maxjusttyped Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Quote NEW YORK -- The struggling Chicago White Sox, whose fall out of contention culminated with moving veteran players at the trade deadline, were plagued by a culture that had "no rules" in which a rookie regularly fell asleep in the bullpen, former White Sox relief pitcher Keynan Middleton said Sunday. "We came in with no rules," Middleton said. "I don't know how you police the culture if there are no rules or guidelines to follow because everyone is doing their own thing. Like, how do you say anything about it because there are no rules? "You have rookies sleeping in the bullpen during the game. You have guys missing meetings. You have guys missing PFPs [pitcher fielding practices] and there are no consequences for any of this stuff." Multiple sources, who corroborated Middleton's account to ESPN, said a pitcher was seen napping during games as well as skipping fielding practice. When contacted on Sunday night about Middleton's remarks, the White Sox said they had no comment. Middleton said the problems at the White Sox predated his arrival this season -- as well as Grifol's. The team finished 81-81 last year under La Russa, the Hall of Fame manager, before he left the job due to health concerns. "When I got to spring training, I heard a lot of the same stuff was happening last year," Middleton said. "It's happening again this year so not sure how I could change it. They don't tell you not to miss PFPs. They don't tell you not to miss meetings and if it happens, it's just, 'OK.'" Asked where the void exists with the White Sox, Middleton said: "Leadership in general. They say s--- rolls downhill. I feel like some guys don't want to speak up when they should have. It's hard to police people when there are no rules. If guys are doing things that you think are wrong, who is it wrong to? You or them? It's anyone's judgment at that point." https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38147621/ex-white-sox-reliever-keynan-middleton-rips-club-no-rules-culture 2 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathom Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Fire everyone 3 1 1 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lip Man 1 Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 9 minutes ago, maxjusttyped said: https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38147621/ex-white-sox-reliever-keynan-middleton-rips-club-no-rules-culture Wow! And the part about the farcical WBC is dead-on. The Sox brass should not have allowed ANY player to participate, period. Full stop. Nor should they in the future. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathom Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Who’s the rookie pitcher in question? I’m thinking Santos 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 2 minutes ago, fathom said: Who’s the rookie pitcher in question? I’m thinking Santos Wouldn’t they have to get used to this throughout the minor leagues too? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Hombre Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Yikes. Good for him for speaking out. Let the embarrassment continue to pile on! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heads22 Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 3 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said: Wow! And the part about the farcical WBC is dead-on. The Sox brass should not have allowed ANY player to participate, period. Full stop. Nor should they in the future. A team should be able to withstand that. Our guys should be able to participate in the WBC. The fact that it apparently made a difference means the culture was shitty anyways But fathom is right. There needs to be a total house cleaning. Including Pedro. 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtySox Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Ooh spicy. Absolutely love that this is going public. What an utter embarrassment of an organization. 20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathom Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Just now, DirtySox said: Ooh spicy. Absolutely love that this is going public. What an utter embarrassment of an organization. This goes along with everything some of us have heard behind the scenes. It’s a total shitshow. No one is afraid to lose their job because JR is a joke. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quin Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 So, in the end they either should have kept Ricky or hired Bochy. Dear lord. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxjusttyped Posted August 7, 2023 Author Share Posted August 7, 2023 6 minutes ago, fathom said: Who’s the rookie pitcher in question? I’m thinking Santos Santos, Tanner Banks, & Sammy Peralta are the only rookies who made multiple appearances while Middleton was here. I can't envision two minor league lifers/fringe big leaguers doing that, so I think it's likely Santos too Santos being a knucklehead might also explain why SF was willing to trade him for nothing 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heads22 Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 I wanted to give Pedro a chance this year but he hasn’t shown anything to earn a second year. 13 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathom Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 It’s been so exhausting being a fan of this team for about two full years now. Seemingly every story is negative and embarrassing. 18 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Not sure if this affects the potential suspects, but don't count on Middleton to know whether everyone is technically a rookie or just "basically a rookie" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxjusttyped Posted August 7, 2023 Author Share Posted August 7, 2023 Just now, Heads22 said: I wanted to give Pedro a chance this year but he hasn’t shown anything to earn a second year. I've defended him because the issues run so much deeper... but at this point it's obvious he should be one and done everything needs to burn 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Hire Dallas Keuchel as manager Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxjusttyped Posted August 7, 2023 Author Share Posted August 7, 2023 (edited) 2 minutes ago, Jake said: Not sure if this affects the potential suspects, but don't count on Middleton to know whether everyone is technically a rookie or just "basically a rookie" I was wondering that too. I doubt he'd actually consider Tanner Banks a rookie since he's 32 years old Edited August 7, 2023 by maxjusttyped Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lip Man 1 Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 3 minutes ago, Heads22 said: I wanted to give Pedro a chance this year but he hasn’t shown anything to earn a second year. He's got two more years on his contract that's all the "earning" he needs in the minds of the front office/ownership. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Side Fireworks Man Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Since TLR returned, the White Sox have had only one steadfast rule which may not be broken: Never, but never, hit a home run against a position player pitching. Other than that, anything goes. 1 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Just now, maxjusttyped said: I was wondering that too. I doubt he'd actually consider Tanner Banks a rookie considering the guy is 32 years old Right and also on the flip side, he might see a Jimmy Lambert type as a rookie even though he exhausted his rookie eligibility some time ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Line Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 8 minutes ago, Quin said: So, in the end they either should have kept Ricky or hired Bochy. Dear lord. They need to hire Ron Washington in the offseason. He will instill discipline. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxjusttyped Posted August 7, 2023 Author Share Posted August 7, 2023 I'm delusional enough to believe that if Lynn, Giolito, Kelly etc went public with similar comments, it might lead to enough embarrassment where we finally see real change this off-season 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmy U Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 Middleton implied that the lack of rules predated Grifol. Hence, fire everyone. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lip Man 1 Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 1 minute ago, Timmy U said: Middleton implied that the lack of rules predated Grifol. Hence, fire everyone. The story said that's basically what he was told when joining the team but that shouldn't be a surprise, after all guys were told not to run hard last season among other things. But when you consider the remarks Grifol made when he got the job about fundamentals, accountability, ready to kick ass et al Middleton's comments tonight put him squarely in the cross hairs. Nothing has changed under his watch if those comments are accurate (and based on what I've seen and the on-field results I think they are) 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES! Posted August 7, 2023 Share Posted August 7, 2023 3 minutes ago, Timmy U said: Middleton implied that the lack of rules predated Grifol. Hence, fire everyone. I mean Middleton is probably right, but how would he know that? He wasn’t here when TLR was the manager. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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