The White Sox can't be 'Paul Konerko's team' any longer

Paul Konerko's leadership skills will have only a minimal impact on the success or failure of the 2014 White Sox.

There, I said it.

It won't be a popular opinion, especially among lazy reporters who plan to spend the spring and summer beating the "Paulie as mentor" story to death because they can't think of anything else White Sox-related to write about.

Don't get me wrong. I'm glad Konerko invited center fielder Adam Eaton over to his house for some batting practice, a couple beers and a shoot-the-bull session. Sox management has asked Konerko to take the young players on the roster under his wing, and to try to pass on some of the wisdom he has gained during his 21 years in professional baseball.

I have no doubt Konerko will perform this task to the best of his abilities, and his efforts can only help these young guys. I don't see how it can hurt.

That said, there's only so much a veteran player can say or do to help age 20-something players who are trying to prove themselves at the big-league level. If it were as simple as having a guy like Konerko pull a young prospect aside for some chit-chat and sage advice after a batting practice session, you wouldn't see so many once-promising players wash out in the major leagues.

Take the case of second baseman Gordon Beckham, who is good friends with Konerko. The two are close enough, in fact, that Beckham's teammates give him a hard time about Konerko being his "dad." Heck, Konerko stood up in Beckham's wedding over the offseason. Think Konerko hasn't been generous with the "fatherly advice" when he's talking with Beckham around the batting cage or in the clubhouse? I'll bet you he has, but that hasn't stopped Beckham from struggling. Despite Konerko's help and good intentions, Beckham has posted a disappointing .249/.314/.380 slash line in five seasons with the Sox. He has never lived up to the potential he had coming out of the University of Georgia as a first-round draft pick.

And you know what? That's not Konerko's fault. Beckham is a grown man and a professional baseball player. He's responsible for his own performance.

That's one thing that is getting lost amid all these stories of Konerko helping out the young guys. He can share what he knows, and he will. But he can't get in the box and hit for these guys. He can't make them establish themselves as major league hitters. He can't make them accept leadership roles. He can't make them take responsibility for their own futures or the future of the White Sox. They have to do that themselves.

It's also worth noting that Konerko can only do so much "leading" from the bench. He's only going to play two or three times a week. We all hope there are a few more big hits in his once-mighty right-handed bat, but he's no longer the cornerstone middle-of-the-lineup presence that he was from 2004-12. He knows it, too. Konerko is still playing to erase the bitter taste of 2013. Hopefully, he'll go out on a decent note, and it will be one last season for the fans and the White Sox to thank him for all he's done for the organization. 

However, his activities both on and off the field are really just a sidebar to what is going to be most important for the White Sox in this 2014 season. This is the year the torch needs to be passed from Konerko to somebody else.

Konerko won't be around to be the "leader" in 2015, so now is the time for other guys to get used to the idea that it's going to be their team for the next several years. Guys like Chris Sale, Beckham, Eaton, Avisail Garcia, Jose Abreu, Jose Quintana, these are the guys the Sox are counting on to be those cornerstone players in coming seasons.

They cannot and should not sit around deferring to Konerko's leadership any longer. If something needs to be said in the clubhouse, in the dugout or on the field, one the younger guys shouldn't be afraid to say it. Moreover, if something needs to be done on the field, one of the younger guys needs to do it.

Why? Because Konerko is going to be 38 years old, and he's not physically capable of doing it day in and day out anymore. His time is past. For some of these other guys, their time is now. It's their responsibility to seize the day, not Konerko's.

The White Sox have been Paul Konerko's team for the last 15 years. It can't be his team anymore. It's Chris Sale's team now. It's Gordon Beckham's team. It's Adam Eaton's team. It's Avisail Garcia's team.

I just hope they all realize it.