Levine: White Sox Roster Shakeup Is Inevitable
By Bruce Levine--
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Looking around the White Sox locker room Wednesday evening brought a certain degree of reality to the forefront: Changes are imminent. New players from other organizations and the White Sox minor league system will more than likely help change the face of this underachieving group.
After playing their next eight games on the road, the White Sox return home to play the Yankees on July 31, the non-waiver trading deadline day. Veteran players and pitchers alike understand losing five of six on their first homestand after the All-Star break has sealed their fate for the short-term. At 42-50, Chicago has the third-worst record in the American League.
The failures give upper management little choice but to unload movable contracts and reshuffle the 25-man roster going forward.
"I feel like we have played better than what our record shows," said left-hander John Danks, who threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings Wednesday, only to see the White Sox fall 3-2 to the Cardinals when Yadier Molina hit a three-run triple in the eighth inning. "The end of the day, it is about wins and losses. We have to do better."
The longest-tenured White Sox player, Danks has certainly done his share as of late. He hasn't allowed a run in his last two starts, covering 12 2/3 innings. All he has to show for his effort is two no-decisions.
"It has been a disappointing season to this point," Danks said. "We did not expect to be here. We have no one to blame but ourselves. Time is getting short. We got to go."
Danks might have used the right term with a different twist to his words. Some of Danks' teammates, and possibly the pitcher himself, could be playing for other teams by this time next week.
"We would hate to see someone go," Danks said "That is a part of it. Like I said, we have no one to blame but ourselves. I definitely don't want to see anyone go. We have a pretty tight group here. We know what we are capable of. It's a shame we have not lived up to expectations at this point."
Manager Robin Ventura said younger players can be distracted by trade rumors and deadline deals early in their major league careers.
"Younger guys do," Ventura said about the first-time sensitivity to trade talk. "You see guys that have gone through it before (block it out). If you keep hearing your name, you don't know if it's true or not."
First baseman/designated hitter Adam LaRoche, who has had a dreadful season in Chicago, has been traded three times in his career.
"My guess is that it's made a bigger deal of than it really is with the players," LaRoche said. "Your first trade is a little different. If you come up with a team, and you hear rumors for the first time, it could be a little bit of distraction. Once you have been traded and played on different teams, I don't think it's as big of a deal. You just don't hear players talk about it much."
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.