These are
strange times in Chicago sports. The
Cubs are in trouble because they keep falling below .500 while the White Sox
are encouraged to fall as far below .500 as athletically possible.
The Cubs’
troubles are their own and beyond my concern.
I’m a Sox fan and enough of a competitive human being to dislike
losing. Ah, but the esteemed
sportswriter in Saturday’s Tribune reminded me how the more losses this year means
higher draft choices next June.
Whoopee. Two things Mr.
Sportswriter missed, starting with the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team that went 20
straight years—1993-2012—with a losing record; ten of those years the Pirates
lost 90-plus games, which should have translated into all sorts of talent to
build on but didn’t. Moral of the story
for me is that losing begets losing.
Bad teams can be
counted on to waste draft position, which is what I worry about with the White
Sox. Good teams scout and draft talent
in all the rounds, not just the top ones, if only Mr. Sportswriter would’ve
noted. The Sox drafted Mark Buehrle in
the 38th round in 1998, a sign that their general manager at the
time, Ron Schueler, valued scouting. The
choice for the White Sox rebuild is either the Pirates’ way or the smart way,
and any team that sticks with Robin Ventura in the dugout for five miserable
seasons would seem to have a lock on dumb.
I’d love it if they can prove me wrong.
Today’s the draft, so go out and get another Buehrle, guys.
No comments:
Post a Comment