Two weeks ago, the Chicago White Sox called up Tim Elko to make his Major League debut because he was forcing their hand in the minor leagues.
Elko had been dominating with the Charlotte Knights, blasting 10 home runs with an OPS of 1.100 in 31 games at Triple-A.
While Elko's first taste of the big leagues came with some growing pains, he was immediately impactful because of the power he brought to the lineup. Power like Elko's can change the course of a game in one swing. The Sox saw that first-hand when Elko hit a go-ahead three-run homer against the Miami Marlins for his first Major League hit.
The White Sox are 28th in baseball in home runs this season. In 2024, they finished dead last. It was refreshing to have Elko slug three homers in his first 10 games with the team (31 at-bats). He clearly provides something that nobody else in the organization can.
Reasonably, White Sox fans are upset about the news that Elko is being sent back to the minor leagues this weekend. It's not just the fact that he is being sent down while some worthless players occupy 26-man roster spots. It's the fact that Chris Getz and the organization lied about their plans for Elko over the last few weeks.
The White Sox lied about Tim Elko
Every time you turn on a White Sox television broadcast and Elko is at the plate, play-by-play announcer John Schriffen is talking about how much patience the organization plans to have with him.
"Elko is going to be given all the runway he needs to adjust at the Major League level," Schriffen has asserted many times. That has been the messaging from Chris Getz. That Elko would be given time to make adjustments and improve his game while facing big league pitching.
The White Sox preach patience, but don't seem to have any.
What's the point of having Elko back in the minor leagues? Because we need to make sure Josh Rojas and his .393 OPS can get at-bats every day? Because Andrew Vaughn is clearly going to be part of this team's future? It's asinine.
Most White Sox fans have been calling for the team to demote Andrew Vaughn for weeks. Vaughn is approaching 200 at-bats this season and has an OPS of .531. Yet the White Sox stay patient...and therein lies the hypocrisy.
2025 is supposed to be about progress and building the foundation for the next rebuild. It's about identifying the next core of players who are going to be wearing White Sox uniforms for a long time. I don't know if Elko is one of those guys or not, but I do know that Vaughn is not. Neither is Josh Rojas. Neither is Austin Slater.
White Sox fans are sick of watching washed-up veterans take the field while the team loses 100+ games year after year. I'm right there with them. It's time for some youth on the South Side and it's time to nurture the upside shown by the prospects in the organization.
We've run out of patience entirely...and yet somehow, we're still more patient than Chris Getz and the White Sox.