Yes, the White Sox are a cautionary tale. Great article.
- scottak
Well yeah - Don't hire your buddy you feel bad about firing 40 years ago who hasn't been relevant in 10 is probably a one thing. And it seems like the Hawks weeded out some of the nepotism and smartest guy in the room that was going on in the Hawks front office and is still prevalent with the Sox.
Not spending money in the outfield or at second to address gaping holes was and remains a huge problem. Not having relevant options to preserve Roberts legs or not have Eloy do Eloy things in the outfield would have been neat. You'd think that Vaughn would do better at the plate if he didn't have to learn how to play a new position at the highest level. Kind of hard to have success when you have 1 starting position player for the entire outfield. Even if you work off the assumption that Colas is ready they need another competent starter out there.
Certainly not adding another starter who could have absorbed innings was a problem. If they don't bring in someone like Quintana or Conforto they're probably going to have another long season regardless of how well Cease and Lynn pitch. Definitely need an insurance policy for Kopech.
The Hawks haven't shown any hesitancy to spend money long term, which is one of the biggest problems on the south side. Davidson has been ruthless dealing players at probably what is a peak return which is more you could say for Hahn.
I dunno what these bozos were swinging at but the lack of home runs with the amount of dudes with allegedly big bats on the team was hilariously pitiful.
Lastly - health was a problem. Robert you could argue that since he has to cover literally the whole outfield that getting some help there would help him out. Eloy was out for most of the season, Anderson had injury issues for most of the season and was eventually shut down, Lynn and Kopech both had issues.
I'd say 30% of it was a coaching problem absolutely. 50% was a going into the season with a limited line up and hoping rather than solidifying the positions there was weakness. If they hit the poop out of the ball maybe what they tried last year works but I wouldn't count on it. And 20% was a health issue which is related to line up issues.
I feel like most Sox fans who follow the team were cautiously optimistic when the season started but kinda saw this meltdown coming.
I don't think it really relates to what the Hawks are doing. There isn't anything to indicate, based on Davidson's actions so far and the types of players that they have targeted, that they won't hold onto draft picks too long and certainly that they won't spend when the time comes (because they will).
