Keynan Middleton rips White Sox 'no rules' culture

[soxfaninfl]

Not saying it’s not true but I would like to hear some corroboration because right now it sounds like Middleton is saying something without really saying something.

We all knew something was wrong so this is not a surprise. Also, I am not into trying to name names because none were given. Sounds like a real leadership issue and that is ultimately Pedro’s job regardless if it is a carryover from last year.

Edited August 7, 2023 by soxfaninfl

[caulfield12]

“I wouldn’t say anything bad about the pitching staff,” Middleton said. “We went about our work the right way. I think the rest of the team struggled to do the right thing.”

Pedro Grifol landed the White Sox job because of his reputation for being a good communicator. After losing the locker room within his first year of managing it is clear he is in over his head.

 

 

It's pretty clear that they haven't gotten serious about dealing with bad attitudes from the position player side when only Abreu and Burger are the ones that are gone...

 

 

 

[Chimpton]

2 hours ago, Green Line said:

They need to hire Ron Washington in the offseason.  He will instill discipline.

They would probably hire Ron Burgundy instead.

[Bob Sacamano]

2 hours ago, YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES! said:

I mean Middleton is probably right, but how would he know that? He wasn’t here when TLR was the manager.

Talking to guys in the clubhouse…it’s not farfetched that someone else confirmed it’s been going on longer.

Edited August 7, 2023 by Bob Sacamano

[Lip Man 1]

1 hour ago, reiks12 said:

Pedro is clearly not the man for the job, but this mess predates him. It starts at the top.

Sox fans need to organize and do a Sell the Team night like in Oakland. Hell, we play the A's soon. It would be amazing to get a sellout playoff type atmosphere chanting SELL THE TEAM. This would embarass the FO more and also show some love to our A's brothers and sisters.

Anyone know some big Sox personalities to get this rolling?

Remember last year the SELL THE TEAM signs at the park? And the billboards in the spring?

As long as they make a lot of money nothing is going to embarrass them. If something really would, given all the dysfunction and incompetence it would have had an impact by now.

It's simple, nothing changes and nothing will change until current ownership is gone. 

[South Side Hit Men]

This reflects even more poorly on Gossip Girl Middleton. He's not man enough to say or do anything about it while here, but instead went and gossiped like a little b**** to the New York media the day before the Sox vs. Yankees series.

In a way he is worse than Keuchel and his mommy running to the media to throw teammates, coaches and managers under the bus, or Lynn literally pointing fingers and pouting at players and coaches when his overpaid worthless ass s%*# the bed the one game that mattered, and sucked his entire extension.

• Should what Middleton mentioned be occurring with the White Sox? Absolutely not.
• Is Middleton correct saying this starts at the top? Yes.
• Has the Board or Officers been held to even a tiny level of accountability over the past decade? Absolutely not.
• Should everyone at the Board Level, Officers and Baseball Operations be s%*# canned immediately, if not sooner? Hell To The Yes. 

$54M 1.1 bWAR over three Seasons

 

$36M Extension Negative 0.6 bWAR over two seasons

 

Half of these people are near death, incompetent,  incontinent, or 2-3 of these conditions.

All 14 need to go for this organization to get a legitimate clean slate.

Board of Directors

• Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf
• Board Member Robert Judelson
• Board Member Judd Malkin
• Board Member Allan Muchin
• Board Member Jay Pinsky
• Board Member Lee Stern
• Board Member Burton Ury

Officers

• Senior Executive Vice President Howard Pizer
• Executive Vice President Ken Williams
• Senior Vice President/General Manager Rick Hahn
• Senior Vice President, Administration Tim Buzard
• Senior Vice President, Stadium Operations Terry Savarise
• Senior Vice President, Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer Brooks Boyer
• Senior Vice President, Communications Scott Reifert

[The Mighty Mite]

It’s hard to believe how bad this organization has become. If JR is as miserable as reports say he is and he is still mentally competent he must as soon as possible fire the whole front office and minor league organization. Let the new GM hire a new manager who can bring in his own coaches, with almost 2 months still left in the season they will have time to evaluate the players and determine who they should keep and who has to go, we as fans aren’t stupid and have figured what players should go so it shouldn’t be too hard for the new manager and coaches. The franchise is a complete embarrassment and those of us who love and support the Chicago White Sox deserve so much better.

Edited August 7, 2023 by The Mighty Mite

[Kyyle23]

Someone please find and remove the voodoo doll from whoever has it.

seriously, what did we do as fans to deserve this?  We patiently waited out a brutal rebuild, we bought in, we made the attendance bump significant, we bought tons of merch, and for what?  Just to get repeatedly kicked in the teeth 

[The Mighty Mite]

7 hours ago, maxjusttyped said:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38147621/ex-white-sox-reliever-keynan-middleton-rips-club-no-rules-culture

Middleton said he heard the same crap was going on in 2021, there is no doubt that TLR’s management last year screwed up this team immensely and got the team to this horrible point where they stand today with their horrible play and attitudes.That also falls on JR because it was he who hired TLR against objections from Hahn though I’m not sure if Kenny Williams was on board.

Edited August 7, 2023 by The Mighty Mite

[soxfan49]

[ChiSox59]

Yikes. Maybe (hopefully) a final straw type deal, at least we can pray. 

An organizational flushing is so badly needed. 

[Flash]

The lackadaisical approach has been evident for last several years and is fed by players who lack discipline and accountability. Ownership and management have fostered a culture of individualism that has poisened any hope of team spirit and camaraderie. If I were leading a team into battle, I would not want to turn around to see TA, Eloy, Moncada and yes, even Robert behind me. We need winners who pull together and care about each other and take pride in how they represent the organization. Guys that put forth the effort night in and night out. One need only look at what has happened in Baltimore and Texas to geta sense for how its supposed to look. BTW, Lance Lynn has returned to his old form w/Dodgers since escaping the Sox toxic environment. Its a shame what this team has become.

 

[caulfield12]

7 minutes ago, Flash said:

The lackadaisical approach has been evident for last several years and is fed by players who lack discipline and accountability. Ownership and management have fostered a culture of individualism that has poisened any hope of team spirit and camaraderie. If I were leading a team into battle, I would not want to turn around to see TA, Eloy, Moncada and yes, even Robert behind me. We need winners who pull together and care about each other and take pride in how they represent the organization. Guys that put forth the effort night in and night out. One need only look at what has happened in Baltimore and Texas to geta sense for how its supposed to look. BTW, Lance Lynn has returned to his old form w/Dodgers since escaping the Sox toxic environment. Its a shame what this team has become.

 

Burger and Remillard and Scholtens have been just a few of the players who really care and then it's almost like a bad thing to be punished for on this team if you hustle all the time and play like a real professional baseball player is supposed to...like it's showing up the vets who are basically just kind of coasting along and collecting paychecks and not rocking the boat so to speak.

Grandal should have been DFA'ed if they wanted to send a real message about accountability ... because no other teams were willing to pay to employ his services.

How long is it before Colas is dragged down into the abyss...it has to be fixed before C.Montgomery is recalled in approximately 18 months (April/May 2025) or earlier.

Edited August 7, 2023 by caulfield12

[Dick Allen]

Middleton is a middling

reliever, but he has a reputation as being a solid guy. Not a malcontent. I believe he popped off for all his ex White Sox teammates who do give a f***. Pedro has to go with the rest of the clown car.

[caulfield12]

3 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Burger and Remillard and Scholtens have been just a few of the players who really care and then it's almost like a bad thing to be punished for on this team if you hustle all the time and play like a real professional baseball player is supposed to...like it's showing up the vets who are basically just kind of coasting along and collecting paychecks and not rocking the boat so to speak.

For example, Grandal should have been DFA'ed if they wanted to send a real message about accountability ... because no other teams were willing to pay to employ his services any longer.  Are they really going to recall Lee at catcher to join this mess of a team in 2023???

How long is it before Colas is dragged down into the abyss...it has to be fixed before C.Montgomery is recalled in approximately 18 months (April/May 2025) or earlier.

 

[JoeC]

This is bad.

the rookie pitcher couldn’t have learned the mid-game nap from TLR, further indicating that this rests with Pedro or higher.

[caulfield12]

2 minutes ago, JoeC said:

This is bad.

the rookie pitcher couldn’t have learned the mid-game nap from TLR, further indicating that this rests with Pedro or higher.

If it is Santos and he's your future closer...it just goes to show how far they are away from Liam Hendriks leading that bullpen by example.

Or it says something about the quality of pitchers down there that he's running laps around them with let's say at best a questionable work ethic.

[The Mighty Mite]

5 hours ago, soxfaninfl said:

Not saying it’s not true but I would like to hear some corroboration because right now it sounds like Middleton is saying something without really saying something.

We all knew something was wrong so this is not a surprise. Also, I am not into trying to name names because none were given. Sounds like a real leadership issue and that is ultimately Pedro’s job regardless if it is a carryover from last year.

The trouble with calling out people by name is because of trades you never know what is your next organization or who your new teammates will be so you must be careful when burning bridges but nothing at all surprises me with Middleton’s comments.

[caulfield12]

11 minutes ago, The Mighty Mite said:

The trouble with calling out people by name is because of trades you never know what is your next organization or who your new teammates will be so you must be careful when burning bridges but nothing at all surprises me with Middleton’s comments.

Probably a badge of honor for Keuchel Kelly and Lynn now to disassociate from the Sox...

What would be shocking would be for Lucas to say anything negative going into his FA...especially with how he has pitched so far for LA.

[Chimpton]

50 minutes ago, Flash said:

The lackadaisical approach has been evident for last several years and is fed by players who lack discipline and accountability. Ownership and management have fostered a culture of individualism that has poisened any hope of team spirit and camaraderie. If I were leading a team into battle, I would not want to turn around to see TA, Eloy, Moncada and yes, even Robert behind me. We need winners who pull together and care about each other and take pride in how they represent the organization. Guys that put forth the effort night in and night out. One need only look at what has happened in Baltimore and Texas to geta sense for how its supposed to look. BTW, Lance Lynn has returned to his old form w/Dodgers since escaping the Sox toxic environment. Its a shame what this team has become.

 

Eloy and Moncada would be in the sick bay!

[shago]

8 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Well said. Absolutely correct. And that's very unfortunate and unforgivable. 

What do they care, they're being paid millions of dollars without accountability and will not be fired 

[GreatScott82]

If JR still doesn’t fire people after this train wreck of a season, he truly doesn’t care about anything but himself and his friendships. 

Between clubhouse dysfunction and leaks, and PR nightmares, it’s obvious- he truly doesn’t give a s%*#. Sad way to end your ownership tenure. Loyalty is revered by most in the sports industry, but being loyal to people destroying your franchise is a dangerous and toxic approach. The entire fanbase is disgusted and pissed off. And the national media has been calling out this team all season long. Something has to give here…

Edited August 7, 2023 by GreatScott82

[Harold's Leg Lift]

Now you know why Grifol wants Salvy Perez so badly.  He needs someone to do his job for him. 

[chetkincaid]

9 hours ago, Quin said:

So, in the end they either should have kept Ricky or hired Bochy.

Dear lord.

At least Renteria had them winning. They were on their way to something special I believe. I think the teams spirit was broken once they fired him and hired TLR but let’s not beat a dead horse anymore. 

[bmags]

When you rise up in the white Sox, you learn the key to success is just don’t let out the secret and you can be safe, fat, and rich enough.

The secret of course is just not to acknowledge how lazy and bad your co workers are, and of course, how lazy and bad you can be.

Its why Marco Paddy can bring in half classes for 5 out of 10 years. It’s why our core always consists of listless players. It’s why all of Hahns deputies get promoted out of their positions instead of fired.