Levine: White Sox Looking For New Leaders
By Bruce Levine--
GLENDALE, Ariz. (CBS) -- New and old friends alike are part and parcel of any start to spring training. The White Sox will have four new position players at the very least when they open up the 2016 season in Oakland on April 4.
Todd Frazier, Brett Lawrie, Alex Avila and Tyler Saladino or Jimmy Rollins will be in manger Robin Ventura's lineup 41 days from now. What Ventura has seen of the new blood should be of interest to the fan base, particularly in All-Star third baseman Frazier.
"There is not any shyness to him coming in here," Ventura said about the peppery Frazier, who created a lot of enthusiastic vibes on the first day of camp. "I think that is the biggest takeaway from the first few days. These (new) guys have meshed pretty quickly as far as personalities. It's a more vocal group than we have had the last couple of years."
The longest-tenured Chicago position players are Jose Abreu and Adam Eaton. The shocking element to that fact is both are only starting their third full season in White Sox pinstripes (you can also add in Avisail Garcia, who missed most of the 2014 season with a shoulder injury). That type of turnover certainly opens the door for new leadership both on the field and in the clubhouse.
Last season's club lacked a certain fire and cohesiveness that's necessary to attain as a group in a grueling 162-game campaign.
"We did not enjoy the way we played the last couple of years," Ventura admitted Wednesday. "We have a group here that can be fundamentally sound. That is vital to us being successful. My tone with them might have been a little different (today's meeting)."
That was all that Ventura would say of his first-day meeting with the whole team.
"It was different," he added. "You don't want to go and beat it into the new guys because they were not here (in 2015). I think tone-wise, the guys who were here in the past knew where I was coming from. It was very direct, and it did not take a long time to say it."
Ventura and the front office took their share of the blame for the White Sox's poor results last season. General manager Rick Hahn acknowledged at the end of 2015 that he and Ventura both had to make some adjustments and tweaks in their management approaches coming into 2016.
"I don't know the comparative of it," Ventura said. "But it's always better when they (players) are carrying the message. It's one thing to give it to them and keep harping on it. When guys are in there doing it and taking care of it in there, it makes for an easier clubhouse."
The leaders are yet to be determined as this group of players starts to mingle this week. Eaton is a possibility, as he has the makeup to create an energetic aura himself in the clubhouse.
"It's a huge deal," Eaton said earlier in the week. "You look at the most successful teams and they have true leaders. They have a good core of leaders and other guys that are willing to follow. I don't think over the past 50 years of baseball where there weren't leaders. We have to find the guys in here and everyone has to follow and get in line. We have to do that in order to be successful."
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.