There are probably a few things you can point to as the cause of the White Sox' downfall. For Keynan Middleton, it was the lack of rules.
The former White Sox reliever caused a stir by taking a blowtorch to his former team in an interview with ESPN. He cited the absence of rules and the overall lack of accountability as part of what is sinking the White Sox, and even revealed that a rookie pitcher slept in the bullpen during a game.
It was yet another negative moment for a team that has been filled with them for a few years. Middleton only signed with Chicago during the offseason, and it’s clear he was fed up with the culture after just a few months.
Whether rules are what’s felled the White Sox, they are underperforming massively, and that’s been the case since last season. Tabbing Pedro Grifol to manage the team thus far hasn’t helped, and now the White Sox have to figure out how to get the train back on the tracks before the 2024 season begins.
Audacy MLB insider Jon Heyman offered his take on Middleton’s comments during his weekly appearance Monday on The Mully & Haugh Show.
“Some players do better when there are not strict rules, some do worse. I don’t know, I wouldn’t necessarily pinpoint no rules as the reason they are (23 games) under .500," Heyman said. "I don’t know if that's the reason, that’s his perspective. Obviously something is wrong there. They’ve played poorly with a decent sized payroll and what we think is pretty good talent.
“Other than Robert and maybe a couple others, some of the bullpen, most of the team has underachieved badly. It’s bad, and I don’t know if it’s Pedro Grifol’s fault. As we’ve been over before, he’s probably not getting blamed for it, he’s probably coming back next year, likely.
“I think they clearly are underachieving. Is it the management or is it the players? Do they have players who are self-starters who care about winning as much as players on other teams do – I don’t know, I’m not sure.
"There’s obviously something amiss there, and this is (Middleton's) perspective that they need more rules. I don’t know if more rules translate to winning or not, but that’s his perspective.”
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