Maybe Tony La Russa Wasn't the Problem with the Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox continue to drop games at an alarming pace. After being swept by the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field, the White Sox fell to 7-15: eight games below .500 and five games back of the Minnesota Twins for the American League Central lead. Jack Vita writes why White Sox' fans should be concerned about their club's early season struggles and why Pedro Grifol and Tony La Russa aren't to blame for the team's shortcomings over the past two years.

The Chicago White Sox continue to drop games at an alarming pace. After being swept by the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field, the White Sox fell to 7-15: eight games below .500 and five games back of the Minnesota Twins for the American League Central lead.

It's often been said that a teams can't win divisions in April, but they can lose them. Losers of four straight and nine of 11, the White Sox are in danger of freefalling out of the division race in the season's first month.

Over their last 237 games (postseason games included) dating back to August 9, 2021, the White Sox are 115-122. Heavily favored to repeat as division champions in a weak American League Central, the White Sox finished just 81-81 in 2022. 77-year-old manager Tony La Russa received the brunt of the criticism, and when the club showed signs of new life under interim manager Miguel Cairo in the late summer, the future looked somewhat promising. That is, until the White Sox dropped eight in a row in mid-September to division rivals Cleveland, Detroit and Minnesota, finishing 5-10 over their final 15 games of the season, and entirely torpedoing their playoffs hopes.

I attended the White Sox' final game against the division champion Cleveland Guardians, late last September. My friend and I were able to purchase resale tickets at a cheap price, sitting just a few rows back of the White Sox' dugout. As the White Sox would go on to lose 4-2, suffering a sweep to the Guardians, a group of young male fans that appeared to be in their early 20s attempted to start a "FIRE TONY!" chant, but the group was unsuccessful. Their chants never caught on, but they had made their point: Tony La Russa was to blame for the White Sox' lackluster 2022 season, and under a new (younger) manager, the club would return to the postseason in 2023. That was the hope from the White Sox faithful, many of whom made their voice heard on social media.

Due to medical concerns, La Russa was forced to miss the final month of the club's postseason pursuit. He retired due to persisting medical issues, days before he turned 78.

A month later, the White Sox made Kansas City Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol their 42nd manager, then proceeded to have a rather quiet offseason.

The White Sox watched their longest-tenured player — first baseman Jose Abreu — walk away, signing a three-year deal with the defending champion Houston Astros. Fans hoped that Abreu's departure would make the White Sox better defensively. The club had placed near the bottom of the league in Defensive Runs Saved over the past few years, and playing natural first baseman Andrew Vaughn out of position was a part of the reason why. Abreu's departure allowed Vaugh to return to his natural position and create an opening in the outfield, which the Sox filled by signing Gold Glover Andrew Benintendi to the richest free agent contract in franchise history. But by losing Abreu, the White Sox lost a cornerstone franchise player, a former AL MVP and a veteran leader.

Aside from adding Benintendi, retaining infielder Elvis Andrus and swapping Johnny Cueto out of their rotation for Mike Clevinger, the White Sox had a fairly inactive offseason, coming off a season in which the club greatly underachieved.

The most significant alteration to the club came in the form of its manager. It appeared that a new voice in the clubhouse paired with better health would return the White Sox to the top of the division. In the preseason, however, I didn't see it. I often argued with White Sox fans who proclaimed that their club would return to what it was two seasons ago in 2023, thanks to Grifol and better luck. The White Sox have been hampered with injuries over the last three seasons. Fans were hopeful that 2023 would be different. Through their first 22 games, that hasn't been the case.

Outfielder Eloy Jimenez (hamstring), shortstop Tim Anderson (knee) and third baseman Yoan Moncada (back) have all hit the Injured List since the start of the season. At a certain point, fans and front office workers alike need to come to a realization that perhaps certain players are more injury prone than others. Anderson has played 150 or more games in a season just once in his eight-year MLB career. He hasn't played more than 125 games in a season since 2018. Eloy Jimenez has shown the potential to be an MVP-caliber player, if he stays healthy. Jimenez played 122 games in his first Major League season in 2018. Since, he hasn't even played 85 games in a single-season. Moncada has never played 150 games in a season in his eight-year career.

The White Sox don't have much depth, either. When Anderson went down, it meant that Andrus would once again be filling in for him at short. Andrus is slashing .216/.280/.537 through 21 games this season, a steep drop-off in offensive output from Anderson's career slash line of .288/.317/.758. Andrus opened the season as the club's starting second baseman. Since Andrus moved to shortstop, 23-year-old Lenyn Sosa has seen the most amount of time at second base; he's slashing .161/.188/.478. 26-year-old Romy Gonzalez has also been a key replacement for the Sox. Gonzalez is slashing .115/.115/.231. It should be noted though that Jake Burger (.250/.349/1.099) and Gavin Sheets (.333/.444/.978) have greatly impressed at the plate this season. Neither, however, have rated well defensively in their young careers.

The White Sox' pitching has been underwhelming through the first three weeks of the season. 2022 American League Cy Young runner-up Dylan Cease (2-0, 2.73 ERA) has continued to be at the top of his game and first-year White Sox pitcher Mike Clevinger (2-1, 3.26 ERA) seems to have returned to form, but Lance Lynn (1-1, 4.29 ERA), Lucas Giolito (1-1, 4.29 ERA) and Michael Kopech (0-2, 6.97 ERA) are all off to slow starts. I'm not overly concerned about the Sox' rotation, yet. I expect Lynn, Giolito and Kopech to improve, but the bullpen's early struggles are very concerning.

The White Sox fired Rick Renteria after 2020, with the plan of bringing in a veteran manager that would hopefully elevate their club to the next level. Two years later, the club moved in the opposite direction, hiring a younger rookie manager. Although it's early, the White Sox are showing no signs of improvement under Grifol. In fact, the team seems to be taking steps backwards. Is it Grifol's fault? I don't believe so. Nor do I believe that La Russa should be squarely to blame for the White Sox' shortcomings a season ago.

Managers typically don't have much control over roster decisions. They can simply make the best use of the players that they are given. In my opinion, the White Sox' roster is at-best, the third-most formidable group of players in the American League Central. The Guardians and the Twins are bother significantly better. The manager can only be blamed so many times. Eventually, a team's struggles tend to be a reflection of roster construction and decisions made by the front office.

It's still early. The White Sox have time, and have a chance to turn things around. The club still has time to get healthy and heat up. But given how things are going and how things have gone over their last 237 games, it's not looking very promising for Pedro Grifol's club. With each loss, the White Sox are digging themselves into a deeper hole that will be more difficult to pick themselves out of.

After losing four straight, the Sox will now travel to Canada for a three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays, before returning home to host the Rays for a four-game grudge match. Then, the division-leading twins will come to town. The next ten games on the White Sox' schedule will likely prove to be very critical for them. They cannot afford to allow their early-season struggles to linger for much longer.

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