The 2022 Chicago White Sox were one of the most important teams in Major League Baseball. They were expected to be really good and were one of the most average teams in the league. In fact, they finished 81-81 which is the definition of average.
After going 93-69 in 2021, that is a major drop-off with a lot of the same players. There are some minor differences but nothing that should have made them drop off that much.
One big problem is that they didn’t address anything during the off-season. Furthermore, they did nothing at the 2022 MLB Trade Deadline. Of all the things that could have helped them have a much better chance at the postseason, they just acquired Jake Diekman who was terrible.
Someone that was on the market and rumored to be looked at by the White Sox was Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jose Quintana. Of course, you know the history between the White Sox and Quintana as he was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease.
The Chicago White Sox made a mistake by not bringing Jose Quintana back.
It would have been really nice to see the White Sox bring him back. He absolutely would have helped their rotation down the stretch when they needed to win some big games. Instead, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Quintana had a resurgence with the Pirates that made him an attractive player on the trade market. A smart team like the Cardinals made the move and the White Sox were left with essentially nothing.
Now, that move is made to look even worse as Jose Quintana is going to be a playoff game one starter. He was so good with the Cardinals and Pirates combined that it was determined that this would be the best move for them as they try to win a playoff round.
The Cardinals didn’t have as good of a record as the other two division winners in the Los Angeles Dodgers or Atlanta Braves so they don’t have a bye but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t an elite National League team. The fact that Quintana gets to lead a team like that speaks volumes.
St. Louis is going to play against the Philadelphia Phillies who snuck into the playoffs to end a decade-long drought. It will be very interesting to see if Quintana can shut them down and make the White Sox regret their decision to stay quiet on him at the deadline.