Lance Lynn has become the second player to confirm issues with the culture and leadership inside the White Sox organization.
Former reliever Keynan Middleton originally made headlines late Sunday night when ESPN’s Jesse Rogers published an interview that contained damning comments. The report details everything from a lack of accountability by the White Sox all the way down to players sleeping in the bullpen during games.
While Middleton was with the White Sox for just half a season before a deadline trade to the Yankees, Lynn played with the club since the start of 2021. The Dodgers’ new starting pitcher made sure to emphasize that detail when discussing Middleton’s comments by saying, “I was there a lot longer than Key was. He’s not wrong.”
That wasn’t all.
Lynn also appeared on the Foul Territory Podcast, notably co-hosted by former White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, where he seemingly confirmed Middleton’s criticisms yet again.
“I can tell you what [Keynan Middleton] was wrong about,” Lynn replied when asked by Pierzynski if he had any thoughts on the comments. Lynn proceeded to remain silent while biting his tongue through a smile, implying the allegations were accurate.
What makes this somewhat interesting is that Middleton pointed at veteran players leaving for the World Baseball Classic, particularly Lynn and Kendall Graveman, as one of the reasons why the team’s culture didn’t develop during Spring Training under first-year manager Pedro Grifol.
“If you’re trying to create culture, you need your big dogs. The guys who played in the WBC were our big dogs, and those are the guys I feel like can police the things that are happening.
“There was no jelling of the team. We’re supposed to find our identity in spring training so we can roll out for the season. If you don’t find your identity, you’re scuffling from Day 1.”
– Former White Sox reliever Keynan Middleton (via ESPN)
Lynn laughed when Pierzynski jokingly used these comments to place the blame on the right-hander for the organizational dysfunction on the South Side.
“It’s all my fault for representing the country,” Lynn said as part of the banter. “Representing the country ruined the White Sox’s season.”
This is just another layer to what has become a true nightmare in terms of the public reception of an already tainted product. GM Rick Hahn attempted to perform damage control during today’s media scrum, claiming inaccuracies with Middleton’s accusations while accepting blame for the team’s culture problems. Though it didn’t seem to be received particularly well, Hahn deserves credit for not running from the issues while more prominent figures, like owner Jerry Reinsdorf, declined to offer any comments.
There’s been a lot of news to surface on Monday and none of it has been good. While we hope something positive comes out of such a brutal situation for the team, here are some of the storylines you may have missed.
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“Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud hatch out.” – I, Claudius written by Robert Graves.
Rick Hahn finally speaks and continues to pass the blame on to everyone else except himself, Williams and Ebenezer Jerry (the actual persons responsible for the current state of this franchise).
Unfortunately until the Reinsdorf’s are no longer associated with the White Sox organization… nothing is going to change. If by some miracle Hahn is removed as GM, the next person up is probably Chris Getz… And, everyone knows he is another Ebenezer Reinsdorf acolyte. So the mess will continue.
At this point… I cannot see any self-respecting baseball ops executive with a brain willing to come and work for Reinsdorf. Not under the current circumstances. Nor, under constraints that Ebenezer Jerry will mandate. Until the 87 year old so-called chairman is gone… I see no no hope for this once proud franchise.
It says it all when former players are saying that players would miss team meetings and practice sessions without any repercussions! Any wonder that the team is a complete mess? Obviously this behavior is being tolerated! Could you see a manager such as Earl Weaver or Billy Martin tolerating this? The other day Red Sox Manager Alex Cora benched Verdugo for being late to a pregame session! It also says it all when people who have been Sox fans for decades have said that this team is no longer fun to watch! Lance Lynn commented that he has been enjoying playing more now that he is no longer with the White Sox!
The Sox really, really need new guidance at the top…as in team president. Better drafting, better minor league instruction, more discipline at the major league level. Theo Epstein would be a perfect fit to rebuild this organization if JR wasn’t so cheap. This organization is dying right before our eyes.
The brightest baseball minds, past, present and future couldn’t succeed under the current ownership! The fact that Jerry Reinsdorf has remained silent in the face of a complete team meltdown shows that he couldn’t be bothered! He makes money no matter what happens with the White Sox! What has happened to the White Sox is baseball’s version of a nuclear holocaust! I’ve read where people who have been Sox fans for decades have said that it is no longer fun to watch this team! It’s an absolute crime that this has been allowed to happen!
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