Bernfield: Make-or-break time for Chicago White Sox's hopes
With just two weeks until the nonwaiver trade deadline, decision time is coming for the Chicago White Sox. Despite a series of aggressive moves, the Sox have been a middling ballclub this season.
They fired underperforming pitchers John Danks and Mat Latos and traded for James Shields. They called up top hitting prospect Tim Anderson and Friday promoted last year's first-round draft pick Carson Fulmer to bolster their bullpen.
But the White Sox, at 45-46, find themselves in an uphill battle in the race for an American League playoff berth. After the Cleveland Indians' torrid 22-6 month of June, they remain comfortably atop the AL Central. Cleveland sits 6½ games ahead of the Detroit Tigers, 8 ahead of the Kansas City Royals and 9 in front of the White Sox.
Worse yet, the Sox are just 6-18 against the three teams ahead of them in their division this season.
An American League wild-card berth seems more attainable with the Sox just 5½ games behind Toronto for the second spot. But there are four teams ahead of them in the standings, and the New York Yankees right on their heels..
With that in mind, the next two weeks are the most important of the White Sox's season. How they perform during this stretch may drastically alter their plans for the next two months and the future.
Having just been swept by the AL West's worst team, the Los Angeles Angels, the White Sox visit the Seattle Mariners this week before returning home for series against the Tigers and the Cubs.
It will be an 11-game litmus test vs. three winning teams before a three-game set against the lowly Minnesota Twins leading up to the Aug. 1 trade deadline.
If the White Sox don't win at least nine of the next 14 games, going for a playoff run in 2016 will prove fruitless.
Instead of trading young talent for veterans to make an improbable run, the White Sox will need to recognize that a better opportunity to win exists in the future. Selling becomes the most prudent option.
Last year the White Sox found themselves in a similar spot. Just 42-50 nine days before the trade deadline, they won seven straight games to get back within a game of the .500 mark.
Rather than admitting defeat, Sox management opted not to move coveted trade piece Jeff Samardzija. They wound up with a compensatory draft pick at season's end, instead of multiple players in a trade to improve a thin farm system.
Had they traded Samardzija last year, they might have more depth in their organization to fix some of what ails them now.
If the White Sox play their way into the race over the next two weeks, going all-in in 2016 makes sense. If they don't, they should shift their focus to 2017 and beyond.
• Jordan Bernfield is an anchor and co-host of "Inside The Clubhouse" on WSCR 670-AM The Score. He also works as a play-by-play broadcaster for ESPN. Follow him on Twitter@JordanBernfield.