White Sox: The Time Has Come to DFA Yonder Alonso

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MAY 24: Yonder Alonso #17 of the Chicago White Sox hits a two-run single against the Minnesota Twins during the second inning of the game on May 24, 2019 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MAY 24: Yonder Alonso #17 of the Chicago White Sox hits a two-run single against the Minnesota Twins during the second inning of the game on May 24, 2019 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

White Sox should consider designating Yonder Alonso for assignment as the veteran first baseman hasn’t brought much value to the team this season.

Yonder Alonso. Yonder Alonso. Yeah.. that guy. He’s been absolutely terrible for the White Sox and shows zero signs of getting better. Perhaps he has a few more dingers in him, but he has no ability to go to the opposite field and bring up his horrendous batting average.

The White Sox have had absolute garbage lefty hitters at first-base/designated hitter before. They wasted all of 2011 playing Adam Dunn, giving him at-bats and waiting for him to “break out of it”, before realizing too late that “it” was all of 2011.

They continued to play Adam LaRoche all throughout 2015, had the team realized he stunk and just released him, they could have avoided the fiasco that was his 2016 spring training retirement. It’s time to do what a smart team would do, and that’s just cut bait and admit the White Sox made a mistake in trading for Alonso.

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When Rick Hahn acquired him this off-season, he described it as a “baseball decision”. This was, of course, a complete lie. There was no need to acquire him on a team that already has a first-baseman, Jose Abreu, and a left-handed designated hitter Daniel Palka.

The Sox didn’t need another first baseman and should have used the DH spot in 2019 as a platoon between lefty Palka and righty Matt Davidson. Unfortunately, the team traded for an older and more expensive player who has been absolutely horrible one-third of the way into the season.

This wasn’t a baseball decision, it was a pathetic attempt to lure in Manny Machado by stacking the team with his friends. The only way they were going to sign him was by giving him the money he wanted, and the White Sox were far too cheap to do that. The fact that they thought that getting two of his buddies on a team instead of paying him would work should be evidence that the person who made that decision has no idea what they are doing.

Unfortunately, Hahn and Co. have too much pride to admit they made a mistake. Instead of being honest and just getting rid of the guy (and giving his at-bats to a number of younger players in triple-A who deserve a shot), they’re going to try to pretend they did the right thing all along. This is probably the same reason they didn’t sign Gio Gonzalez.

By not signing Gonzalez this off-season when they had no reason not to, they proved they can’t admit they made a mistake in trading him for Nick Swisher when he was a prospect, so the White Sox would like to pretend that he doesn’t exist and they didn’t make a mistake trading him in the first place.

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Swallow some pride, Ken Williams and Hahn. Nothing you’ve done the past 11 years is anything to be proud about.