3 players the Chicago White Sox did dirty during the 2023 season
The Chicago White Sox had a bad season and it was well documented. There are a lot of reasons for this horrific season and everybody should be ashamed of themselves.
Of course, whenever there is a bad season like this, management, ownership, and the players all are going to have their scapegoats.
In a year like this, however, there are going to be some players that got the short end of the stick. There were good players that were not utilized the right way, players traded away too soon, and others that just played well only for the team to be terrible.
These are the three players who got the short end of the stick in some way, shape, or form this season:
1. Jake Burger
The Chicago White Sox did not really get the most out of Jake Burger.
Jake Burger dealt with a couple of really tough injuries in a row to start his pro career after being drafted. It would have been really easy for him to give up and be done at that point in time.
He didn't though. He stuck with it and gave it his all at all times. His development was stunted early because of it but he got through it and showed the world why he was such a high draft pick.
This season, Burger was on a roll and the White Sox didn't even play him every day. Then, they traded him to the Miami Marlins who clearly knew how to utilize him much better.
Between both organizations, he had 34 home runs, 80 RBIs, and 71 runs scored. He also slashed .250/.309/.518 with an OPS of .828. This is borderline All-Star production for someone that the White Sox just traded away for one prospect that may or may not be good in four years.
This kid wanted to be with the Chicago White Sox. He loved it. Although he got to play in the playoffs as a result of the trade, the White Sox did him dirty.
2. Luis Robert Jr.
The Chicago White Sox wasted a 5 WAR season from Luis Robert Jr.
The Chicago White Sox had a lot of hope for Luis Robert Jr. as he was coming up in the ranks. When they first signed him, they had a belief that he could be an MVP-caliber player at some point in his career.
Well, in 2023, Robert Jr. was incredible. He will be top-ten in MVP voting when it all comes out later this year. He should be incredibly proud of the year he had and try to build on it.
He should not be proud of what the White Sox did around him though. They were horrible. Usually, teams do what they can to surround a talent like Luis Robert Jr. with more good talent but the White Sox took the talent away.
They also don't do anything to make this team better although one of the best hitters in team history is just getting started. Don't be surprised if another year or so of this goes by and Robert Jr. wants out.
It would be nice to see them commit to winning before that happens though so they don't do him dirty once again. This is an amazing player that deserves to be on a winning team.
3. Oscar Colas
The Chicago White Sox did Oscar Colas no favors during his rookie year.
The Chicago White Sox have a lot of things that they can regret at this point in time. The way that they handled Oscar Colas in 2023 has to be near the top of that list.
Colas was the team's number two prospect coming into the year. They had a lot of hype and anticipation surrounding him during spring training as he was poised to make the team.
Eventually, he did make the team out of camp. It was unfortunate that he didn't hit the ground running in MLB but the White Sox gave him very little runway.
When Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez, and Luis Robert Jr. amongst others got called up, the White Sox were patient with them. For some reason, however, Colas was shown no patience as it wasn't long before he was back in AAA Charlotte.
It would have been much better for him to either start the year down there or stay in the big leagues and get reps. They should have never started him on the big team if they were just going to send him down at the first sign of a slump.
They did him very dirty and now it may cost Colas some of his ceiling. We can only hope that he finds a way to bounce back at some point and become a good MLB player. Everyone knows that he is talented enough to do so.
Next. The 15 worst contracts in Chicago White Sox history. dark