The Chicago White Sox got off to a blazing start in 2016, but they quickly fell out of contention by July. Jose Abreu has an idea of why that happened.
When the Chicago White Sox added Todd Frazier and Brett Lawrie to the team via trade during the offseason, it showed that the White Sox wanted to get better and compete in the near future. When they then added Austin Jackson in an attempt to complete the outfield, it seemed like the team was at least somewhat ready to compete in an AL Central division that was up for grabs. Then the team went 23-10 in their first 33 games and seemed well on their way to competing all season long.
After that 23-10 stretch, the White Sox entered a month where they played just about as bad as a team can play. Big losses in late innings to the Rangers and Royals were heartbreaking, but the team remained in first place. However, those losses seemed like the beginning of a huge collapse in the months of June and July. By the All-Star Break, the White Sox were well out of contention. How did they fall so quickly?
Jose Abreu, following another series loss at Kauffman Stadium, made comments about the difference he sees between the Royals and the White Sox.
Jose Abreu said Royals' success is due in part to their desire. Said #WhiteSox don't have same desire and that it starts w/ him.
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) September 19, 2016
There’s a lot of stock put into “desire” by players, and often announcers as well (cough..Hawk Harrelson..cough). Somehow the belief that wanting to win more accounts for the margin between a winning team and a losing team grew. Whether it has any stock or not remains uncertain. The Royals did show in 2014 and 2015 that they have the ability to outperform how projection systems see them, but in 2016 they’ve basically regressed to their expected performance.
Abreu’s comments make a lot of sense coming from a player inside the clubhouse. He expects more out of himself and his teammates. From the perspective of someone outside of the clubhouse, though, is Abreu correct? Can the desire to win truly affect a team that much?
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Instinct tends to say that the answer to that question is no. Desire and as Hawk Harrelson would say, “the will to win,” certainly plays a part in how a team approaches a 162 game season. However, it’s incredibly hard to believe that lack of desire is the only thing that took down the 2016 White Sox.
With injuries to a team already lacking in depth, the White Sox were left with no option other than playing players like J.B. Shuck, Avisail Garcia, and Tyler Saladino every day. The contributions from Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, Jose Abreu, Adam Eaton, and even Todd Frazier‘s weird year can’t outweigh the negatives of those other players playing day to day. The White Sox core is among the best in the league, with two Cy Young caliber pitchers, a good young shortstop, and two good sluggers in Abreu and Frazier. And yet, they haven’t won anything with that core.
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Desire isn’t killing the White Sox in 2016. What is killing the White Sox is their woeful lack of depth becoming extremely apparent. If they want to win in the near future, they’ll need strong leaders like Abreu to show desire. But more importantly, they will need to make roster improvements to bolster the core enough to create a true contender.