I spent a good chunk of the weekend driving, so I'm late to the game on unflattering secondhand comments associated to Jerry Reinsdorf and the reaction that resulted. However, ImmortalTimeTravelMan requested a discussion, and it should be entered into the record in case this ends up having lasting resonance.
The quote, relayed by former Marlins team president David Samson on ESPN's Miami-based Lebatard and Friends Mystery Crate Podcast, seems like it shouldn't be that big of a deal if handled correctly:
Samson was part of a Marlins front office that was equal parts villainous and dysfunctional, and has spent his post-baseball career living his best life. He's kinda credible because he walked among front office types, but he also seems to like the attention from being the heel. This being the case, the White Sox had multiple ways to minimize the blowback.
No. 1: Ignore it. Reinsdorf is largely invisible from White Sox proceedings, so this wouldn't be anything new. Samson might not be worth responding to.
No. 2: Reject it/downplay it. If rejecting it isn't possible, the White Sox could've said Samson mischaracterized a tongue-in-cheek observation about expectations.
But because the White Sox are both sensitive to criticism while isolated from any consequences from their lack of success, they chose:
No. 3: Issue an oblivious non-denial.
The White Sox haven't made the postseason in 11 consecutive seasons, and they haven't even finished second since 2012, so I'm not sure what this "No Fear" t-shirt of a statement was supposed to accomplish. It's lack of awareness is especially conspicuous after a winter where the Sox pursued Manny Machado as if they wanted to be the runner-up, and Kenny Williams sounded proud of the way they "accomplished" that.
Ideally, the discontentment fomented by this exchange, along with the sting of coming up significantly short on Machado while insisting "the money will be spent" last winter, will inspire the White Sox to reach new heights of investment and creativity as a reward for the fans suffering through it all. The flipside is that this quote reflects the further Bullsification of the White Sox, where any lofty rhetoric is immediately negated by small-minded weirdness, and they'll never stop.
Either way, Samson's anecdote doesn't strike me as a "gotcha" moment. It doesn't matter whether it's true or false, because if you already hold low expectations for the front office, the cynicism of the quote or the flimsiness of the reaction will reinforce your pessimism.
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In another meriting attention, Todd Steverson's exit interview with James Fegan reflects a guy at peace with his present. He had some feathers in his cap -- Avisaíl García, Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada and even Leury García experienced dramatic transformations after early stumbles -- and that's enough to sustain him as he looks for tother work.
The problem is that all of those stories followed a similar template, with success emerging through extreme aggression. That strikes me as Steverson working with what he's given, by and large, but it's hard to keep going to that well when plate discipline has a stronger correlation to lasting success.
The quote that jumped out to me dovetails with my belief about guys like Zack Collins and Yonder Alonso -- that plate discipline without works is dead. Steverson seems to buy into this coming from the other direction:
“The secondary pieces, talk about the walk, the OBP and some of the other things that they’re going to be able to do throughout the course of their careers, those are going to come,” he said. “They come with the fact that they have the confidence now that they can hit at this level.
“Strike zone awareness is always going to be the top thing that’s going to control your career. Your plate discipline is going to make your whole career. That was never something that was deleted in any conversation with anyone.”
Avisaíl García's walk column will tell you that punishing strikes doesn't lead to recognizing balls, but I get where he's coming from. I also get where the White Sox are coming from in seeking a different leader at the top of the hitting charts, because their combination of zero walks, lots of strikeouts and mediocre power kills them in this era.
If we were running a science experiment, we'd probably want Steverson in there for 30 seasons to better understand whether the front office could ever deliver players who wouldn't need to swing their way to average and above. And although the Sox sometimes act like they have 30 years to get it right, there's enough going wrong that being proactive probably won't set them back.
