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Rogers: Shields move could pay big for Chicago
- Updated: June 5, 2016
You always hear that baseball is a marathon, not a sprint. But look at it like an auto race, a long auto race — say, the Indy 500, the Daytona 500.
Yes, since the White Sox got off to a fast start, jumping from their starting position in the pack to shoot past the pole-sitting Royals and Indians, they’ve taken on some sheet-metal damage. They may even be experiencing engine problems. But they haven’t lost the belief that if they get everything running right again, they’ll be near the front of the pack — if not in the lead — heading down the final stretch.
So they have briefly pulled into the garage to pick up parts, in this case one of baseball’s most consistent innings-eaters — a right-handed Mark Buehrle, if you will.
• White Sox complete swap for righty Shields
With James Shields added to the rotation behind the 1-2 combination of Chris Sale and Jose Quintana, the White Sox will get right back out on the track to try to run down the Royals and Indians, who passed them while they were sputtering during a 6-17 stretch that included Saturday’s 7-4 loss in Detroit.
“An acquisition like this does have an impact in the clubhouse,” White Sox general Manager Rick Hahn said on Saturday night. “Not only from the players realizing that the front office is focused to do everything in our power to help them win as many games as possible this year, but also in adding a guy who has been through these battles before, who has been a leader on successful clubs, the influence he can have, whether it’s in difficult stretches like we’re going through now or crunch time, when it’s time for the playoffs.”
Yes, he said it. Of course he said it.
Crunch time, when it’s time for the playoffs.
There’s not a White Sox fan alive who wouldn’t want to see the 2016 team battling in late September to win the American League Central, where 86-88 wins might be enough to throw down against such teams as the Red Sox, Orioles, Rangers and Mariners in October.
There’s no reason the White Sox shouldn’t be right there, with that chance.
Assuming Sale and Quintana stay healthy and Jose Abreu doesn’t finish the season with the .699 OPS he’s sporting, the White Sox should come out of their recent funk and step up their season pace, which has them winning 84 games. They have the pieces to reach the postseason for the first time since 2008.
Hahn and his bosses recognize that, which is why they struck when they saw a chance to get better. They’re sending 26-year-old right-hander Erik Johnson and 17-year-old Dominican shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. to the Padres in a complicated transaction that brings Shields to U.S. Cellular, where, during the …
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