Author: staff

Sports

Column: Could Chicago White Sox be sellers at the trade deadline? Next 2 weeks vs. AL Central foes may tell the tale.

It was back on June 7 that Chicago White Sox general manager Rick Hahn first was asked about the possibility of a summer sell-off.“I really hope I don’t have to sit here in six weeks and eat these words,” he said. “But I don’t foresee us being in sell mode come the (trade) deadline, even with the (poor) run differential.”AdvertisementA couple of weeks remain before that deadline, but it appears as though the upcoming stretch of games against American League Central rivals will decide whether Hahn needs to make a tough call on the team’s direction.Monday’s opener of a three-game series against the division-leading Minnesota Twins kicked off the 15-game, eat-or-not-eat stretch, bringing a renewed sense of urgency to the clubhouse.Advertisement“The approach is the same,” manager Tony La Russa said before the game. “We’ve known we’re going to finish the last two weeks (before the All-Star break) in our division, seven games against the first-place team, so we’re excited.“It’s as close as we’ve been as a unit being competitive. It’s the most fun you can have. And they’re good.”The Twins are indeed good but far from great.They came into the series with a 45-37 record, 4½ games ahead of the third-place Sox. But they were 18-21 since May 25, failing to take advantage of the Sox’s mediocrity and put some space between them and their most serious rival.Still, the Twins swept the Sox in three games in Minnesota in mid-April and can separate themselves by the All-Star break if they continue to have Team La Russa’s number.And if that happens, Hahn might have to rethink this season and dump some unproductive salaries or soon-to-be free agents and try to regroup for 2023.[ [Don’t miss] Liam Hendriks calls out gun laws after Highland Park shootings. ‘The access to the weaponry … totally needs to change,’ White Sox closer says. ]“I’m not a GM,” closer Liam Hendriks said Monday. “I can’t speculate on what their plans are. But if we go through a tough stretch in these next couple weeks and we’re looking at the possibility of (being) 10 games back in the division, and that’s also out of the wild card …“There’s a lot of different things that come into it. Obviously we’re not thinking along those lines yet just due to the fact we know we’re in that stage now where this is the make-or-break stage. These (are) the make-or-break games coming through the system now.Advertisement“We’ve got what? The Twins, Detroit, Cleveland (and) Twins the rest of the time before the All-Star break? This is a real crunch time for us to make sure we have everything firing and (see) if we can claw our way back. Because if don’t and we struggle a little bit in these next couple of weeks, all of a sudden that kind of division lead looks insurmountable to get back (from).“We don’t doubt that we can, but it makes it a lot harder and we have to rely on other teams to take care of them as well. And that’s something we don’t want to do.”The Sox haven’t been in sell mode for quite a while, and it’s unclear which players would be dangled if they fall off the cliff before the Aug. 2 trade deadline.Pitchers Johnny Cueto, who started Monday, and Vince Velasquez are free agents after the season. But neither would bring back much in return and would be mostly salary dumps.First baseman José Abreu also is eligible for free agency in November, but the Sox would be reluctant to part with a mainstay of the organization who once said: “If the White Sox don’t sign me, I’ll sign myself.” Abreu is likely here until he retires.Catcher Yasmani Grandal is owed $18.25 million in 2023 and could be expendable if the Sox are out of contention and some team is willing to gamble he’s healthy. Pitcher Lucas Giolito won’t be a free agent until after 2023, but if the Sox don’t think they can re-sign him, they could begin shopping him around to see his value.Advertisement[ [Don’t miss] ‘We came to play this series’: Behind a dominant Lucas Giolito, the White Sox sweep the Giants ]It’s not a scenario Hahn wants to contemplate. And if the Sox start winning, he won’t need to.But they need to show some urgency if they hope to stop the speculation before it begins. Outfielder Adam Engel, who returned from the injured list Monday along with Hendriks, insisted “urgency” is a “buzzword” created by those outside the clubhouse.“This team is going to be a really, really good, scary team when we’re all there,” he said. “That’s what we’re all excited for, and to say that we’re more urgent than we were prior (to now), I don’t think would be the right phrasing for it.”Maybe, but it’s not scary yet. And Engel might not know much about Sox history. This is the organization that invented the term “White Flag Trade” in 1997 when Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf gave up on the season at the trade deadline despite the Sox trailing Cleveland by only 3½ games.It was Reinsdorf’s call to hire La Russa, and he’ll be the one deciding whether it’s worth the money to become a buyer at the trade deadline for a team that has yet to prove it can win consistently, in spite of its talent.Will Hahn have to eat his words? And are they empty calories?AdvertisementIt’s going to be an interesting two weeks for everyone involved.

Sports

Liam Hendriks calls out gun laws after Highland Park shootings. ‘The access to the weaponry … totally needs to change,’ Chicago White Sox closer says.

The Chicago White Sox consulted with Major League Baseball on whether to play Monday night’s game with the Minnesota Twins after shootings at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park killed six and wounded more than two dozen others.“There was a conversation with MLB and they decided that we would play,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “It was considered.”AdvertisementAsked if he thought that was the right decision, La Russa said: “I think the people that make a decision like that are very aware of the biggest picture, and if they say play, I think we’re supposed to play.“I also know there are probably concerts going on tonight someplace and the whole city isn’t going to stop. But I know it was considered.”AdvertisementThe Sox did cancel the postgame fireworks show and scheduled a moment of silence before the game.The organization also sent out a statement expressing sympathy for the families and friends of the shooting victims.After the school shootings last month in Uvalde, Texas, the Sox and Cubs were part of an alliance of Chicago professional teams that donated a combined $300,000 to the Robb School Memorial Fund and the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation. But the teams declined to include messages supporting stricter gun laws, as other teams such as the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays did.The Sox made no mention of the need for sensible gun reform Monday, but closer Liam Hendriks made an impassioned plea for changes before the game.“Unfortunately in this day and age, it’s becoming all too commonplace,” Hendriks said of the Highland Park shootings. “The access to the weaponry that is being used in these things totally needs to change. Something needs to be done. Something needs to happen because there are way too many people losing their lives.“It’s not only about the people that lose their lives and the families of that, it’s the tragic (feeling) that goes throughout the entire community when people are concerned about leaving the house, about the day-to-day things like going to work or any number of these things.“I don’t think enough is being done, and there are two sides that need to meet somewhere in the middle and figure this out. Too many people are dying, and it’s no excuse to be like, ‘I’m on this side or that side.’ At some point things need to be done or we’re getting to the point where civilization as you know it may be ending, just due to the fact there are two drastically different sides.”Hendriks, who was born in Australia, said he is “baffled’ by American gun culture.Advertisement“That’s what America is known for,” he said. “There are a lot of things that are good over here, but you look at the news and it’s just a complete … I can walk into the stores as a non-American and buy a handgun in certain states. And that baffles me because I had to take a driving test when I came over here. I won’t have to take a test if I want to get a gun. That’s stupid. Whoever thought that was a great idea is an idiot.”Hendriks said a mass shooting in Australia in 1996 led to stricter gun laws and a significant decrease in gun-related suicides and homicides.“You can get access to guns in Australia,” he said. “You can go through gun clubs. But there are a lot more stipulations, and protection isn’t a good enough reason to get a gun.”

Sports

Brittney Griner pleads for President Biden’s help in a letter: ‘I’m terrified I might be here forever’

Brittney Griner has made an appeal to President Joe Biden in a letter passed to the White House through her representatives, saying she fears she might never return home and asking that he not “forget about me and the other American Detainees.”Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, said the letter was delivered Monday. Most of the letter’s contents to President Biden remain private, though Griner’s representatives shared a few lines from the handwritten note.Advertisement″… As I sit here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey, or any accomplishments, I’m terrified I might be here forever,” Griner wrote.“On the 4th of July, our family normally honors the service of those who fought for our freedom, including my father who is a Vietnam War Veteran,” the Phoenix Mercury center added. “It hurts thinking about how I usually celebrate this day because freedom means something completely different to me this year.”AdvertisementThe two-time Olympic gold medalist is in the midst of a trial in Russia that began last week after she was arrested Feb. 17 on charges of possessing cannabis oil while returning to play for her Russian team. The trial will resume Thursday.Fewer than 1% of defendants in Russian criminal cases are acquitted, and unlike in U.S. courts, acquittals can be overturned.Griner pleaded with Biden in the letter to use his powers to ensure her return.“Please do all you can to bring us home. I voted for the first time in 2020 and I voted for you. I believe in you. I still have so much good to do with my freedom that you can help restore,” Griner wrote. “I miss my wife! I miss my family! I miss my teammates! It kills me to know they are suffering so much right now. I am grateful for whatever you can do at this moment to get me home.”Griner has been able to have sporadic communications with family, friends and WNBA players through an email account her agent set up. The emails are printed out and delivered in bunches to Griner by her lawyer after they are vetted by Russian officials. Once the lawyers get back to their office, they’ll scan any responses from Griner and pass them back to the U.S. to send along.She was supposed to have a phone call with her wife on their anniversary, but it failed because of an “unfortunate mistake,” Biden administration officials said.Griner’s supporters have encouraged a prisoner swap like the one in April that brought home Marine veteran Trevor Reed in exchange for a Russian pilot convicted of drug trafficking conspiracy. The State Department in May designated her as wrongfully detained, moving her case under the supervision of its special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, effectively the government’s chief hostage negotiator.Griner isn’t the only American being wrongfully detained in Russia. Paul Whelan, a former Marine and security director, is serving a 16-year sentence on an espionage conviction.

Sports

Hank Goldberg, legendary South Florida radio host and ESPN analyst, dies at 82

Hank Goldberg, a longtime South Florida radio host and TV personality, passed away Monday in his Las Vegas home. He died on his birthday at the age of 82 after a long battle with kidney disease, his family confirmed.A staple of the sports talk industry in Miami for more than 25 years, Goldberg began work in the 1970s as the color analyst for the Miami Dolphins from 1978-1992. He spent that time covering the franchise’s golden era under legendary coach Don Shula, with whom he formed a close relationship.Advertisement[ DAVE HYDE: Life was loud with Hank Goldberg — and South Florida was better for it ]Goldberg, who got his start ghost-writing Jimmy The Greek’s syndicated gambling column, broke Shula’s retirement story after the 1995 season.Goldberg — whose nickname was the “Hammer” — was part of the Dolphins radio team during the franchise’s Perfect Season in 1972.AdvertisementGoldberg also went on to spend nine years at local TV station, WTVJ, from 1983-1992.Longtime South Florida sports radio host and ESPN analyst Hank Goldberg died at 82 on Monday. (Eliot J. Schechter, Sun Sentinel file)He became best-known for hosting his radio talk show on WQAM from 1993-2009. At the same time, in 1993, Goldberg began to work for ESPN covering the Dolphins beat in addition to serving as the network’s horseracing handicapping expert. He worked at ESPN as an NFL reporter and NFL handicapping expert for two decades.Goldberg’s father, Hy, was a legendary Newark sports writer who covered the New York Yankees.Goldberg, who was waiting for a kidney transplant, had his right leg amputated below the knee last October due to complications. He was undergoing dialysis three times a week.Goldberg is survived by his sister. Arrangements for a memorial service have yet to be announced.