things that I’ve learned recently are that he’s a lazy Cuban who only had one good year and doesn’t care about anything other than a music video he made two years ago. Also, it would be okay for one of his teammates to attack him, because that would make him play better.

soxygen

This is kind of what I’m talking about, and it comes from all sides.

As I said, it’s a cesspool.

soxygen

To be clear, I never said the things you are attributing to those who don’t like Moncada. I have just pointed out in multiple recent threads that reasonable people can disagree about him, as I think the discussion in this podcast underscores.

But yeah, it’s a White Sox culture war issue, I guess, and that is what some people come here to do.

Right Size Wrong Shape

I actually enjoyed some of the statistical back and forth yesterday, even if it did originate from a cesspoolian comment (not yours). Not to get too in the weeds here, but I think that there is a certain segment of the fanbase who is predisposed to hate Moncada, and have been unfairly critical of him since his rookie season. I also think the reasons for their hate are dubious. There is no doubt he is having a bad season this year, but he has been a good player for the Sox throughout his career, I think the way he gutted out that 2020 season should have endeared him to the fanbase, but the hate that goes past “guy having a bad year” hate tells me that it’s never going to happen.

ActiveAndUnavailable

I’ve been trying to process through a few things about this team over the last week or so, and this podcast really jump started those again on a Monday morning.

1. The TA thing isn’t being talked about enough. He has not been good recently, and maybe there’s a nursing injury in play or maybe him pressing. Not sure, but the suspension might be a way for him to reset (where have we heard something similar…). This leads to the overall backup shortstop perspective and…

2. The handling of Lenyn Sosa, and the roster as a whole. The Sox have some dead weight on the 40 man, and it’s frustrating to see a burned option on Sosa for him to be “depth” and not play. If depth was needed, there were players to be had at the deadline (I was in the Drury camp, but also would have loved Joey Wendle). Maybe the front office isn’t as high on Sosa as many of us are?

2b. Related to the 40 Man mismanagement: Why are we continuing to see guys moved to the IL multiple days after told they are “unavailable”? This is insanely frustrated to continue to see this team undermanned..

3. Who from this “Core” is gone to start 2023 in order to fill gaps? There are some substantial redundancies fighting for roughly 2 or 3 spots. The 1B in the OF has been a known issue all year, and it’s not getting better. Do we see Abreu not be resigned (which is sad to think about as a fan… Both from he’s been one of the only consistent offense bright spots, as well as him as a team guy and a person)? Is this Eloy run raising his value enough to move him for a haul? Does someone jump in Sheets and/or Burger? Who knows…

4. Who’s the fall guy when this season (likely) ends in a failure? Most of us have resigned to the fact that this isn’t a World Series winning team. Some of us don’t think this team gets out of the ALDS, if they make the Playoffs at all. Per reports, TLR has another contract year. Do they bite the bullet and clean house (Hahn + TLR)? Do we see them move on from Menechino as a scapegoat but everyone else stay? Or do we see this team go into 2023 with virtually the same roster and coaching staff with the “we’ll get them next year when we’re fully healthy” mentality? (The latter made me gag…)

I have no idea, but I have almost no confidence there are Substantial changes…

soxygen

I think the “fall guy” part will be interesting. In any normal org, someone would end up getting axed. Will that happen here?

This relates to one of the reasons I raised the question of player accountability/leadership recently. Rick Hahn said after the deadline that everyone needed to be accountable – the front office, the coaches, and the players. I don’t see him firing himself, and I don’t think he can fire Tony…which then leads you to wonder whether they will hold any players accountable via roster moves.

As fans, we aren’t really in a good position to say which players should be held accountable, but the easiest way for Rick Hahn to hold a player accountable is not re-signing them. Everything else really requires either eating salary or finding a willing trade partner. Since I don’t think that Vince Velazquez is the source of the problem, that leaves the other FA decision (Abreu) and the option decisions (off the top of my head, TA and Josh Harrison). I don’t think Harrison should be anybody’s fall guy, and TA’s option is a pretty good bargain, which brings us back to the team captain…who maybe should be accountable or maybe not, but if not him then who?

For what it’s worth, my guess is no one will be held accountable. And maybe this was really just a snake bitten year and running it back will work…but it sure seems like a tough roster to fix if the only players that are going to be replaced are minor characters like Velazquez. Who knows though, maybe they are able to trade Grandal or Moncada.

Last edited 1 year ago by soxygen
ActiveAndUnavailable

Agreed… The “accountability” piece has come up from both Hahn and TLR, saying that they will be accountable. But if you can’t be fired, fined, punished in anyway, what does accountability actually look like?

I am in agreement with you. I don’t think anything that the general public would consider accountability happens.

soxygen

…And then the people who could get traded from the roster are Eloy (who was injured when the team started to suck), Gavin Sheets (a kid playing out of position who makes the minimum), and Vaughn (a kid playing out of position who makes the minimum), maybe Giolito (keep in mind this is the Sox so how do we replace him in the rotation without signing a multi-year FA)…None of those moves address the problem – certainly not any leadership problem – and only the Eloy move creates payroll space, but even that only if they are actually able to improve a position like RF or 2B for roughly equivalent money (they probably can’t).

Last edited 1 year ago by soxygen
hitlesswonder

Abreu has been the best position player on the team and probably a better manager than TLR. The idea that he should be “held accountable” for team failure is ludicrous. They should have held him accountable for his competence and traded him to a better team.