Call it what it is: White Sox fire Rick Renteria and Don Cooper

Rick Renteria

The news Monday was shocking. The White Sox stunned almost everyone in their fan base by firing manager Rick Renteria and pitching coach Don Cooper.

Sure, they called it a "mutual parting of ways," but don't be fooled by the semantics. This was a firing. 

Think about it: Why would Renteria and Cooper decide to leave now on their own accord? Two years ago, they were given a horrible roster than lost 100 games. They didn't step aside after that, so there's no reason to think they would want to leave now, just when the Sox are finally starting to field a competitive team.

General manager Rick Hahn is famous for his lawyer talk, and he's obviously dancing around the fact that these guys didn't get the job done. And, there's no reason to think they would get the job done in the coming years.

The Sox were 33-17 when they woke up on the morning of Sept. 18. A playoff position had been secured. Then, regular season and postseason combined, they went 3-10 the rest of the way. They lost the American League Central Division title to the Minnesota Twins, despite having a three-game lead with 10 games to play, and they made a quick exit from the playoffs against the Oakland A's.

You can't run from the fact that this was a collapse, nor can you run from the fact that decisions and development failings by Renteria and Cooper were significant contributors to that collapse.

A 5-4 loss to Cleveland on Sept. 24 is the one that cost the Sox the most in the division race. Renteria used Carlos Rodon in relief, trying to protect a 4-1 lead in the seventh inning. Rodon was just back from a significant injury, and he hadn't worked out of the bullpen in years. 

Predictably, Rodon lost the game. Renteria's defense for that move? Rodon "only needed to get one out" (he never got it), and the Sox wanted to see if he could handle such a situation before the playoffs.

OK, that's somewhat defensible. A playoff position had already been secured, and there is some merit to the argument of trying to see what, if anything, Rodon had to offer. Turns out, he had nothing to offer, so the correct thing to do is leave him off the playoff roster.

Instead, we saw Rodon again in relief, in a winner-take-all Game 3 in Oakland. The Sox were leading 3-2 when Rodon entered. Moments later, the Sox were trailing, 4-3. Once again, the justification was that Rodon "only needed to get one out." He never got it. The Sox lost, 6-4. Season over.

Making such an egregious mistake twice in a week, with a season on a line, that's the type of decision-making that gets a manager fired. Not to mention, Renteria started Dane Dunning in Game 3 of the playoffs, a defensible decision, but he had somebody warming up after Dunning gave up a leadoff single in the first inning.

If you have that little confidence in a starting pitcher, then don't start him. Dunning did not give up a run, but he was pulled with two on and two out in the first inning -- after throwing only 15 pitches. Not a good decision.

Renteria's moves in the playoffs had panic written all over them, and his body language in the dugout was quite bizarre. He was squatting in the ready position, acting as if he was playing shortstop, not managing the team. It made me anxious looking at him, so I wonder what his players thought of all that.

And let's not absolve Cooper. Yes, it's great that he resurrected the careers of Esteban Loaiza, Jose Contreras and Matt Thornton. But that stuff was 15 years ago now. 

Sox fans, how do we feel about the development of Dylan Cease and Reynaldo Lopez these days? Not good, right? At best, these two young right-handers have stagnated, and you can make a strong case they have regressed.

It's unfortunate that Dunning was put in such a tough spot in Game 3. He's a rookie coming off Tommy John surgery, yet he was still considered a better option than Cease or Lopez, who have more experience, but have failed to take the next step under the dinosaur Cooper, who had been with the Sox organization for 33 years -- 18 of them as pitching coach across four managerial regimes.

At some point, it's time for a different voice on the pitching front. That time is now. And at some point, it's time for a manager who is more than just a respected figure in the clubhouse -- Renteria was that. To win a championship, a team needs a manager who has some feel for handling a pitching staff -- Renteria was not that. 

It's time for Hahn to go find that guy.

Designated hitter situation likely bottomed out for White Sox in 2020

Edwin Encarnacion

When you look at the 2019 numbers for the White Sox, it's clear that designated hitter was a huge weakness for their offense. Luminaries such as Yonder Alonso, AJ Reed and Matt Skole combined to post an ugly .205/.285/.356 slash line with 17 home runs and 75 RBIs over the course of the 162-game season.

Obviously, designated hitter is a bat-only position, so there is no baseball universe where a .641 OPS is acceptable at that spot.

Last offseason, Sox general manager Rick Hahn correctly identified this weakness and signed Edwin Encarnacion to fill the void. On paper, there was nothing wrong with that decision. Encarnacion had 414 career home runs coming into the 2020 season, and from 2012 to 2019, he had hit 32 or more home runs every year.

And while Encarnacion was entering his age-37 season, he was hardly a liability in 2019 as a 36-year-old. He hit 34 home runs, drove in 86 runs and posted an .875 OPS in 109 games.

Sure, there was one warning sign: In his final six playoff games of 2019 with the New York Yankees, Encarnacion went 1 for 22 with 11 strikeouts, no doubt contributing to the Yankees being eliminated by the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series.

Still, you could have argued that slumps happen, and perhaps Encarnacion had simply gone in a funk at the wrong time. The body of work suggested that he would easily clear the low bar set by White Sox designated hitters in 2019.

So, Hahn signed Encarnacion to a one-year, $12 million deal, with a club option for 2021 -- also for $12 million.

Umm, that option will not be picked up in probably the easiest decision Hahn faces this offseason. That's because Encarnacion somehow managed to lower an already low bar for Sox DHs. While he did hit 10 home runs in 44 games in 2020, his final season slash line was a terrible .157/.250/.377.

Encarnacion's strikeout rate jumped from 21.2% to 29.8%, and whenever a man produces only 19 RBIs while being allowed to hit fourth or fifth in the batting order all season, well, that's what Steve Stone would call a "dismal" year. 

If you include all players who served as DH this season, the Sox's slash line at the position finished at .148/.238/.350. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it did, and clearly, Encarnacion was the main culprit. 

It would be revisionist history to criticize the signing of Encarnacion, which seemed reasonable at the time. Furthermore, there is no buyout of his option, so the club can cut ties for nothing this offseason.

But here's where I will criticize the Sox: By about the halfway point of the 60-game season, it was apparent that Encarnacion had little or no bat speed left. Of his 10 home runs, only one came on a pitch of 93 mph or greater. Even casual observers could see that he couldn't handle high velocity anymore, but Sox brass lived in denial, claimed otherwise and continued to trot him out there game after game.

By the time the playoffs rolled around, it was clear that Encarnacion was not useful, and too many at-bats had been wasted on him. Could Zack Collins have helped the Sox in the playoffs as a DH? How about Andrew Vaughn, the top hitting prospect in the organization? 

We'll never know, because the Sox did not give many meaningful at-bats to Collins this season, and Vaughn spent all of his time at the team's alternate training site in Schaumburg.

Would it have killed the Sox to call up either Collins or Vaughn for the last two weeks of the regular season, give them some playing time and find out whether they were more useful than Encarnacion? I don't believe so, and I wish they would have done that. 

One of the key problems with the Sox is their insistence on sticking with struggling veterans for too long -- especially hitters. If a veteran hitter isn't setting a reasonable floor at a particular spot, what does it hurt to try a higher-ceiling young player at the position?

All Collins or Vaughn would have had to do is hit .180, and the spot would have been upgraded. There comes a time to find out what you have with certain players.

It sounds as though Vaughn will inherit Encarnacion's roster spot next season. He's a first baseman, so he and Jose Abreu will probably work in some sort of time share between first base and DH. You'd like to think those two players will combine for better than a .588 OPS, which is what the Sox got from their DHs in 2020.

After all that, the 2020 White Sox win nothing notable

The White Sox had a three-game lead in the American League Central with 10 games to play. The schedule down the stretch was fairly difficult: three at Cincinnati, four at Cleveland and three at home against the Cubs.

But knowing what we know now, the Sox only needed to go 3-7 in order to win the division. Of course, they went 2-8.

However, the Sox won their first game in the playoffs, and they had two chances to advance to the next round. Of course, they lost both games.

And in Game 3 on Thursday, they had a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning. They lost, 6-4, to the Oakland Athletics.

I don't even feel like going over the details of this game. The season is over, and it leaves a real sour taste in my mouth. They should have won the division. They didn't. They should have won this series with the A's. They didn't.

I'm very, very tired of listening to people tell me how great the Sox are going to be in the future. I cannot embrace this group of players until they win something of consequence. For me, this season is characterized by choking and failing.

To me, this looks like the same old stuff. When the chips are down and execution is needed, the Sox can't execute.

Oakland A's hold off White Sox rally, force Game 3

Liam Hendriks

Well, White Sox fans, here's the question: Should we be optimistic about the team's chances in a winner-take-all Game 3 after what we saw in the last two innings Wednesday, or should we be skeptical after what we saw through the first seven innings?

The Oakland Athletics evened the best-of-three series with a 5-3 victory over the White Sox in Game 2, but I think it was a little closer than the A's would have liked.

Oakland had a 5-0 lead through seven innings, as right-hander Chris Bassitt basically took the Sox's bats and shoved them straight where the sun doesn't shine.

However, the Sox rallied against Liam Hendriks, the Oakland closer who has been one of the best relievers in the American League this season.

Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run homer off Hendriks in the eighth to make it 5-2. And after two were out in the ninth, back-to-back singles by Nick Madrigal and Tim Anderson and a walk to Yoan Moncada loaded the bases.

Hendriks had recorded five outs, all on strikeouts, but he needed 49 pitches (!) to do it. He was clearly out of gas, so the A's summoned left-hander Jake Diekman, who walked Grandal to force in a run. 

5-3.

The stage was set for MVP candidate Jose Abreu, who hit a 96.4 mph two-hopper on the first pitch, right at Oakland second baseman Nate Orf. Game over. A's survive.

Abreu's ball had an xBA of .460, but it hard to curse the Sox's bad luck when they played poorly over the first seven innings.

They generated no offense against Bassitt, and Dallas Keuchel was just plain bad, allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits in 3.1 innings pitched. Keuchel allowed homers to Marcus Semien and Khris Davis, and his average exit velocity allowed was 97.4 mph. He got hit hard, plain and simple.

It's disappointing because games such as this are the ones Keuchel was signed to win. Alas, he couldn't close out this series, and the Sox face a do-or-die game at 2 o'clock Thursday. Who will pitch? As of 10 o'clock Wednesday night, we do not know.

We know the middle of the rotation is the Sox's weakness. After Lucas Giolito and Keuchel, they basically have three No. 5 starters. Do you trust Dane Dunning with the season on the line? Or do you just have a bullpen game?

Garrett Crochet, Matt Foster, Codi Heuer, Aaron Bummer, Evan Marshall and Alex Colome should all be available to pitch in Game 3. Heuer is the only man from that group to appear in Game 2, and he needed only eight pitches to work a tidy 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth.

I think trying to get through nine innings with those six relievers is the best way forward.

Meanwhile, Oakland also has not announced its starter, and it is insisting that Hendriks is available for Game 3. I'm not so sure. If he does appear, will he be effective? That could change the strategy for Oakland in this game.

In terms of the Sox lineup, Edwin Encarnacion played Wednesday. Eloy Jimenez did not. I'm not sure why Jimenez is on the roster if his sprained foot is preventing him from so much as DH'ing. 

Encarnacion was 0 for 2 before being lifted for a pinch hitter, none other than Nomar Mazara, who was 1 for 2 with a single and a strikeout in the late innings. Worth noting, Mazara was called out on a terrible pitch that should have been ball four. The quality of his ABs far exceeded those of Encarnacion, who grounded out to third and struck out swinging.

Even if Jimenez cannot play Thursday, I'd say it's time to give up on Encarnacion. If Oakland starts a right-handed pitcher, hell, just DH Mazara. Or put James McCann behind the plate and DH Grandal, as the Sox did in Game 1.

The margin for error is gone now, so there's no time left to mess around with struggling players, regardless of previous track record.

High-end players shine for White Sox in Game 1 win over Oakland

Lucas Giolito

My snap judgment of the Oakland Athletics: They have a solid and deep pitching staff, with a really good bullpen -- and several decent-to-good position players, but no real stars, especially with third baseman Matt Chapman out for the season after having hip surgery.

That's where the White Sox have an advantage on the A's: The South Siders have several guys performing at an all-star level in 2020. No, the Sox can't match Oakland's pitching depth, but they may not have to in a short series if their best players come up big.

We saw that happen Tuesday in Game 1, as Lucas Giolito, Jose Abreu and Tim Anderson led the Sox to a 4-1 victory in the opener of the best-of-three series.

Game 2 is Wednesday at 2 p.m. CDT.

Here are the stat lines for those three key players mentioned above:

Giolito: 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 8 Ks, 1 BB, 100 pitches, 65 strikes

Anderson: 3 for 4, double, 2 singles, run scored

Abreu: 2 for 4, 2-run HR, single

Yes, that's what you need from your best guys in the playoffs. And Yasmani Grandal, the Sox's big free-agent acquisition from last offseason, showed up with a solo home run in the eighth inning to give the team an insurance run.

Adam Engel also had a good game, 2 for 4 with a solo home run in the second inning to open the scoring. 

The Sox improved to 15-0 against left-handed starters this season by scoring three runs in 3.1 innings against Oakland's Jesus Luzardo.

But the story of the day was Giolito, who retired the first 18 batters he faced. He did not allow a runner until Tommy La Stella singled to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning. Giolito retired the next three batters in succession after that.

Only in the eighth did the Sox's ace stumble. He walked the leadoff batter and gave up a single to Jake Lamb, putting runners at first and third with no outs. However, Evan Marshall and Aaron Bummer combined to limit the damage to one run in relief, and closer Alex Colome worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for the save.

Of note: Grandal served as the designated hitter, while James McCann was in his customary role as Giolito's personal catcher. That means struggling veteran DH Edwin Encarnacion took a seat on the bench.

Left fielder Eloy Jimenez is on the playoff roster, but he was not in the lineup Tuesday. He missed his fourth straight game with a sprained right foot. If he returns Wednesday, it could be as the designated hitter. We may have seen the last of Encarnacion, who is batting .157 for the season, despite 10 home runs. 

Leury Garcia returned from the 45-day injured list to start in left field Tuesday, and predictably, he went a rusty 0 for 4. Engel got the nod in right field against the left-handed Oakland starter, instead of Nomar Mazara, and that move obviously paid dividends for the Sox.

Oakland will start the American League Pitcher of the Month for September on Wednesday, former Sox right-hander Chris Bassitt. Will Mazara get an opportunity to get back in there in a more favorable matchup for him, or will we see Garcia again?

The guess here is Engel plays in Game 2 regardless. If Jimenez is able to DH, we could see Engel in left and Mazara in right. Or maybe Sox manager Rick Renteria sticks with Tuesday's winning lineup, and we once again see Garcia in left and Engel in right.

Left-hander Dallas Keuchel will be on the mound for the Sox, and we'll see if he can use his postseason experience to his advantage.

White Sox tumble to No. 7 seed, will play Oakland in first round

Luis Robert

2-6. 

That's all the White Sox needed to do in their last eight games in order to secure an American League Central Division championship.

Of course, they went 1-7. 

The Minnesota Twins are the division champions with a record of 36-24. They have the No. 3 seed in the AL playoffs and will get a favorable matchup against the sixth-seeded Houston Astros (29-31).

That spot could have belonged to the Sox, but they lost to the Cubs, 10-8, on Sunday and finished tied with the Cleveland Indians for second place. Both Chicago and Cleveland are 35-25, one game behind the Twins in the division.

The Indians hold the tiebreaker over the Sox by virtue of their 8-2 record in head-to-head matchups, so they get the 4 seed as the top second-place team and will host the No. 5 seed New York Yankees.

Come to think of it, I don't envy the Indians, because New York is probably better than its 33-27 record indicates.

That leaves the No. 7 seed for the Sox, and they will go on the road to face the No. 2 seed Oakland Athletics. The best-of-three series starts Tuesday night. The A's (36-24) are the only winning team in the AL West, and they coasted to the division title by seven games over Houston.

It was a real ugly finish for the Sox. After getting swept in Cleveland, they lost 10-0 to the Cubs on Friday. The Sox won, 9-5, on Saturday, but they fell behind 10-1 on Sunday before a furious rally in the last two innings to make the game look more competitive than it actually was.

However, what's done is done, and the Sox have to look ahead to Oakland. A few positives:

• Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel were both effective in their last starts of the season, and after taking the weekend against the Cubs off, they should be rested and ready for Games 1 and 2.
• Aaron Bummer and Evan Marshall are healthy, fortifying the Sox's bullpen.
• Rookie Garrett Crochet is unscored upon through the first six innings of his pro career. He tossed two scoreless innings in the win Saturday.
• With Bummer, Marshall, Crochet, Matt Foster, Codi Heuer and Alex Colome all healthy and ready, the Sox have SIX relievers they can use in high-leverage spots. This weekend, the Cubs scored ZERO runs against those six men. That's saying something, given that the Cubs scored 25 runs in the series.
• The Cubs did the Sox a favor by blowing up Reynaldo Lopez on Sunday. The right-hander allowed six runs in 1.1. innings, showing that he is not qualified to make a playoff start for the Sox. It's better that we all discover that now than, say, next Thursday in a winner-take-all Game 3 against the A's.
• Luis Robert went 5 for 11 against the Cubs, showing signs that he's breaking out of an extended slump.
• Yoan Moncada, too. He was 3 for 8 with homer and two walks in his past two games.
• Even after being held hitless Sunday, Jose Abreu is still as good as he's ever been. His bases-loaded double put the Sox ahead to stay Saturday night. He totaled 60 RBIs in a 60-game season. He had 19 homers, a .317 average and a .987 OPS.

That's what we got. I think the Sox have two good starting pitchers and six good relief pitchers. As long as that group of eight does most of the pitching, the Sox should at least have a puncher's chance of upsetting the A's.

Carlos Rodon loses a game for the White Sox, but I'm not mad at him

Carlos Rodon

Carlos Rodon hadn't pitched in a game since Aug. 3. His career can best be described as "injury-riddled," and injuries have limited him to three appearances this season -- the third of which came in relief Thursday night.

And given that he hadn't pitched since Aug. 3, it was not fair to him to drop him into a bases-loaded situation in the seventh inning, trying to protect a 4-1 lead, in a game the White Sox really needed to win for the AL Central race.

Predictably, Rodon didn't get it done. He gave up a two-run single to Cesar Hernandez and a two-run double to Jose Ramirez. Indians win, 5-4, and they sweep the four-game series from the Sox.

I can't be mad at Rodon. He shouldn't have been placed in that situation, and I'm tired of pondering all the stupid things the Sox do to cost themselves. What else can you say?

The Minnesota Twins now lead the AL Central by one game over the Sox. The Indians are two back. Minnesota hosts Cincinnati this weekend. The Sox host the Cubs. The Indians have the easiest series of all, three against the 18-39 Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Sox led the division by three games with 10 to play just a week ago. Now, they've lost control of their destiny in this race. They need to sweep the Cubs and hope the Twins lose one in order to win the division.

Doubt it. As we've said many times, Sox brass doesn't know what the hell they are doing. The players need to overcome the bad decision-making, and that's hard to do. Oh well.