The Chicago White Sox are dealing with another controversy. The Sox merry-go-round of bad press is extensive. The franchise still hired Tony La Russa for a second go-around as manager back in 2020 despite knowing about his second DUI arrest before he was named skipper.
Former Double-A manager Omar Vizquel was sued for alleged sexual harassment of a batboy with autism.
Vizquel also was investigated by Major League Baseball for domestic abuse allegations levied by his wife. The investigation happened after his dismissal from the White Sox organization.
The White Sox moved Wes Helms to the manager of their Triple-A affiliate even though he was Vizquel’s bench coach. Helms was then abruptly fired last season and it is still not clear what the reasons were for his departure.
The Sox saw their former senior director of player personnel, Dave Wilder, sentenced to two years in jail for defrauding the team in a bonus-skimming scheme.
Now, White Sox pitcher Mike Clevinger is being investigated by MLB for domestic violence allegations.
Clevinger was signed this offseason by general manager Rick Hahn to a one-year deal to round out the starting rotation. Clevinger is facing a potentially lengthy suspension where it is likely he will not pitch this season.
The Chicago White Sox are continuing to make it hard to love and follow them.
The report states the Sox were not aware of the allegations against Clevinger until after he signed with the team. After the Tony La Russa DUI story, the organization has lost the benefit of the doubt that they were unaware of the investigation into Clevinger.
The White Sox can play the “we didn’t know” card but it is not like Mike Clevinger is an upstanding citizen, to begin with.
Either way, the Chicago White Sox continues to make decisions that leave the organization with bad optics. The White Sox just cannot seem to stop making the same mistake over and over again.
The Sox have always had an interesting relationship with their fanbase under Jerry Reinsdorf’s ownership. It has been especially hard to unconditionally love this team since the end of the 2020 season.
The Sox fired Rick Renteria as manager and replaced him with La Russa. That proved to be a disaster as the White Sox were bounced in four games in the 2021 playoffs. La Russa’s mind-boggling decisions helped the Sox finish at .500 and miss the playoffs last season.
Even worse, La Russa’s tenure marked two lost years during a contention window. Instead of upgrading the team to make sure they can take back the AL Central, the Sox have gone on the cheap to address their two most glaring positions.
The Sox will turn to rookie Oscar Colas at right field and have a Spring Training battle between prospects Lenyn Sosa and Romy Gonzalez at second.
The Sox signed Andrew Benintendi to the largest free-agent contract in franchise history this offseason. The problem is the Chicago White Sox have yet to sign a free agent to a $100 million contract.
The White Sox have continued to go on the cheap when it comes to acquiring prime talents like Manny Machado or Bryce Harper.
The White Sox could have pursued Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, or Carlos Correa but instead decided it is best to watch the bottom line. All that has done is let more teams pass them by on the list of World Series contenders.
This no-good rotten offseason has seen Jose Abreu leave the team via free agency. There is the possibility the team will have an issue with star player Eloy Jimenez. Jimenez wants to play outfield this season but he is much better suited to be a DH. That could lead to an unhappy player this season.
The organization seems to believe new manager Pedro Grifol can fix all the problems. The problem is he only fills out a lineup card and makes calls to the bullpen.
The Sox will not fix their issues until they take a long, hard look at them and figure out why they are repeating the same mistakes.
Instead, they choose to do the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Some call that insanity which is what it feels like sometimes when it comes to loving this team.
