Mike Clevinger investigation casts pall over White Sox spring training

Mike Clevinger

The day when pitchers and catchers report to spring training is supposed to be one of the happiest days on the calendar for baseball fans.

But not for a lot of White Sox fans. Not this year. The 2023 season is starting with a dark cloud over Sox camp in Glendale, Ariz. Most of the questions on Wednesday's first day of workouts for pitchers and catchers centered on MLB's investigation into domestic abuse allegations made against pitcher Mike Clevinger.

In fact, 25 minutes of general manager Rick Hahn's 35-minute-long press availability was devoted to answering questions about Clevinger.

Not that Hahn said much, or even could say much. The Sox are (rightfully) being questioned about their processes when performing background checks on free agents. Clevinger has been under investigation since last season, when he was a member of the San Diego Padres, but that somehow escaped Hahn's attention before he added Clevinger to the roster.

Hahn said Wednesday that the Sox have no other option but to let the process play out. On that point, I would say he is correct.

According to the MLB-MLBPA Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy, the commissioner’s office holds sole authority to discipline players for violating the policy, unless it transfers the authority over to the team. 

That policy is collectively bargained. It must be adhered to, and at this time, the commissioner's office has not placed Clevinger on administrative leave, nor has it transferred authority over to the Sox.

Thus, Clevinger reported to Sox camp Wednesday and took questions from the media. During that session, he denied any wrongdoing -- as expected -- and, on the advice of his attorneys, didn't say much about the allegations or the investigation. 

Bottom line: The Sox can't hand out any discipline here, because they would be in violation of the collective bargaining agreement. They could just cut Clevinger, but if they did, they would still be on the hook for paying him his $12 million salary, and they would open themselves up to a grievance or a lawsuit from Clevinger.

The Sox are basically stuck because they signed a free agent they never should have signed, and they are taking all of us on an express elevator to hell with them. It's Day 1, and everyone's already pissed off.

Projecting the White Sox's 25-man roster

Tim Anderson, not Manny Machado, is the shortstop

Spring training is underway, so that means it's time to start talking about roster battles in White Sox camp.

Personally, I'm tired of hearing the Manny Machado rumors, so for purposes of this exercise, I'm going to assume he's not going to be on the team. If he wanted to play for the Sox, wouldn't he have signed by now? And if the Sox were serious about signing him, wouldn't they have made him an offer he can't refuse by now?

Moving on.

Let's take a look at each position group:

Starting pitchers (5)
1. Reynaldo Lopez
2. Carlos Rodon
3. Lucas Giolito
4: Ivan Nova
5: ???????
Other contenders: Manny Banuelos, Dylan Covey, Jordan Stephens
Comment: I think the Sox are short here. I still want to see a veteran acquisition before the season starts, but I'm not holding my breath. Lopez is the only man on this list to surpass 180 innings pitched in 2018. James Shields might not be what he used to be, but he did pitch more than 200 innings last year. Who is going to take that workload? Nova is a partial answer, but I'm not buying the idea that Banuelos can handle the rest. Or Covey.

Relief pitchers (8)
1. Kelvin Herrera
2. Alex Colome
3. Nate Jones
4. Jace Fry
5. Juan Minaya
6. ???????
7. ???????
8. ???????
Other contenders: Aaron Bummer, Caleb Frare, Ian Hamilton, Jose Ruiz, Ryan Burr, Zach Thompson, Thyago Vieira
Comment: This position group actually was addressed over the offseason with the additions of Herrera and Colome, two men with closing experience. I applaud that, because it shoves younger, unproven pitchers down the leverage ladder. Fry is the one left-handed lock. Bummer or Frare will compete for the second left-handed spot, and if both are good, both can make the club. There's enough options here that the Sox can hope a few guys step up and fill out those last few spots.

Catchers (2)
1. Welington Castillo
2. James McCann
Comment: No roster battle here. Like it or not, these are your guys barring injury. And I don't particularly like it. I have a feeling McCann is going to be playing more than I care to see. Castillo usually finds a way to get hurt or suspended. This is a position of weakness.

Starting infield (4)
1B: Jose Abreu
2B: Yoan Moncada
SS: Tim Anderson
3B: Yolmer Sanchez
Comment: Everybody is back from last season, and nobody on the current roster is going to unseat any of these four. Sanchez would be best served as a utility player, but he's the third baseman for now. Hopefully, Moncada's swing adjustments will lead to strides with the bat. The Sox badly need him to step forward this season. Anderson's glove rounded into form last year. Will his bat follow in 2019?

Designated hitter (1)
DH: Yonder Alonso
Comment: He and Abreu will split time between first base and designated hitter. I figure Abreu will get most of the playing time, based upon seniority in the locker room.

Starting outfield (3)
LF: Jon Jay
CF: Adam Engel
RF: Daniel Palka
Other contenders: Nicky Delmonico, Eloy Jimenez, Brandon Guyer
Comment: That's an ugly starting group, isn't it? We all know Jimenez will be the left fielder by May 1, but he's going to be in Charlotte to start the season because of service time considerations. I have to believe Jay beats out Delmonico, whose days on the South Side are numbered. Engel is easily the best defensive outfielder the Sox have. He'll start until somebody better arrives, and that might not happen this year. Palka's power plays, but his defense is poor, so the hit tool needs to develop. Guyer was signed on a minor-league deal, and has a shot to make the club as the right-handed hitting platoon partner for either Jay or Palka.

Bench spots (2)
Utility: Leury Garcia
Utility: ???????
Other contenders: Jose Rondon, Delmonico, Guyer, Danny Mendick, Ryan Cordell
Comment: Garcia plays six positions. I would argue he doesn't play any of them well, but the Sox don't care. He'll make the club because they can put him out there somewhere with a glove on his hand. Rondon can play three infield spots (and play them better than Garcia). That might make him more desirable as a bench player than Delmonico, whose only advantage is his left-handed bat. That means he has to hit to make the club. Don't count on it. He's a career .231 hitter.

Bill Veeck talks about spring training

A step back into the past, but still some relevant words here ...

White Sox spring training: Sizing up roster battles

White Sox pitchers and catchers are set to report to spring training Friday, so let's have a look at each position group and see where the roster battles lie.

For purposes of this discussion, we'll break the team up into five categories: starting pitchers, bullpen, catchers, infielders and outfielders. The numbers in parenthesis with each position group indicate how many players I'm anticipating will come north from that group.

1. Starting pitchers (5)
Roster locks: Chris Sale, Jeff Samardzija, Jose Quintana, John Danks
Competing for a spot: Hector Noesi, Carlos Rodon
Long shots: Brad Penny, Scott Carroll
Comments: The Sox have a top three that can compete with anybody in the American League in Sale, Samardzija and Quintana. Danks, despite his bloated salary ($15.75M) and bloated ERA (4.74), somehow managed to make 20 quality starts in 2014, so it's a given that he'll be in the rotation as a back-end innings eater. The question remains the fifth spot. Pitching coach Don Cooper is bullish on Noesi, who gave the Sox 27 starts last year and finished with a respectable 4.39 ERA after getting picked up on waivers in May. I'm skeptical the journeyman Noesi is any more than a stopgap measure until top prospect Rodon arrives, which could be as soon as midseason. But right now, Noesi has the inside track on the final spot. Carroll, who made 19 starts for the Sox last year, and Penny, a veteran reclamation project, would only make the roster in the event of an injury to someone ahead of them on the depth chart.

2. Bullpen (7)
Roster locks: David Robertson, Zach Duke, Jake Petricka
Competing for a spot: Javy Guerra, Dan Jennings, Zach Putnam, Daniel Webb, Maikel Cleto, Eric Surkamp
Long shots: Jesse Crain, Matt Albers
Injured: Nate Jones
Comments: We all feel like the Sox bullpen will be better with the addition of a firm ninth-inning option in Robertson, but everything else still needs to be sorted out this spring. We know Duke is on the roster as the primary left-handed reliever, and Petricka led the Sox with 14 saves last year and figures to settle into a more comfortable seventh- or eighth-inning role this season. The rest is up for grabs. The Sox traded for Jennings for a reason, so you figure he has the inside track on being the second left-hander. Putnam, another waiver claim who overachieved in 2014, set a team record by stranding 89 percent of his inherited runners (26 of 29) last year. You figure some regression is due, but he enters camp in good position. Guerra is also in good shape by virtue of his reasonable 2014 performance (2.92 ERA in 42 games) and relatively hefty salary ($938K). I wouldn't call Jennings, Putnam or Guerra a lock, but each of the three should be considered favorites to earn a roster spot. That leaves one spot left for Webb, Cleto or Surkamp, unless either Crain or Albers comes to camp healthy and unseats someone.

3. Catchers (2)
Roster lock: Tyler Flowers
Competing for a spot: Geovany Soto, George Kottaras
Long shots: Adrian Nieto, Rob Brantly
Comments: For better or for worse, Flowers is your starter. The pitcher like throwing to him, so at least there's that. I can't bring myself to expect much from his bat. Soto is the most accomplished of the potential backup options. I think he'll make the club if he's healthy and in shape. If not, that opens the door for Kottaras. Nieto handled the backup role last year, just because he was a Rule 5 pick who needed to remain on the 25-man roster the whole season. I think the organization realizes he needs to go back to the minor leagues and work on his game.

4. Infielders (7)
Roster locks: Jose Abreu, Adam LaRoche, Alexei Ramirez, Conor Gillaspie, Gordon Beckham, Emilio Bonifacio
Competing for a spot: Carlos Sanchez, Micah Johnson
Long shot: Leury Garcia
Comments: Most of this in place. Abreu and LaRoche will share first base and DH duties. Ramirez is your shortstop. Gillaspie is your primary third baseman. Bonifacio and Beckham are utility players, with Bonifacio figuring to play some in the outfield, as well. The only question is, who is the second baseman? Sanchez hit .250 in 28 games at the end of last year. We know he can handle the position defensively, but the speedy Johnson has the higher upside. Of course, Johnson is a question mark with the glove and has never proven he can stay healthy. I'd give Sanchez the inside track going into camp, although I think the organization would love it if Johnson would step up and seize the job. Garcia is still around, basically as injury insurance.

5. Outfielders (4)
Roster locks: Melky Cabrera, Adam Eaton, Avisail Garcia
Competing for a spot: J.B. Shuck, Michael Taylor
Comments: The ranks got thin pretty quick here, didn't they? We know the starters: Cabrera in left, Eaton in center and Garcia in right. We don't know who the fourth outfielder is yet. Dayan Viciedo was released. Jordan Danks was claimed on waivers by the Philadelphia Phillies. Tony Campana blew out his ACL. That leaves Shuck in position to earn the job, because Taylor isn't much of an option, and there aren't any outfield prospects in the organization that you would consider major-league ready. If Shuck falters this spring, don't be surprised if the Sox go outside the organization to grab a backup outfielder.

Let's catch up on some White Sox spring training news

We haven't written much about the goings-on in Glendale, Ariz., so let's take a few moments to catch up on some of the White Sox spring news....

1. Pitchers and catchers reported almost two weeks ago, but there is still no sign of free agent acquisition Ronald Belisario, nor is there any timetable for his arrival.

This isn't the first time Belisario has had visa issues, and reports indicate his off-the-field problems contributed to the Dodgers' decision not to tender the right-handed reliever, who signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Sox this offseason.

“It’s something that’s beyond our control,” White Sox GM Rick Hahn told ESPN.com's Doug Padilla. “It's not entirely unexpected with immigration, especially with a player that had issues with immigration in the past. We’ve got to keep in mind that we're dealing with a relief pitcher who needs to get stretched out to one inning, maybe two, by the end of camp and there's more than enough time for that.”

True enough, but if I were a White Sox player, I would be annoyed if I were in camp working to get ready for the season while one of my teammates is still at home doing whatever. Yes, the visa process can take time, but players know what day camp starts well in advance. Is it too much to ask a player to start his visa process early to ensure that he can report on time? I don't think it is.

Like Belisario, right fielder Avisail Garcia is from Venezuela. Yet Garcia reported to camp early. He didn't seem to have any problems. So what's the deal with Belisario? I'm not sure, but I hope reporters question him, if he ever arrives in Arizona.

A couple days late is one thing. A couple weeks late and it's hard not to find that irritating.

2. Designated hitter Adam Dunn may struggle to hit his weight, but he is going to the Oscars. Dunn is an investor in the production company that made the film "Dallas Buyers Club," which is nominated for six Academy Awards, including best picture.

Dunn has a cameo in the film as a bartender.

Sox manager Robin Ventura gave Dunn his blessing to leave camp and attend the event with one caveat: Dunn has to go on stage if "Dallas Buyers Club" wins.

So, if you watch the Oscars on Sunday, just maybe you'll get to see a Big Donkey up there accepting an award.

3. What was your favorite memory of the Jake Elmore Era? It didn't last long.

The infielder played 52 games with the Houston Astros last season, and the Sox picked him up on waivers this offseason.

Alas, there is no spot for Elmore in the Sox' crowded infield. He was designated for assignment and traded Thursday to the Oakland A's for cash considerations.

We hardly knew ye.

4. The Sox will play their first spring game Friday afternoon against the Los Angeles Dodgers. This game will air on MLB Network on tape delay at 4 p.m. local time. Ace left-hander Chris Sale will get the start.

Not that we should read anything into Ventura's batting order for the first spring game, but here's how he's going to line them up: Adam Eaton, cf; Alexei Ramirez, ss; Garcia, rf; Jose Abreu, 1b; Dayan Viciedo, lf; Paul Konerko, dh; Matt Davidson, 3b; Gordon Beckham 2b; Tyler Flowers, c.