The Bernstein Brief: No Need To Reconsider Chris Sale Trade
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) Timing can turn sports talk even dumber than it often is, creating forced discussions that waste everyone's time with pretend ignorance just because the moment seems to demand it.
Such is the case in spades with the return of ace left-hander Chris Sale to Chicago after being dealt to Boston for a slew of prospects last December in a deal that signaled a new and welcome approach by general manager Rick Hahn and the White Sox. Gone were the days of chasing annual pipe-dreams, replaced by a willingness to invest in a more intelligently constructed future that could bring sustained contention. We understood exactly what they did and why they did it.
Until now, apparently.
Any recriminations over the Sale deal are due to the fact that he's exactly the terrific pitcher everybody knew he was, and that the White Sox are outperforming expectations so far at 24-26. That's it.
Other than that, nothing whatsoever has changed from the time smart baseball folks celebrated the commitment to something bigger and better than making bad annual bets on long odds. What's more, both Sale and Adam Eaton were clubhouse annoyances whose respective absences are a notable reason for what is being hailed currently by some close to the team as an improved working environment under manager Rick Renteria.
It's conveniently disingenuous to change the perspective just to fit current circumstances, in an effort to fill time and space discussing the fact that Sale just happens to be in Chicago when the White Sox just happen to be playing better than we thought they might.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Bernstein and Goff Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.