Injuries - They need to be fired

[Texsox]

We all want changes in the front office and in the dugout. That's a given. And we all know that injuries are mostly beyond the front office and manager's control. We also know that some front offices and managers are rightfully (and wrongfully) given second chances based on injuries. We don't want that to happen, so we act as of having Garcia in center or short instead of All Stars shouldn't make a difference. 

So we've lost a couple games to injuries, I'll blame players and Doc for not arriving in better condition and bad luck. I also blame Happy Hahn for not putting together a better bench and farm system to weather some of those. But it is injuries that cost a couple games. 

We lost a couple games to bad gambles by Sleepy in the dugout. The hitting approach that Dopey has been tasked with installing has cost us a couple games. 

Regression and lack of aggression (except for swinging early and often) has cost us games. 

Injuries exposed the barely competitive roster that Hahn put together. Injuries exposed Tony's inability to cobble together optimum lineups. But exposed them it did. 

So a couple games to injuries, a couple to Tony, a couple to decline in ability, a couple to attitude (also Tony's fault), and we have a four game lead not a four game deficit. 

The pre 2021 fan in me would be thinking we could get everyone back over the next twenty-five games, catch fire, and steamroll our way into the playoffs. I don't see that with Sleepy, Dopey, Happy, and Doc in charge. 

 

 

[South Side Hit Men]

Who was the Head Athletic Trainer before the Sox suffered an inordinate number of injuries the past two seasons? Brian Ball.

When was Brian Ball fired by the White Sox? The week Tony La Russa was announced as manager.

What reason is Brian Ball suing the White Sox for alleged discrimination? Brian Ball alleges he was terminated due to sexual orientation.

Is the timing and alleged reason a coincidence? Suspicious or worse.

https://wgntv.com/news/former-white-sox-head-trainer-sues-team-for-alleged-discrimination-over-sexual-orientation/

Quote

They terminated his employment in October (2020) of that year. “I asked why and there was no reason,” Ball said.

The lawsuit alleges an individual identified only as the letter A, a management level representative of the White Sox, told him months later his termination from his position was based on his sexual orientation. His attorney claims there are multiple people in the organization who will back up that allegation.

 

Tony La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation is currently facing a lawsuit based on racial and age discrimination.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/04/24/family-divisions-explosive-allegations-engulf-tony-la-russas-animal-rescue-foundation/

Quote

The lawsuits claim that (Executive Director Elena) Bicker, McCoy and even La Russa himself “tolerated, engendered and permitted a toxic workplace culture.”

The lawsuits also allege: Bicker regularly “ranted” about employees and then fired them; the human relations manager received a complaint from an employee who said Bicker laughingly yelled out generic names for Black women when she couldn’t remember the name of a Black consultant; Bicker “demeaned” Black Lives Matters protesters by showing a photo of black Labradors with the caption, “Black Dogs Matter”; and Bicker laughed off La Russa making a joke about a Black guest at a 2018 ARF event speaking in “ebonics.”

 

[Kyyle23]

Man stop highlighting everything.  Adults know how to read 

[Balta1701]

Checking some of my favorite lists, I predicted at the start of the season the White Sox would be in the top 3 or something like that in terms of days spent on the IL this season. As of right now, they're 13th - almost average. Notable teams that have had more IL usage than us include the Cubs, Red Sox, Twins, Rays, Dodgers, Tigers, Padres, and Phillies.

There is some concentration of their IL time amongst guys who are highly paid - they are 8th in terms of dollars paid to IL players (the Red Sox are dominating this list). However, since they're 7th overall in payroll, this doesn't seem excessive either.

But oh, they've certainly lost more key guys than any of these teams right? So they've lost tons of WAR? Well, here's a week old version of that using a "lost-WAR" metric, that could of course be calculated a couple ways for guys like Crochet who have been out for the season.

 

The important detail there - the White Sox's lost WAR is tiny compared to many of the teams ahead of them, including Minnesota. They are in the bottom 10 for how impactful injuries have been by that standard. Overall, they're sort of middle of the pack in terms of number of injuries and impact of those injuries based on how guys have performed when they were here. They're substantially healthier overall than I predicted during the year. The idea that injuries have been a major factor in the White Sox hanging at .500 but the teams ahead of them have been healthier is inconsistent with most available data. 

The only way to make this look different is to imagine that when other teams have injuries, their players come back at 100%, while the White Sox have had guys go out and come back who no longer contribute like they did before their injury, so somehow the injuries are more impactful than what has been shown here. But of course, if that was the case for multiple people, that is telling you something else about how you're treating the players, perhaps you are bringing guys back too early or without enough rehab time. 

[South Side Hit Men]

42 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

Well, here's a week old version of that using a "lost-WAR" metric, that could of course be calculated a couple ways for guys like Crochet who have been out for the season.

 

 

Live these graphs!

Do you know if “Lost WAR” is based on projected WAR, actual 2022 WAR earned or a blended rate?

If projected WAR is used, than someone like Crochet would be factored in. If based on a pro-rata share of actual earned 2022 WAR, than it represents the fact that the bulk of the playing time lost were for guys who have sucked while playing this season.

Atlanta, San Diego, San Francisco and the Cubs lost little to nothing of significance regardless of method. Sox look to have lost slightly below average based on their bubble size.
 

4 hours ago, Kyyle23 said:

Man stop highlighting everything.  Adults know how to read 

If Sox senior management read HR policy, than perhaps their organizations wouldn’t be facing these lawsuits.

[caulfield12]

3 hours ago, Balta1701 said:

Checking some of my favorite lists, I predicted at the start of the season the White Sox would be in the top 3 or something like that in terms of days spent on the IL this season. As of right now, they're 13th - almost average. Notable teams that have had more IL usage than us include the Cubs, Red Sox, Twins, Rays, Dodgers, Tigers, Padres, and Phillies.

There is some concentration of their IL time amongst guys who are highly paid - they are 8th in terms of dollars paid to IL players (the Red Sox are dominating this list). However, since they're 7th overall in payroll, this doesn't seem excessive either.

But oh, they've certainly lost more key guys than any of these teams right? So they've lost tons of WAR? Well, here's a week old version of that using a "lost-WAR" metric, that could of course be calculated a couple ways for guys like Crochet who have been out for the season.

 

The important detail there - the White Sox's lost WAR is tiny compared to many of the teams ahead of them, including Minnesota. They are in the bottom 10 for how impactful injuries have been by that standard. Overall, they're sort of middle of the pack in terms of number of injuries and impact of those injuries based on how guys have performed when they were here. They're substantially healthier overall than I predicted during the year. The idea that injuries have been a major factor in the White Sox hanging at .500 but the teams ahead of them have been healthier is inconsistent with most available data. 

The only way to make this look different is to imagine that when other teams have injuries, their players come back at 100%, while the White Sox have had guys go out and come back who no longer contribute like they did before their injury, so somehow the injuries are more impactful than what has been shown here. But of course, if that was the case for multiple people, that is telling you something else about how you're treating the players, perhaps you are bringing guys back too early or without enough rehab time. 

CLE and the Rays really stick out there…

[Balta1701]

3 hours ago, South Side Hit Men said:

Live these graphs!

Do you know if “Lost WAR” is based on projected WAR, actual 2022 WAR earned or a blended rate?

If projected WAR is used, than someone like Crochet would be factored in. If based on a pro-rata share of actual earned 2022 WAR, than it represents the fact that the bulk of the playing time lost were for guys who have sucked while playing this season.

Atlanta, San Diego, San Francisco and the Cubs lost little to nothing of significance regardless of method. Sox look to have lost slightly below average based on their bubble size.

I'll be honest, that website is proprietary, so since I don't pay for their results I can't see the algorithm. I think of it as a guidepost to go along with the raw numbers at spotrac. However...someone like Crochet, a reliever, isn't going to count as a huge WAR loss anyway.

I could see Lynn being underestimated if you think "Lynn would be a 5 WAR pitcher if he never got hurt", but he's been worthless since he came back. I don't know how they deal with that. I would have to say that Eloy probably doesn't count as a big loss because he's been pretty bad for 2 years now.