Chicago Sports

As of July 7th, the Chicago White Sox currently sit 5.5 games back from first place in the American League Central. The White Sox currently have a record of 39 wins and 41 losses.  The trade deadline is August 2nd this year due to a delayed start to the season.

White Sox disappointing first half of season

At the start of the season, the team won it’s first three series of the season against the Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, and Tampa Bay Rays.  After that, the injuries began to pop up left and right to starters and bench players alike.   Next came a 7 game losing streak that really set the team back right out the gates, (more on this later).

Nevertheless, there has been some high moments on the season.  3 key highlights from the season thus far are sweeps against the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, and the San Francisco Giants.  Unfortunately, the team has played .500 baseball at best this year, which is no where near what anyone expected.

Buying or selling?

Although the trade deadline is less than a month away, the White Sox might still be undecided on what approach they will take.  There are 12 games remaining before the all-star break, all against the American League Central.  With 3 games against the Minnesota Twins now behind them, they are off to a 1-2 start during this crucial 15 game stretch versus the AL Central.  How the team performs in this stretch will be the key factor in determining whether the White Sox want to buy or sell this year.

As of now, the White Sox have struggled against their own division.  Specifically, against the top two teams in the division, the Guardians and Twins, the White Sox have a combined 2-9 record.  No bueno.  With 4 games coming up against the Guardians and another 4 versus the Twins, the opportunity to improve is right in front of them.  Sitting at 5.5 games back of first, the standings could look vastly different in two weeks, for better or worse.

Possible trade partners

The White Sox still have plenty of holes on their roster they need to patch.  Acquisitions like Vince Velasquez did not pan out at all.  Dallas Keuchel was DFA’d and Michael Kopech recently had a flare up in his knee and has not looked as good as he did before the incident.  Not to mention, Kopech will likely hit a wall soon as his innings pitched continue to increase.  The Cincinnati Reds will be selling pitchers like Luis Castillo and Tyler Mahle, according to reports from Bob Nightengale.

Pitching is always a necessity in the big leagues so it couldn’t hurt to listen.  Another is the Oakland A’s Frankie Montas who the White Sox have been linked to in the past.  Montas exited his last start early, supposedly due to shoulder inflammation.  Josh Harrison has really stepped up in the past month.  Alongside with Leury Garcia, it is not likely the White Sox look for a replacement at second base.

The outfield depth is another hole that was poorly patched in the offseason by acquiring A.J. Pollock.  HIs performance has been about average.  The real problem is the constant use of infielders in the corner outfield positions.  The White Sox have too many DH/First base options on their team as currently constructed.  Outfielders like Ian Happ and Anthony Santander of the Orioles are possible targets here.

if the White Sox end up selling at the deadline, it would mean accepting that the rebuild was a failure.  It could also mean the team’s window to compete for a championship is closing fast.  General manager Rick Hahn has certainly made many questionable moves in recent years.  Free agent signings have produced lackluster results far too often, and investing so much money in the bullpen for 2022 has not worked out.  This could lead to a period of huge turmoil on the south side after waiting years and years for the rebuild.

However, if the White Sox can rattle off some wins in this tough division stretch and gain some ground on their division rivals, Hahn will surely be aggressive to improve the team at the deadline.  The White Sox have yet to play their best baseball and now would be the time to do it.

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MONTREAL –As the Blackhawks progress slowly through their rebuild, Kevin Korchinski, Frank Nazar and Sam Rinzel are three names that’ll be mentioned often.

The Hawks chose Korchinski, Nazar and Rinzel with the seventh, 13th and 25th overall picks, respectively, of the 2022 NHL Draft. All three picks were acquired from other teams during the course of Thursday as part of blockbuster trades involving Alex DeBrincat, Kirby Dach and Petr Mrazek.

The Hawks prioritized speed and compete level with all three picks –general manager Kyle Davidson described them as all “well-above-average skaters” –but surprised by picking two defensemen, given the preexisting defensive lean of their prospect pool.

Korchinski is an offensive defenseman who tallied a whopping 65 points in 67 games for the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds last season.

Standing sturdy at 6-2, 185 pounds at age 18, the Saskatchewan native said he models his game after Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore but grew up a Hawks fan because of his dad. However, despite talking to Hawks scouts during the season, he’d never met the team’s front office before being picked.

“[Korchinski is] unbelievableplaymaker with the puck,” Hawks scouting director Mike Doneghey said. “He gets up ice fast, gets back for pucks fast, is really good on the power play. He’s differentthana lot of the defensemen we’ve drafted in the last few years. He’s really puck friendly. He’ll be a first unit power-play guy [and]projects to be a first-pairing defenseman.”

The Hawks were also high on forward Cutter Gauthier, but he went fifth to the Flyers. They seriously considered Marco Kasper, who eventually went to the Red Wings with the eighth pick, before choosing Korchinski.

Nazar is an elusive center who tallied 70 points in 56 games for the U.S. National Team Development Program last season after transitioning from wing the season prior. He said he tallied five points in his first game at center and never looked back.

On the small side at 5-10, 181 pounds but highly competitive and laden with enticing attributes, he’s coincidentally not entirely dissimilar from Alex DeBrincat, whom the Hawks traded away Thursday. But the University of Michigan commit named Lightning star Brayden Point as his NHL role model.

“Frank’s just an absolute pistol,” Davidson said. “He competes like nobody else. He skates like nobody else. He’s just full speed, all the time, and all-out effort. He’s the kind of forward that will drag people into the fight with him.”

The Hawks traded up from 38th to 25th to nab Rinzel, whose stock had risen significantly in recent weeks. They were worried, based on intel, that the Blues at 23rd or Wild at 24th might take him first.

The 6-3 defenseman split time last season between Chaska High School in Minnesota and Waterloo of the USHL, where he’ll play next season before heading to the University of Minnesota in 2023. He said the Hawks had the most interest in him of any NHL team throughout the scouting process.

“He’s more on the longer path…but there’s just so much to mold with him,” Doneghey said, adding they’d like for Rinzel to gain weight. “The good pieces are there: the skating, the size, the right shot.”

While the Hawks’ stream of activity outpaced any team around the league Thursday, they still didn’t create as much of a stir as the host Canadiens did with the No. 1 pick, choosing Juraj Slafkovsky over longtime favorite Shane Wright.

Wright eventually slipped to fourth with the Kraken, with the Devils selecting Simon Nemec second –meaning both of the top two picks were Slovakian –and the Coyotes choosing Logan Cooley third.

The Hawks enter the remainder of the draft Friday with another nine picks in hand: 39th and 57th in the second round; 66th, 81st, 90th and 94th in the third round; 167th and 173rd in the sixth round; and 199th in the seventh round.

Doneghey said there are so many players the Hawks consider first-round caliber still available entering Friday that he’s confident they’ll get one at 39th. They’ll also consider packaging some of their third-round picks to acquire another second-round pick or more picks in 2023.

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LOS ANGELES — The home-run derby came to Dodger Stadium early.

The Cubs and Dodgers scored most of their runs via the long ball Thursday as the Cubs fell 5-3.

“You could see these guys grind to the end,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “That’s something that’s … stood out about this group.”

All-Star banners graced the roads outside of the stadium, and a sign looked down on right field, serving as reminders that Dodger Stadium is set to host All-Star festivities in less than two weeks.

On Thursday, Mookie Betts showed one reason he’s an All-Star-ballot finalist, book-ending the Dodgers’ scoring with leadoff home runs in the first and eighth innings.

The Dodgers hit two more home runs off Cubs starter Mark Leiter Jr. for a total of three. Gavin Lux drove a two-run shot to right in the second inning, and Justin Turner got ahold of a high heater for a solo homer in the fourth.

The Cubs responded in the fifth. Rookie Christopher Morel cut the Dodgers’ lead in half with a two-run home run of his own.

But Betts wasn’t finished.

The Cubs again fought back in the ninth against Dodgers closer and former Cub Craig Kimbrel. Ian Happ started the rally with a two-out single.

“Just trying to be on the heater and trying to keep him in the zone,” Happ said. “He’s so dominant at the top of the zone, trying to push him down. He made good pitches there and got me to a two-strike count, and I was just able to fight something off.”

Seiya Suzuki drove in Happ with a double for the first RBI of the game that didn’t come on a homer.

With runners on first and third, lefty Alex Vesia replaced Kimbrel and struck out pinch hitter Nelson Vel?zquez to end the game.

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MONTREAL –Kyle Davidson has made his decision. The Blackhawks have begun a scorched-earth rebuild.

And neither Alex DeBrincat nor Kirby Dach will be part of it.

In an explosive Thursday at the NHL draft, DeBrincat was traded to the Senators for the seventh and 39th overall picks — plus a third-round pick in 2024 –and Dach was traded to the Canadiens for the 13th and 66th picks.

The Hawks also acquired the 25th pick and goalie Petr Mrazek from the Maple Leafs in exchange for the 39th pick, then selected defenseman Kevin Korchinski, forward Frank Nazar and defenseman Sam Rinzel with their three newly acquired first-round picks.

The trades cemented the Hawks’ plan to completely tear down their current roster and reconstruct their organizational depth chart through the draft, accepting years of struggles in the meantime.

“Going through a rebuild, it’s not fun,” Davidson said. “There’s going to be tough days like this where you see familiar faces [leave]. … But it’s necessary to get to where we want to be. It’s all about the process.”

The return for DeBrincat was underwhelming, given the burgeoning superstar had previously been considered the centerpiece of the Hawks’ new core. The return for Dach was far more palatable, given his difficulty finding his stride in the NHL over his first three seasons.

“With respect to the DeBrincat deal in particular…the flexibility it gave us to either add younger players to the roster [or] use our cap space to add more assets, that all goes into the ‘return,'” Davidson added.

The trades end DeBrincat and Dach’s Chicago tenures shockingly abruptly.

DeBrincat was coming off a fantastic 2021-22 season in which he tied a career high with 41 goals and arguably surpassed Patrick Kane as the team’s best player. He, in total, tallied 160 goals and 307 points in 368 games over five seasons with the Hawks.

Dach, meanwhile, struggled with his confidence throughout much of his straining season, finishing with 26 points in 70 games. After a promising if understated rookie season, his wrist injury in December 2020 set him back significantly, and he ultimately tallied just 59 points in 152 total games for the Hawks.

One logical criticism of the trades is that DeBrincat, still only 24 years old, will likely always be — even in several years, when the Hawks start trying to contend again –better than anyone the Hawks pick this week. Even Dach, at age 21 with plenty of elite physical tools to build around, might one day also fit that description.

DeBrincat is admittedly due a massive payday next summer, when his current contract (with a $6.4 million salary cap hit) expires, and the Senators haven’t talked with him yet about a possible extension. But he could become a franchise centerpiece type of player, and for a Senators team trying to ascend after years of mediocrity, he’s a very worthy use of cash.

“Not that there wasn’t interest in Alex, but it’s a little harder of a deal to make given the [contract] uncertainty moving forward,” Davidson said. “Even great players have to fit under cap, so that made it a little tough on some teams. And most of the league is in a cap crunch. There’s a very select number of teams that, one, want to add a player, and two, if they want to add a player, [are able to] give you some high-value assets up the draft board.”

Davidson nonetheless insisted he believed DeBrincat’s value was at its maximum point Thursday versus later in the offseason or during next season.

The Senators’ ability to exclude from the trade all of their top prospects– a talented pool headlined by Jake Sanderson, Erik Brannstrom, Ridly Greig and Jacob Bernard-Docker — was also surprising. With those guys plus DeBrincat joining a preexisting forward core of Matthew Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Josh Norris and Drake Batherson, the future looks bright in Ottawa.

And while the package Montreal surrendered for Dach more accurately reflects his perceived value, a 13th pickis still quite a bit lower than a third pick, as in the one the Hawks used to select Dach in 2019.

Davidson said he was looking for offers for DeBrincat that included a top-10 pick and for Dach that included a top-15 pick. Once those materialized –in the latter case after the Canadiens made a separate deal for the Islanders’ 13th selection –they were able to build out satisfactory packages. Asking for a Senators prospect was considered, but Davidson ultimately valued the 39th pick more.

The trades will be primarily justified, however, as just pieces of a bigger-picture puzzle moving forward. Given Davidson’s lack of leverage, he’ll have a difficult time getting fair value for anyone in a vacuum. His plan is to accumulate so many picksthrough numerous moves that some inevitably develop into game-changing players down the road.

Gutting the Hawks’ roster of talent could also improve the Hawks’ own pick positions in 2023, with the goal of ending up with a top-three overall pick and the ability to select one of three star prospects: Connor Bedard, Matvei Michkov and Adam Fantilli.

“Today was a day that I’m not sure any people saw coming,” Davidson said. “But it’s a necessary step that we had to take… We had to make a big shift. We had to change things.”

The spotlight now turns to longtime franchise cornerstones Kane and Jonathan Toews, who hold no-trade clauses and haven’t tipped their intentions.

DeBrincat and Dach’s departures may well influence their decisions, as it has become abundantly clear the Hawks plan to ice an otherwise terrible forward lineup next season. Davidson said he’d been honest with Kane and Toews about the changes coming but acknowledged they’re “real now.”

“There’s value in having guys like that that can help mold and set the bar and set the example for younger players coming in,” he said. “That’s a two-way street, and they have to want to be a part of that. But to this point, we haven’t heard otherwise.”

The one active player acquired in all the chaos was Mrazek. He will be the Hawks’ new starting goalie next season, shaky as he may be –which won’t particularly bother the tanking Hawks.

The 30-year-old Czech Republic native is coming off a disastrous year in Toronto, in which he was plagued by injuries and posted an .888 save percentage in 20 appearances, but he’d gone 50-32-8 with a .911 save percentage the previous three seasons combined with the Hurricanes. He has two years left at a $3.8 million cap hit, which the Leafs were desperate to dump.

“We’ve got two years of term on him, so we don’t have to worry about going into the free-agent market and dealing with a bunch of competition,” Davidson said. “We’ve got a guy that can come in and give us solid NHL starts.”

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LOS ANGELES – The home run derby came to Dodger Stadium early.

The Cubs and Dodgers scored most of their runs via the long ball on Thursday, as the Cubs fell to the Dodgers 5-3.

“You could see these guys grind to the end,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “That’s something that’s … stood out about this group.”

All-Star banners graced the roads outside of the stadium, and a sign looked down on right field, serving as reminders that Dodger Stadium is set to host All-Star festivities in less than two weeks.

On Thursday, Mookie Betts showed one reason he’s an All-Star ballot finalist, book-ending the Dodgers’ scoring with leadoff home runs in the first inning and the eighth.

The Dodgers hit two more home runs off Cubs starter Mark Leiter Jr., for a total of three. Gavin Lux drove a two-run shot to right in the second inning, and Justin Turner got ahold of a high heater for a solo homer in the fourth.

The Cubs responded in the fifth. Rookie Christopher Morel cut the Dodgers’ lead in half with a two-run home run of his own.

But Betts wasn’t finished.

The Cubs agin fought back in the ninth, against current Dodgers closer and former Cub Craig Kimbrel. Ian Happ started the Cubs’ rally with a two-out single.

“Just trying to be on the heater and trying to keep him in the zone,” Happ said. He’s so dominant at the top of the zone, trying to push him down. He made good pitches there and got me to a two-strike count, and I was just able to fight something off.”

Seiya Suzuki drove in Happ with double for the first RBI of the game that didn’t come on a homer.

With runners on first and third, lefty Alex Vesia replaced Kimbrel and struck out pinch hitter Nelson Vel?zquez to finish the game.

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So much for a bump from a three-homer barrage and a walk-off victory the day before.

The White Sox got dominated by a rookie pitcher, who won for the first time on the road, in a 2-1 loss to the Tigers on Thursday night.

“Momentum is great, but you have to show up and win the next one,” Sox right-hander Dylan Cease said.

The deflating loss at Guaranteed Rate Field dropped the Sox to 39-42 at the halfway point of the season and six games behind the idle Twins, who took two of three from the Sox this week. This was the Sox’ third loss in four games on a homestand opening a stretch of 17 games against division opponents.

“We hold ourselves to a higher standard than what we’ve been playing at,” said Cease, who continued to pitch like the Sox’ ace with six innings of one-run ball. “We are going to keep putting in the work, and there’s still a lot of season left. I wouldn’t count us out of it yet.”

After being dead quiet for eight innings, the Sox had a shot in the ninth against closer Gregory Soto when Luis Robert doubled past diving first baseman Spencer Torkelson, driving in the Sox’ first run and putting the tying and go-ahead runs on second and third.

But Jose Abreu chased a high fastball well out of the zone for a strikeout, and Eloy Jimenez, whose home run and three RBI sparked the Sox in a 9-8 win in 10 innings against the Twins on Wednesday, grounded out to end the game.

Right-hander Beau Brieske, who entered with a 1-6 record, 4.54 ERA and no wins on the road, held the Sox hitless through five innings.

Cease, meanwhile, allowed three hits, including a homer by former Cub Javy Baez.

Baez, who was booed by fans among the 21,086 at Guaranteed Rate Field before his first at-bat, hit his eighth homer in the fourth on a slider, a pitch that helped Cease get eight strikeouts and 16 swings and misses from his 101 pitches. He lowered his ERA to 2.45.

Detroit made it 2-0 in the ninth on Torkelson’s RBI single against Tanner Banks.

The Tigers stretched their winning streak to five, and did it against Cease, who was 10-0 with a 1.91 career ERA against Detroit going in.

The Sox are 5-2 against the Tigers and 17-9 against them since last season. They’ve run into too many outs this season, and another baserunning miscue surfaced in the seventh, when Abreu, on first base and anticipating a wild pitch that didn’t happen, got caught between first and second to end the inning with Yoan Moncada batting.

Abreu, batting .290, extended his hitting streak to 12 games but had his toughest at-bat in the ninth.

“With the stuff Soto’s got, you’ve got to start the bat or you’ll never get to it,” manager Tony La Russa said. “Had the right guy up. Got ahead of him, and that was the key. First pitch a strike, and that made him control the at-bat.”

“It’s a tough ballgame,” said AJ Pollock, who was 0-for-3 with a walk and made a nice running catch in right-center field. “The numbers aren’t saying it’s a slam dunk to get that runner in no matter how good you are. Especially against the closer out there. We put ourselves in position to tie it, and it just didn’t work out. That’s the guy we want up every time.”

Against Brieske, “we made enough contact to get something on the board, but he was very impressive,” La Russa said.

The Sox are 10-15 against the American League Central and 14-9 in one-run games.

“Everyone wants to explain stuff,” Pollock said. “It’s tough. [The opponents] are on scholarship, too, you know?

”Guys aren’t thinking we stink out there. Some nights you stink. But overall we have a talented group, and baseball is tough. You’ve just got to get to work, and you keep working, working.”

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MONTREAL –As the Blackhawks progress slowly through their rebuild, Kevin Korchinski, Frank Nazar and Sam Rinzel are three names that’ll be mentioned often.

The Hawks chose Korchinski, Nazar and Rinzel with the seventh, 13th and 25th overall picks, respectively, of the 2022 NHL Draft on Thursday. All three picks were acquired from other teams during the course of the night as part of blockbuster trades involving Alex DeBrincat, Kirby Dach and Petr Mrazek.

Korchinski is an offensive defenseman who tallied 65 points in 67 games for the Western Hockey League’s Seattle Thunderbirds last season.

Standing a sturdy 6-2, 185 pounds at age 18, the Saskatchewan native said he models his game after Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore but grew up a Hawks fan because of his dad. However, despite talking to Hawks scouts during the season, he’d never met the team’s front office before being picked.

“I love to join the rush, love to create offense and [love] using my feet, puck skills [and] passing ability,” Torchinski said.

Nazar is an elusive center who tallied 70 points in 56 games for the U.S. National Team Development Program last season after transitioning from a winger the season prior.

On the small side at 5-10, 181 pounds, he perfectly fits the priorities the Hawks seemed to prioritize entering Thursday: fast, strong-skating forwards with scoring touches.

“I’m a little bit like [Lightning star] Brayden Point,” Nazar said. “I’m not as complete a player as him, as of right now, but that’s why you’ve got to work. … I’d say him because of qualities like the speed and being able to score and get in those open areas.”

The Hawks traded up from 38th to 25th to nab Rinzel, whose stock had risen significantly in recent weeks even though he’s a somewhat long-term project prospect.

The 6-3 defenseman split time last season between Chaska High School in Minnesota and Waterloo of the United States Hockey League, and he’s committed to the University of Minnesota next season. He said the Hawks had shown heavy interest in him throughout the scouting process.

While the Hawks’ stream of activity outpaced any team around the league Thursday, they still didn’t create as much of a stir as the host Canadiens did with the No. 1 pick, choosing Juraj Slafkovsky over longtime favorite Shane Wright.

Wright eventually slipped to fourth with the Kraken, with the Devils selecting Simon Nemec second –meaning both of the top two picks were Slovakian –and the Coyotes choosing Logan Cooley third.

The Hawks enter the remaining rounds of the draft Friday with another nine picks to make: 39th and 57th in the second round; 66th, 81st, 90th and 94th in the third round; 167th and 173rd in the sixth round; and 199th in the seventh round.

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A 21-year-old man was shot in the legs Thursday evening in Chicago’s South Side.

He was struck by gunfire inside a residence in the 2900 block of South State Street at around 6:50 p.m., Chicago police said.

He was taken to Northwestern Hospital in unknown condition, police said. No arrests have been made.

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MONTREAL –As the Blackhawks progress slowly through their rebuild, Kevin Korchinski and Frank Nazar are two names that’ll be mentioned a lot.

The Hawks chose Korchinski and Nazar with the seventh and 13th overall picks, respectively, of the 2022 NHL Draft on Thursday, shortly after trading away Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach for packages headlined by those two picks.

Korchinski is an offensive defenseman who tallied 65 points in 67 games for the Western Hockey League’s Seattle Thunderbirds last season.

Standing a sturdy 6-2, 185 pounds at age 18, the Saskatchewan native said he models his game after Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore but grew up a Hawks fan because of his dad.

Nazar is an elusive forward who tallied 70 points in 56 games for the U.S. National Team Development Program last season.

On the small side at 5-10, 181 pounds, he perfectly fits the priorities the Hawks seemed to prioritize entering Thursday: fast, strong-skating forwards with offensive upside.

This story will be updated.

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A White Sox Star is Born – Oscar Colas is headed to the Futures Game

The future of baseball is looking very bright. There are some truly talented prospects on the horizon. And we get a glimpse of that future each year at the All-Star Futures Game. This year, Oscar Colas, no. 2 on the White Sox’s top prospects, will be representing the White Sox.

International outfielder, Oscar Colas, has had a long journey to White Sox outfielder. Overseas, he played for leagues in both Japan and Cuba. He has even spent some time pitching. Though he says those days are in the past.

“Pitching is in the past for me,” said Colas through interpreter Billy Russo on Tuesday. “The last time I pitched was my first year in Japan. When I signed with the organization, they told me they weren’t interested in pitching, and I wasn’t really into it then. It was an easy decision. My focus for now is just being an outfielder.”

Colas, the 23-year-old Cuban outfielder, currently plays for High-A Winston-Salem. He’s hitting .316/.374/.487 for the minor league team and ranks second in the team on batting average. In 56 games, Colas has had 74 hits, 7 home runs, and 42 RBIs. On top of his incredible slashing numbers, Colas is also a force in the outfield. His sharp eye and rocket arm made his transition from pitcher to outfielder very smooth.

The upcoming season will be Oscar Colas’ first season with the MLB organization and his first season in the United States. It will be interesting to see how Colas’ versatility as a player impacts his game on the field. All in all, things are looking good for the White Sox.

The 2022 MLB All-Star Futures Game will be streaming on Peakcock and SiriusXM at 6:00 pm CT on Saturday, July 16th. And it will be rebroadcast on the MLB Network at 8:00 am CT on Sunday, July 17th.

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