June 19, 2017: The Art Of Tanking

The White Sox are well on their way.  They’re currently the 2nd worst team in the AL.  They’re running out starters, besides Quintana, that not many teams would want.  They’re playing a bunch of young guys.  Yet, I just don’t think they’re trying hard enough.

The art of tanking is tricky.  You don’t want to purposely lose, although that may be the best for the long term success of the club.  No fan can sit there and tell me, I root for my team to lose.  Even in the darkest days of the Cubs rebuild, I never, ever rooted for them to lose.  Maybe I was a little less aggravated with the losses, hoping that they were part of some bigger picture plan.  It still wasn’t easy.

The Sox aren’t that bad.  Is that a good thing?  Yes, they are in last place, but they’re only six games out.  Yes, their starters leave something to be desired, but they have Rodon, Giolito, and Kopech in the minors; they could all technically be called up soon.  Yes, the young guys are learning, but yes, the young guys ARE learning.  And by the way, they’ve played 2/3 of their games on the road thus far.  They’re 15-12 at home thus far.

So, why not go for it?  Call up the arms.  Call up Moncada.  Besides the Indians, they’re not much worse than any other team in that division.  Keep Quintana.  Keep Robertson.  Still dump Frazier…now.  But are there enough pieces to win this year?  Imagine if Sale was still here…

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If the Sox want to follow the Cubs blueprint, which is the flavor of the year, considering how they did it, and the fact that they won it all, they will move forward with the rebuild.  I don’t think the Sox want to be like the Cubs in any way, at least they won’t admit it.  But to win it all is every team’s goal.  To be competitive year in year out for a good long time; that’s every fan’s dream.  Are the Sox there yet?

No.  Trade Quintana; his value is still there, don’t worry.  Trade Robertson; you don’t think a playoff team will want to bolster their bullpen a la the Cubs last year with Chapman.  I’m not saying David is Aroldis, I’m just saying.  Trade Frazier; some contending team would love his bat off the bench, if not in the starting lineup.  There are more pieces to gather.  This is not the year.

Maybe next year?  Ahh, the life long theme of Cubs fans for every year except 2016.  But seriously, with those arms, the young guys, and with some more young pieces, why not?  Why couldn’t 2018 be to the Sox what 2015 was to the Cubs?  They’d be ahead of even the Cubs on that rebuild schedule, and every Sox fan would love that.  Every Chicago fan would love this: an all Chicago World Series.  Trust the process Sox fans.  Keep on track Sox front office.  It’s well worth it.  Let me tell you.  It’s well worth it.