LaMond Pope | Chicago White Sox Reporter, The Chicago Tribune

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For important information, visit principal.com slash disclosures. We're pleased to welcome Lamond Pope, who covers the White Sox for the Chicago Tribune. Lamond, there's a lot happening right now. How would you describe the last 36 hours around the White Sox? Oh, it has been absolutely crazy. I mean, you start on Monday with the news that was breaking about the possibility of the team looking for a new home, whether it be in the city or outside of the city or maybe Nashville.

That took everybody here by storm. And then less than 24 hours later, that news got replaced by the team getting rid of long-time Vice President Kenny Williams and also GM Rakhine. I mean, the team has had such a tough season. This is a ball club that had such high expectations. They looked to rebound after a disappointing 81 and 81 season last year. And they came on and got a new manager and paid him the full. And they just got off to such a terrible start. I think there was seven and 21, which is the team's worst start since 1948. And they just haven't been able to recover since. And so throughout the summer, it's been a situation where it's like, well, who's going to be able to survive this?

Will Rick be able to survive this? He's been the GM since I believe 2012. And they did a rebuild starting in 2016 with the hopes of kind of building this young team, this young core up. They made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons in 2020 and 2021. And they just haven't been able to gather steam ever since. And so this year's just been a mess.

And that led to the changes that we saw happen on Tuesday night. And this coming from a down year for the AL Central overall. So what would you say is their most glaring failure or shortcoming this season that has precipitated such a poor record? Oh, the offense just hasn't been able to click.

Here's the thing. It's like at the start of the season when they had them, they went on a 10 game losing streak in April. And during that stretch, the pitching was so bad. But then the pitching kind of turned around in May and June and then just stopped hitting. It was just situational hitting.

They weren't doing it. They weren't hitting enough home runs just across the board other than Luis Robert Jr. who's had a phenomenal season. They just haven't had the consistency from the guys at the plate. Tim Anderson, who's a former batting champion, a guy who year in and year out hits the 300. He had a knee injury in April and he came on back and he sort of dealt with his mechanics have been a little bit different. And so he's had an off season.

And just overall, up and down the line, Juan Moncada, a guy who had a great world baseball classic, made the all-tournament team. Everyone was kind of hoping that he would have a little bit of a rebound season. And he's been dealing with a back situation almost all year long. And so when he has been here, he's been struggling at the plate.

He's provided a good defense. And then you've had guys like rookies, like Oscar Colas, who they thought, well, maybe they can throw him in the right field and he just really hasn't been able to produce as well. And so up and down the lineup, there've been some poor production or production that the guys haven't been used to.

And that's led to the struggles. Do you think that's on the general manager then and the VP, or is this about the players that they brought in not performing? Well, it's a situation where the expectations of trying to build off of last year, right? Everyone thought, well, maybe last year was just a little bit of the down year and they would be able to rebound. And then, you know, after you have an 81 and 81 season and you make a managerial change, you have one or two things you can do, right? You can kind of, during the off season, kind of make a whole lot of changes to the roster, or you can go in and say, you know what, we're going to go ahead and try it one more time with this group.

And that's what they decided to do. When they did the tear down, it was a decision to kind of, let's go young, let's kind of build this core together and let's have a multi-year success. Like you were saying with the American League Central, especially being in the division, that's going to mostly be wide open. They were able to have a success in 2020 and 2021 as well. Those were the first time ever in franchise history that they made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. That just sort of says it all about the White Sox, right? And then in 21, when you have someone like Tony La Russa that becomes the manager, the expectation kind of gets higher, right? It's not just to make the playoffs, it's to have postseason success.

They lost to the Astros in 21. And then, you know, the situation was, all right, well, let's see how this team can kind of grow in the next season. And they just were so inconsistent all last year.

And then the managerial change, uh, bring in empirical fall, they kept the roster essentially intact and they just haven't been able to have any sort of success whatsoever. And so it's a situation where someone's got to take the fall. And in this case, it's been both Rick and Kenny. What's your reaction to Kenny Williams getting fired though, considering he's been with the team since the early nineties and was a major part of them winning the world series in what was it? Oh, five.

Yes, yes, correct. I was stunned, particularly the timing. Uh, you know, I thought that maybe there's going to be a situation where, uh, you know, we we've talked to, uh, Rick several times throughout the year and he was someone even, even in, uh, may who's saying, you know, put this flow start on me, put it on me, you know, he, so he, he wanted to deflect from, uh, the new manager and Pedro go fall, you know, this is his first time, uh, managing at the major league level. And so Rick kind of put it all on himself, you know, when they just couldn't get things going all year long, I sort of had the feeling that maybe at the end of the year, you know, Rick won't be in a position where he might step down or something like that. But for, uh, both Rick and Kenny, uh, to, to be gone, that caught me by surprise for sure. And I think it was a situation, um, there was a story in USA today, uh, that, that, that kind of laid it on out in which, uh, Jerry rainstorm believed that just getting rid of, uh, one wasn't going to be enough that, you know, he felt that was fair, you know, both those guys make so, so many of the decisions together, uh, that, that, you know, it's a situation where if one had to go, the other had to go as well.

Interesting. Lamont Pope is with us from Chicago. He covers the White Sox for the Tribune.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS sports radio. So they stood pad essentially from 22 to 23. What do you think they might do following this disappointing season? Well, they made so many trades at the trade deadline, right? So, you know, they got rid of Lucas, Juliet, Lance, when, uh, Joe Kelly, uh, really good, uh, young, uh, position player and Jake Berger. And so they're going to have a ton of, uh, holes to fill during the off season.

And so it's going to be a situation where, uh, when, when they decide, uh, you know, they, they have so many decisions to make on the field and then off the field as well. It's like, uh, if off the field, what do they want to do in 2024? Do they want to start another rebuild or do they want to kind of retool, uh, with around guys like Dylan C's around guys like Luis Robert, uh, hope that, uh, Tim can rebound as well and things of that nature, or do they kind of want to tear it on completely down again, you know, maybe get, maybe trade, uh, Dylan C's.

I know he was someone who was a lot of guys were speculating might be able a bit might have been on them is what happens with Tim Anderson as well. Do you move Tim in the off season as well? So, so that's the first thing it's like, what, what's the direction that you want to be in 2024? Do you want to try to retool and kind of do this on the fly and try to build around those guys?

Or do you want to kind of kind of tear it on down all the way again and then kind of take those steps. And so that's the first question, but if it's going to be a retool, again, you're going to have to at least get two starting pitchers to kind of start off with. And the starting pitching staff has been one of the team's strengths throughout the success that the team has had. And that's one of the things that has to be really frustrating for white Sox fan is that you've had such solid pitching for the most part during the stretch and you haven't been able to take advantage of it. So Lamon, what do you think about Pedro then? Will he be part of the Sox moving forward?

I believe so. I mean, I think it's a situation where, you know, uh, you know, one of the things that led to the slow start and one of the issues that the team was having was that, you know, they had a bullpen problem. Um, you know, Liam Hendricks, you know, obviously in January, he was diagnosed with cancer and he had such an inspirational story on him getting on back and pitching in may. Uh, but for that first month and a half, they, they really didn't have that, uh, lockdown closer and someone that they can go to in those late innings. And so there were some games that remember a series in Tampa, you know, they had a three, three, three run lead in one game and they blew that. And so, so one of those things were one of those crushing losses early in the year that kind of, uh, you know, kind of got the ball rolling in the wrong direction. And that was one of those mistakes that the managerial staff, I thought maybe not having someone or not kind of designating someone as that closer, they kind of went by a little bit of the committee situation.

Um, and so, so, you know, those are the things that you kind of, uh, from the manager's perspective, you kind of learn on the fly, you kind of learn kind of some of the things that did work, some of the things that didn't work. And honestly, this year there've been a lot of things that haven't worked for the ball club overall, obviously, and depending on if it's going to be someone in-house that's going to be the GM or if it's someone going to be, uh, outside of the house, if it's someone in-house, I think that's, you know, they'll probably give, uh, Peter another shot. If it's someone from out of the house, I do think again, he'll probably get another season and then you can, can evaluate from there. You brought up Liam Hendrix. I know it's been a couple months, but what was it like to be part of his return after his battle with cancer? Oh, I mean, you know, here's someone who just such an inspiration as I was saying earlier, not, you know, even before that, uh, just sort of like he and his wife, Christie, and they're, they're out in the community.

They're, they're, they're helping different causes. And he's, he's someone who is, you know, he, he loves being in on the field in the spotlight, spotlight and was really tight and tough situations. He wants the ball as often as possible, you know, uh, and, and he's someone I remember at the, uh, a field of dreams game, but the lead up to it, he was the person that was sort of front and center, like really enjoying the trip to, uh, Dyersville, Iowa, and things of that nature. And so when we received the word, um, and when we announced the news in January, it was just, it was just such crushing, uh, news just to hear, uh, because, because he's just such a likable person. And so then when we got to spring training down in Glendale, Arizona, you know, he was there and it was like, what are you doing here?

And he was, he was, he was throwing and it was just remarkable to see, uh, see him actually, you know, out at the stadium doing some long toss. Uh, and, and he said that, you know, his goal was to kind of get on back, uh, before the 60 days, uh, we're up to the, uh, he didn't want to go on the 60 day injured list. And he's like, you know, in, in the ballclub was like, all right, well, we believe in you. They, they, they talked to the doctors, they made sure that they got the doctors on board and said, no, he's recovering really well. And, uh, and so just the, uh, the ability that in the mindset that he had to want to get on back, you know, not just for himself, but also to, to show and to be an inspiration for, for other cancer patients and survivors to say, Hey, you know, you can do this too.

You can, you can come on back, you can fight and you can have success. And so, so it was just all around the boards. And then, and then the night, uh, when he made his, uh, season debut against the angels here in Chicago, uh, you know, so many standing elevations, both teams, uh, the angels and the white side, uh, you know, got on up on the top steps and we're clapping for him as well.

And so just a remarkable scene. And he had, he had Tommy John surgery recently and he's out for the entire season. But again, when we had the chance to talk to him, uh, you know, shortly after that, he said, you know what, my goal is to get on, they're telling me it's going to be a 12 to 14 month process, but I want to be back. Uh, and I want to be pitching again for the White Sox, uh, this time next year. And so, so that's just the mindset that, that Liam Hendricks has.

I guess you don't put it past him considering everything else he's already accomplished and everything he's overcome. LeMon Pope is with us from the Chicago Tribune, talking White Sox and what's been a fairly tumultuous season for them to this point it's after hours, CBS sports radio, going back to the big fight with the guardians. There was a former pitcher that started chirping about how the clubhouse with the White Sox had no rules.

Are there some indications that it's accurate? That former pitcher was, uh, Keenan Middleton, uh, you know, reliever. And, you know, the thing about Keenan, I remember like early on this season, uh, the Sox were playing the twins, uh, and he struck out, uh, Carlos Correa to end the game. And so it's like one of our first chances to go over and interview him after the game. And he said, you know what?

I was really glad that I was able to strike out, uh, Carlos there because I just don't like those Houston Astros. And so here was someone like, it was just a random, uh, out of the blue, you know, like he's going back to the 2017, uh, cheating scandal. The fact that Correa was on that team, uh, you know, he's still going to hell back, right. And so Keenan's gonna, uh, you know, say what he believes is the truth and he's going to just tell it like it isn't so, uh, you know, the, there, there've always been some questions about just sort of like the clubhouse chemistry and things of that nature, just sort of about, you know, trying to come together.

And when you have a season like this, uh, it's hard to have fun on a day in and day out basis. Right. And so, and that news broke as you, as you're alluding to beforehand, uh, you know, uh, a day or two, uh, after the fight, right. You know, so they were in Cleveland and, uh, and, and, and I remember I'm writing Michael Kopech on the mountain for the Sox and he has no hitters going at that point. And, uh, and he gives up a hit. And so like, I'm already, I'm writing like a no hitter story and, and then he gives up a hit and then I'm like, okay. And then, and then the next batter is Ramirez and he gives them another.

So I'm like, well, and then I look on up and I'm like, whoa, what's going on? And, and, and then there's a Tim and, and Jose squaring on up for the big fight and that 14, 14 minute, uh, 14 minute brawl. And so, so, you know, that, that was one of those things, we had the chance to talk to Tim, uh, uh, last weekend in Colorado, uh, you know, he took, he said, you know, he was just a situation where the motions kind of got the best of him and he put it on himself. He said, you know, I gotta be better.

Uh, I will be better. Um, you know, again, this is a situation where Tim, you know, he's hitting, you know, uh, 230, which is just not Tim Anderson. Like there's a two time all star, you know, that sort of igniter of that, of that offense. And he's just having such a down season. Uh, you know, there's the sort of frustration of, of a year gone wrong for not only him, but for the entire ball club. So he came on out in that fight, but then, then you have the, you have the news that Keenan talking to ESPN, uh, you know, the next day. And it's just sort of like, yep, just sort of like every single situation is just sort of building and building throughout this, uh, throughout this, uh, for a team that's so many games under 500, they, they still find a way to be in the news night in and night out. And, and even Pedro saying that the firings really shook up the clubhouse too.

So there's the next big domino to drop. Uh, well, let's talk about this Nashville move report that's out there. Why would the White Sox consider moving away from Chicago off of the South side and to Nashville of all places?

Yeah. And, you know, I, I would honestly, I'd be surprised if, if that happened, you know, Nashville has obviously sort of become this sort of hot, uh, town as far as when it comes to major league baseball. I remember reading a story in the Milwaukee papers recently that the Brewers were kind of thinking about Nashville as well.

And so, you know, now, now that Las Vegas is off the board, the next, uh, the next city there is Nashville. And so it's a situation where I believe there's six years left on the, uh, on the team's lease, uh, here at guaranteed rate field. And, and we got to really get a statement from, uh, the facts and say, you know, they, they just started sort of starting the process of, of beginning to have those sort of conversations, uh, uh, with the city and with the state, as far as just those next plans, you know, you know, obviously we're in a situation here in Chicago where it was all, you know, the last year or so, a year plus maybe, uh, all the talk has been about the bears possibly moving. You know, they, they, they have, uh, uh, they, they bought some property in Arlington Heights, one of the suburbs. And so, so, you know, that's been like the, the, the big story as far as, you know, the entire thing is because we're, you know, it's a bear, they can't move out of soldier field.

They can't move out of Chicago. And, and now right off the heels of that, you're, you're getting, um, the possibility of the White Sox, you know, the, you know, that, that ballpark, it was, uh, it opened in 1991. And it's a situation where, you know, it was partially built, you know, they, they were at the old Comiskey Park, uh, and they, they, at that time, uh, they threatened to possibly move to St. Petersburg.

And so that came on down to like the last minute, uh, that, that they were able to get, uh, the funding from the state, uh, to build, uh, new Comiskey, well, originally new Comiskey, now, uh, guaranteed rate filled. And so, so that was, like I said, it opened in 91 and, and now it's a situation where all these years later, here we go again. And so we'll, we'll see what comes of it.

Like I said, it's so early in the process. Um, but, but I would, I honestly, I would be surprised, uh, to, to see the Nashville Sox here in the next 10 years. It sounds like you have quite the busy and complicated off season ahead for covering the White Sox.

There, there won't be much downtime Lamond. Oh, for sure. You know, like, uh, last year as well, you know, with, with the managerial change, we were, we were busy all off season with that. And, and, and, and I remember entering the scene and I was like, well, it looks like at least we're going to kind of think these are going to get calm down a little bit, but no, that's definitely not the case.

Definitely not. As you point out for a team that is so far out of the race and yet there's so much happening. All right. You can find Lamond on Twitter at Lamond Pope L A M O N D Chicago Tribune reporter covering the White Sox and all of their drama. Even as we head toward the end of August, there's so much happening with this team. It's good to talk to you. We look forward to doing it again.

Lamond. Thank you so much. Oh, thank you, Amy. Anytime.

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