Chicago White Sox: They can learn from the Atlanta Braves
The Chicago White Sox can learn a lot from the Atlanta Braves. So can the rest of Major League Baseball. They made the playoffs with a record of 88-73 which was the worst record of any team that made the playoffs. They weren’t the best team but they were the hottest team. They figured things out at the right time and cruised to their first World Series title since 1995.
Some people ripped on the White Sox for dominating a bad division in 2021. No team really put pressure on them once they got out to a big lead in the standings. Well, the World Series champion Atlanta Braves did the exact same thing in the NL East which was an even worse division than the AL Central. None of it matters once the postseason starts.
The Braves also lost Ronald Acuna Jr. in the middle of the season. Acuna is one of the five best players in Major League Baseball which makes it a devastating blow to a championship contender. Instead of mailing it in, the Braves made some big moves to try and help fix the problem.
They rebuilt their entire outfield at the trade deadline. This also proves that you can make moves at that time that aren’t bad. This is something that the White Sox can relate to in every way for 2021. Unfortunately, the White Sox weren’t able to have a similar run despite that.
There are some things that the Chicago White Sox can learn from the Atlanta Braves.
There are going to be injuries, you can be good at the trade deadline, and dominating a bad division doesn’t mean you are a bad team. You can only play the games on your schedule with the players on your roster. All of that should be in the back of Chicago’s mind during the offseason and into 2022.
Another similarity is their leader. Freddie Freeman has been with the Atlanta Braves for a long time and dealt with plenty of heartbreak. They finally won it all after staying loyal to each other over the years. Does that sound familiar?
The White Sox would love to have a similar ending with Jose Abreu. He has been the team’s best player for a long time so it would be nice to see some of the younger players help him to the top now. All of these things that the Braves did are inspirational.
Their opponent in the World Series was the Houston Astros. That is the team that eliminated the White Sox from postseason contention. They have been around the block themselves so we can only hope that the White Sox learned some things from the Astros as well. Anything can happen when the playoffs start and the Braves deserve credit for showing us that again.