When the White Sox gave up that 2-run HR on Monday, I decided that I was done living and dying with every pitch of this 2020 season and done letting baseball-related stress eat into my lifespan. The following are things I have now brought myself to believe:
* Yes, it would have been nice to win the division in 2020. I would have bought myself a nice division champs t-shirt. But it's not necessary to win the division this year: I can save myself the $30 that shirt would surely cost and still see my team in the playoffs. Further, it's not necessary to win the division to meet any kind of expectation, this team was expected to finish in third place with a .500 record.
* The cover has been blown off the fact that the 2020 White Sox feasted on bad and mediocre teams, but struggled to compete with elite teams. Neither fans nor ownership can deny this now. I can only hope that this will inspire action in the offseason.
* Likewise, recent bad outings by Cease and Dunning have, hopefully, reduced the chances that team management decides to just roll the dice on internal options for the 2021 rotation.
* The offseason is enough of a crapshoot, especially with that short opening series, that literally anything can happen. Crazier things have happened than a team like the 2020 White Sox going deep into the postseason, even with a swoon in the last 2 weeks of the regular season.
* Perhaps Luis Robert now understands he needs to work hard to be a productive major leaguer and can't rest on the laurels he was prematurely given by Sox fans and, frankly, most of the national media too. He has always come off as pretty cerebral in interviews (especially compared to Eloy) so I'll remain hopeful that he can work hard and smart this offseason to figure out what to do with a slider outside.
Surely some (I can even guess who) will call me naive to believe in the middle two bullet points, but all I'm saying is that it's more likely now. Whether that means the odds of decisive improvement is now 5% instead of 0.25% or 50% instead of 25% is a separate point.
Stay sane everyone.
* Yes, it would have been nice to win the division in 2020. I would have bought myself a nice division champs t-shirt. But it's not necessary to win the division this year: I can save myself the $30 that shirt would surely cost and still see my team in the playoffs. Further, it's not necessary to win the division to meet any kind of expectation, this team was expected to finish in third place with a .500 record.
* The cover has been blown off the fact that the 2020 White Sox feasted on bad and mediocre teams, but struggled to compete with elite teams. Neither fans nor ownership can deny this now. I can only hope that this will inspire action in the offseason.
* Likewise, recent bad outings by Cease and Dunning have, hopefully, reduced the chances that team management decides to just roll the dice on internal options for the 2021 rotation.
* The offseason is enough of a crapshoot, especially with that short opening series, that literally anything can happen. Crazier things have happened than a team like the 2020 White Sox going deep into the postseason, even with a swoon in the last 2 weeks of the regular season.
* Perhaps Luis Robert now understands he needs to work hard to be a productive major leaguer and can't rest on the laurels he was prematurely given by Sox fans and, frankly, most of the national media too. He has always come off as pretty cerebral in interviews (especially compared to Eloy) so I'll remain hopeful that he can work hard and smart this offseason to figure out what to do with a slider outside.
Surely some (I can even guess who) will call me naive to believe in the middle two bullet points, but all I'm saying is that it's more likely now. Whether that means the odds of decisive improvement is now 5% instead of 0.25% or 50% instead of 25% is a separate point.
Stay sane everyone.
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