Fire the manager? Not so fast ...

Whenever a team goes through a losing season, you're going to have some fans and media who want the manager to pay with his job. Sometimes, it's a vocal minority that is calling for a skipper to be fired. Other times, it's a clear majority.

It's easy to fall into that line of thinking if your favorite team is an also-ran as we hit the dog days of August. A lost season is always frustrating. However, calling for a manager's head isn't always the smartest thing to do.

Let's take a look at the careers of Tony La Russa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre. They were the best managers of a generation, combining to win eight World Series championships. From 1988 through 2006, 14 of the 19 World Series featured at least one of those three managers.

It's no mystery why all three of them went into the Hall of Fame last month. First, all three managed for a long time.

Most games managed in MLB history:
1. Connie Mack 7,755
2. La Russa 5,097
3. John McGraw 4,769
4. Cox 4,508
5. Bucky Harris 4,410
6. Torre 4,329

Secondly, all three won with great frequency.

Most games won by managers in MLB history:
1. Mack 3,731
2. McGraw 2,763
3. La Russa 2,728
4. Cox 2,504
5. Torre 2,326

But here's something you may not have known about these three men: They all lost frequently early in their managerial careers. I recently read a Sports Illustrated article that pointed out that La Russa, Cox and Torre all had losing records and no playoff appearances after four years in the dugout:

Record through four years:
La Russa: 238-244 (.494)
Cox: 266-323 (.452)
Torre: 245-358 (.406)

None of these three men reached the World Series in their first managing jobs. They were all let go for various reasons. La Russa won at his second stop in Oakland. Cox was on his second tour of duty in Atlanta before he won. Torre was fired three times before winning four championships as manager of the New York Yankees.

This is all food for thought if you're one of those impatient fans who thinks a manager should be fired if he doesn't win right away, or if you're one of those fans who thinks a manager should be fired because he doesn't have "enough experience." Your impatience may, in fact, be costing you a guy who is or will become a good manager.

La Russa was managing the White Sox when I was a young kid, and I vividly recall him getting booed at Comiskey Park. There were a lot of people who wanted his head, even after he led the Sox to the 1983 American League West Division title.

The Sox finally fired La Russa in 1986. Time has shown that move was foolish. Team owner Jerry Reinsdorf continues to call La Russa's firing the biggest regret of his life.

Right now, the Sox have another manager without much experience -- Robin Ventura. He isn't winning enough. His record is 207-241 entering Monday's play. He's got a .462 winning percentage as he nears the end of his third year at the helm.

Some say Ventura should be fired, which is an easy argument to make with the Sox on their way to a second consecutive losing streak. And, obviously, it would take quite a leap of faith to believe Ventura's managerial skills will ever be mentioned in the same breath as La Russa, Cox or Torre. That's extraordinarily unlikely.

I bring up those three Hall of Fame guys to make one simple point: Three years isn't long enough to determine whether a guy is going to succeed or fail over the long haul as a manager. The jury is still out on Ventura, and given the rosters he's been handed with the White Sox, I can't pin the team's losing ways on him over the past two seasons.

Managers are no different than players. They can and do get better with more experience. I don't think it's ridiculous to say Ventura still could improve in his role as Sox manager. It's just that most people today don't have that kind of patience, which is unfortunate, because you never know just how close a younger, developing manager might be to becoming a good manager you could win with in the years to come.

Keep that in mind if you're one of the people in the "Fire Ventura" camp, or if you're a fan of another team that is struggling this season.

As Jose Abreu slumps, the White Sox slump along with him

The dog days of August have not been kind to Jose Abreu.

The White Sox' first baseman's August slash line (.262/.380/.286) is not bad, but it's much more mortal than what we've seen from Abreu the first four months of the season. In particular, his slugging percentage has taken a dip. The extra-base power that has been so noticeable all year has been lacking of late.

Abreu is 8 for 39 with just one double, no home runs and two RBIs in his last 11 games. He has not homered since July 29.

Reason for despair? I don't believe so.

Part of this "slump" is an inevitable market correction. Abreu was scorching hot in July. He posted a .374/.432/.667 slash line and won AL Player of the Month honors. That came on the heels of a June that saw Abreu hit .313 with 10 home runs. He was red-hot for an extended period of time. It wasn't going to continue forever; baseball just doesn't work like that. Every hitter goes through periods where they aren't seeing the ball well. Right now, Abreu is in one of those periods.

I also think fatigue is a factor for Abreu. Let's not forget this is his first time going through the rigors of a 162-game schedule in the United States. In Cuba, the season is 90 games long. The White Sox completed their 121st game of the season on Wednesday.

Nobody should be surprised if indeed Abreu is hitting a bit of a wall at this stage of the season. His bat looks a little slow right now, but the only way for him to learn what it's like to go through the grind of 162 games is to go through the grind of 162 games. This is what gaining experience is all about, and Abreu will be better for it in the years to come.

Even with this recent cold streak, Abreu still leads the American League in both home runs (31) and RBIs (86). Accordingly, fans should refrain from worrying about whether the league "has figured out" Abreu. He's already been through the league a couple times, and his June and July were stronger than his April and May.

I would argue, in fact, that Abreu is figuring the league out, not the other way around. Sure, he might hit the rookie wall down the stretch here, but there's a substantial body of work now that suggests Abreu will be an impact hitter in the middle of the Sox' lineup for years to come. I'll be honest: He's been better than I ever expected.

The Sox are 4-8 so far in August. It's not a coincidence the team has struggled right along with Abreu. Here are some more numbers on the slugging first baseman that prove the point:

In  Sox wins: .380/.442/.823, 22 HRs, 59 RBIs
In Sox losses: .231/.283/.407, 9 HRs, 27 RBIs

This shows there's a pretty good correlation between Abreu's success and White Sox success. When he's hot, the team scores runs. When he's cold, it doesn't.

Abreu needs more help in the lineup, for sure, but make no mistake about it, he's erased all doubt that he's the guy the Sox need to build their offense around for the next five years.

Dumb collision rule bites White Sox in San Francisco

White Sox manager Robin Ventura is often criticized for being too laid-back and lacking in fire. Alas, Rule 7.13 -- aka, the Buster Posey rule, or the home-plate collision rule -- is enough to send even the world's calmest man into a fit of rage.

On Wednesday, the Sox were screwed by the aforementioned Rule 7.13, and Ventura stormed out of the dugout to put on perhaps the finest dirt-kicking exhibition we've seen by a manager this season. In fact, it was one of the better manager tirades we've seen in quite some time. In my book, Ventura's anger and frustration were justified.

The Sox were leading the San Francisco Giants 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning. San Francisco had runners on first and third with one out when Giants' second baseman Joe Panik hit a squibber to Chicago first baseman Jose Abreu, who charged the grounder and threw to home plate in plenty of time to get San Francisco's Gregor Blanco, who was trying to score from third.

I'd say Blanco was still 20 feet up the line when Sox catcher Tyler Flowers received the throw. He waited for Blanco to arrive and tagged him for the second out of the inning.

Or not.

After about a six- or seven-minute review, which is an absurd length of time, umpires ruled Flowers had violated Rule 7.13 by planting his foot in front of home plate before he had possession of the ball.

I'm not going to bother dissecting whether this was the correct interpretation of the rule. It probably was, but who cares? It's a dumb rule. It defies common sense that a runner can be called safe after being thrown out by 20 feet on the basis of where a catcher's foot was when he caught the ball.

Moreover, why the hell did it take so long to finish the review? It should not take any longer than two minutes to determine whether an improper call has been made. The call on the field should stand automatically if the process takes any longer than that. It's asinine to have the game stopped for that long. But I digress.

In this case, the call on the field was reversed. The Giants were awarded the tying run, and Ventura blew his stack. The next San Francisco batter, Brandon Crawford, as was retired on a routine fly ball. So, Sox pitcher Jose Quintana would have been out of the inning with no runs allowed had Blanco been called out at home. Instead, the inning continued. Quintana walked pinch hitter Joaquin Arias and was removed from the game. The Sox bullpen imploded, combining to give up six two-out runs, and the Giants prevailed 7-1.

No surprise there. I think we all knew it wasn't going to end well after Quintana left the mound.

Here's the thing that irritates me most about this rule: It's not necessary. It was put in place only because one guy, Posey, got hurt on a play three years ago. I'm sorry he was injured. He's a good player, and I know his absence ruined the season for the Giants in 2011. But you know what? Those are the breaks. It's sports. Sometimes players get injured. Collisions happen at the other bases, too, not just home plate. It's part of baseball.

There hasn't been a rash of injuries to catchers on home-plate collisons, so this whole thing about needing to protect guys is bunk to me. I understand the need for such a rule at youth and amateur levels. When kids are playing, safety is often the first priority. I get that. However, professionals aren't kids. They are grown men, and they understand there is a risk of injury when they step on the field. They are well compensated for assuming that risk, and they don't need to be protected in this manner.

Major League Baseball is guilty of trying to fix a problem that did not exist with this rule. It is an overreaction to an injury that happened to a star player three years ago. If that same injury had happened to a lower-profile catcher than Posey, would this rule be in place? I don't believe so.

Now, we've got a rule that creates senseless calls like the one that cost the White Sox the game Wednesday. In the big picture, maybe it doesn't matter because the Sox are out of the race. But, say your team is one game out of first place in the division race. Could you stomach losing on a call such as this?

You know, if they really want to protect catchers, there's an easier way to do it. Just say that anyone who runs over a catcher at the plate is automatically out. There. Done. It's black and white. Not everyone would like it, but everyone would get it.

I'd rather they do that than stick with this stupid rule with all these gray areas where we're taking six or seven minutes of review time to determine where a catcher placed his foot when he caught a throw coming to the plate. The whole thing is just dumb.

In any other year besides 2014, Blanco would have been called out. And that's the way it should be.

It's better to have no left-handed relievers than bad left-handed relievers

The White Sox on Sunday optioned left-handed relief pitcher Eric Surkamp to Triple-A Charlotte. The move creates room on the 25-man roster for veteran reliever Matt Lindstrom, who has completed his rehab assignment and will rejoin Chicago in time for Tuesday night's game at San Francisco.

With Surkamp's demotion, this means the Sox will no longer have a left-handed pitcher available out of the bullpen. While this situation isn't ideal, none of the left-handed relievers the Sox have tried this season have worked out for them.

The club started the year with Scott Downs and Donnie Veal on the roster, but both men pitched their way off the team before the All-Star break. Surkamp has been given a look in that lefty role in the seven weeks since Downs was given his walking papers, but his results have been mixed at best.

Left-handed batters are hitting just .167 in 30 plate appearances against Surkamp, but here's the problem: They've also hit three home runs off him in those 30 plate appearances. The first priority for any left-handed reliever is to keep opposing left-handed hitters in the ballpark. Surkamp has not done that. A left-handed hitter has homered off him once in every 10 at-bats. That's too high of a rate.

Maybe you chalk that up to a small sample size and keep Surkamp in the bigs if it weren't for the fact that he can't get righties out at all. Right-handed hitters are posting a robust .360/.429/.400 slash line against him.

Surkamp can't retire righties, and he can't keep lefties in the yard. That's a recipe for getting sent back to Charlotte.

If you're worried about the lack of lefty relievers in the bullpen, the Sox have one right-handed relief pitcher who gets lefties out at a high rate: Javy Guerra.

Take a look at Guerra's lefty/right splits:

vs. LHB: .207/.319/.293
vs. RHB: .304/.375/.500

Left-handed hitters have clubbed just one home run off Guerra in 70 plate appearances this season. Unlike Surkamp, Guerra keeps lefties in the yard, as well as getting them out on a regular basis.

If Sox manager Robin Ventura finds himself in a situation where he needs a reliever to get a left-handed batter out in a tight situation, Guerra is the man he should summon from the bullpen.

Putting some numbers to the White Sox' bullpen dumpster fire

It's hard to believe right now, but things were looking up on the South Side of Chicago as recently as a week ago. The White Sox had just taken two out of three from the first-place Detroit Tigers. They had won six out of eight games and were threatening to reach the .500 mark for the first time since the second week of June.

Alas, Chicago's bullpen is still terrible. Every time the Sox have threatened to go on a winning streak, the relief corps has done something horrible to prevent that from happening.

In a season full of bullpen blowups, this week has taken the cake. The Sox have dropped five of their last six games, and they've been outscored by a ghastly 59-18 margin during that stretch. We all know the primary culprit is a bullpen that cannot get anybody out, but in case you were wondering just how bad it has gotten, let's put some numbers to the horror show.

Here are the August statistics for the eight relief pitchers the Sox have used so far this month. All numbers are through Aug. 7:

Jake Petricka: 3.38 ERA (1 ER in 2.2 IP), 1.500 WHIP
Maikel Cleto: 9.00 ERA (3 ER in 3 IP), 1.000 WHIP
Daniel Webb: 9.82 ERA (4 ER in 3.2 IP), 2.455 WHIP
Javy Guerra: 10.13 ERA (3 ER, 2.2 IP), 2.250 WHIP
Eric Surkamp: 13.50 ERA (4 ER, 2.2 IP), 3.000 WHIP
Taylor Thompson: 27.00 ERA (3 ER, 1 IP), 4.000 WHIP
Andre Rienzo: 34.71 ERA (9 ER, 2.1 IP), 6.429 WHIP
Ronald Belisario: 189.00 ERA (7 ER, .1 IP), 18.000 WHIP

You add all that up, and the bullpen has a collective 16.69 ERA for the month.

I've often been critical of Sox manager Robin Ventura for leaving his starting pitchers in too long. A couple times this week, I've thought to myself, "Ventura is leaving this guy in too long." But then I catch myself and realize he has nobody in bullpen who can make a key pitch, so it's hard to blame the manager for staying with a tiring or struggling starter at this stage of the game.

I don't think Petricka is throwing his best right now, but he's the only guy among this group pitching like a major leaguer. Everyone else in the bullpen is committing arson every single time they step on the mound. Fans should remember that if they are tempted to call for Ventura's head during this stretch of bad ball. A manager who has no options is going to come off looking like an idiot no matter what he does.

Right now, the only thing Ventura can do is pray his starter goes eight innings, and bring in Petricka for the ninth. Anything other than that seems like it won't end well for the White Sox.

Avisail Garcia's return will create an interesting roster decision for the White Sox

White Sox outfielder Avisail Garcia was once believed to be out for the year after tearing the labrum in his shoulder the second week of the season.

However, the timetable for his return keeps accelerating. Garcia is currently 10 for 19 with a home run in five games on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte, and White Sox manager Robin Ventura has said the 23-year-old could return to the major leagues before the end of the month if he avoids setbacks.

If Garcia stays on track, he'll be back with the White Sox before the Sept. 1 roster expansion, so that means somebody on the current 25-man roster will have to go.

A lot of times in these situations, the club will just tell its backup outfielder to hit the bricks. But for the Sox, it's not that simple in this case. Fourth outfielder Moises Sierra is out of options and cannot be sent back to the minors without first clearing waivers.

It would be a mistake for the Sox to expose Sierra to waivers. There's a good chance he'd be claimed. He has posted a respectable .295./.318/.448 slash line in a reserve role. Defensively, he's the best corner outfielder on the 25-man roster, and he's still only 25 years old.

If you're the White Sox and you're five games below .500 the first week of August, it's time to start thinking about what your team might look like next season. Sierra has shown enough this year that the club should consider bringing him back in 2015 in some capacity, even if it is just in the part-time role he has filled capably this year.

But, if the Sox are going to hold on to Sierra, that means one of three players -- Adam Dunn, Alejandro De Aza or Dayan Viciedo -- has to go when Garcia comes off the DL. Ideally, general manager Rick Hahn would be able to swing a waiver-wire deal to move one of those three players.

Unfortunately, hopes for trading Dunn are getting less and less by the day. The left-handed slugger is mired in an 0-for-15 skid. He did not reach base a single time on the Sox' most recent homestand, and he is hitting just .129 with two home runs over the past two weeks. Jose Abreu is starting to see fewer pitches to hit, because opposing pitchers know Dunn is an automatic out behind him right now.

If Dunn were swinging the bat well, a contender would be able to use him for the last 40 or so games of the season. Unfortunately, that's not the case, and Dunn might stuck playing out the string in Chicago.

Viciedo is the player who benefited most when Garcia went down. The Sox seemed ready to move on from him as an everyday guy coming into the year, but Garcia's injury created a second chance for him to play on a daily basis. He has failed to capitalize. Viciedo is a poor defender, so he needs to hit to justify his roster spot. Despite 14 home runs, his .238/.286/.400 slash has impressed nobody, and in fact, his batting average and slugging percentage are both below his career norms.

Like Sierra, Viciedo has age on his side. He's only 25, but he doesn't seem to be making progress as a hitter. His previous perceived strength -- hitting left-handed pitching -- hasn't been much of a factor. His platoon splits show him as being only slightly better against lefties than he is against righties:

vs. RHP: .236/.276/.398
vs. LHP: .247/.317/.409

Hahn will only be able to move Viciedo if there is another GM who thinks the outfielder might benefit from a change of scenery. There's nothing about Viciedo's game right now that suggests he could help a contender.

That brings us to De Aza, who like Dunn almost certainly will be somewhere other than Chicago when the 2015 season begins. De Aza cannot hit lefties at all this year (.091/.155/.136), but he still gets on base at a respectable clip against right-handed pitching (.283/.349/.416).

And, De Aza has been trending in the right direction over the past two months. He was awful in April and May (.173/.240/.250), but since Sierra was added to the roster, Ventura has been able to limit De Aza's exposure to left-handed pitching.

As a result, De Aza has posted a .327/.375/.455 slash line since June 1.

Yeah, you read that right: De Aza has been almost a .330 hitter for a full one-third of the season.

If there's a team that could use a left-handed bat to help against right-handed pitching, De Aza is a fit. He represents Hahn's best chance to make a waiver-wire deal before Garcia comes off the disabled list.

What do we make of Tyler Flowers' recent surge?

It's no secret I'm not a Tyler Flowers fan, but I'm also not afraid to give credit where credit is due.

The White Sox catcher has been red-hot over the past month, and he was the player most responsible for Chicago's rain-shortened 5-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Monday night.

Flowers went 3-for-3 with a triple, a game-tying home run and two-out, two-run single that put the Sox ahead to stay in the bottom of the sixth inning. Heck, if the rains hadn't come, he might have gotten one more at-bat with a chance to hit for the cycle. He fell a double short of accomplishing that feat.

As recently as July 8, Flowers was posting a miserable .219/.278/.302 slash line. He was striking out at absurd rates and was providing almost no power -- at that point of the season, he had just five home runs and five doubles. In the past, Flowers' ability to hit the long ball was one of his few selling points, but even that was noticeably absent the first half of this season.

But on July 9, Flowers switched from contact lenses to glasses. Coincidentally, or perhaps not coincidentally, he's been the second-best hitter on the Sox since -- behind only July's AL Player of the Month, Jose Abreu.

Since that date, Flowers has posted an impressive .390/.438/.695 slash. The power has returned as well. During that same span, he has hit seven doubles -- more than he hit the first three months of the season combined -- three home runs and the aforementioned triple.

He is striking out 23.4 percent of the time during this current hot streak, which doesn't seem like much until you consider Flowers has struck out in 34.3 percent of his plate appearances during his major league career. That 23.4 percent figure represents a significant improvement over his career rate.

Over his last 12 games, Flowers is hitting .452 with a .738 OPS. We all know he won't continue at this rate -- nobody can sustain that pace over the long haul, not even Abreu. The question is whether Flowers can become more consistent and eliminate the pathetic cold streaks where he can't even put the ball in play.

Have the glasses been a difference-maker for him? Only time will tell, and Flowers' recent run has made him one of the storylines to watch for the final two months of the season.

Just a month ago, Flowers was well on his way to playing himself out of the starting job, and perhaps out of the Sox organization entirely. His recent surge, hitting for both average and power, is enough to give Sox' brass pause. Has Flowers finally figured it out at the plate?

White Sox general manager Rick Hahn has a lengthy shopping list for this offseason. Up until this point, you would have to say catcher would be on it, along with about four bullpen arms, a starting pitcher, a second baseman, a left-handed power bat and a corner outfielder.

Flowers' season slash of .252/.309/.379 with 115 strikeouts in 328 plate appearances is not good enough to guarantee him a spot on next year's club. However, if Flowers can hit .260 or .270 with some pop and a reasonable K rate over a "prove it" final two months, Hahn might be able to justify taking a chance on him again for the 2015 season based upon a trend of improvement.

If Hahn can cross catcher off his offseason shopping list, he can focus more of his available resources on revamping a Sox pitching staff that has holes in it like Swiss cheese. When you think about it from that perspective, it sure would be nice if those eyeglasses really are the difference for Flowers.