By Roger Wallenstein
In what has been billed as the beginning of spring training 2015, this month – at least from a won-loss standpoint – looks ominously familiar.
With the trades of Gordon Beckham, Alejandro De Aza and Adam Dunn, the White Sox front office cleared space so that we could get a look at the likes of Carlos Sanchez, Michael Taylor, Andy Wilkens, Chris Bassitt, and Scott Snodgress while observing the progress (or lack thereof) of Jordan Danks, Marcus Semien and Josh Phegley.
This all appears reasonable since the Sox, while interesting to watch prior to the All-Star Game, have truly never been in contention since Opening Day. No one puts much stock in a team’s spring training record – the Sox were 9-14 this year – but our fellows were joined by Boston, Texas and Minnesota at the bottom of the American League last March, and all four teams reside at the bottom of their respective divisions as we painfully trek toward the end of another losing season.
Were we foolish to think that the Sox could finish at .500 or better back on August 1st when the team was 54-56? I mean, isn’t 110 games enough to determine the caliber of a major-league ballclub? Apparently not.
Posted on September 8, 2014