The White Sox were 37-52 entering their final series before the All-Star break. Where we come from, that’s dangerously close to 15 games under .500.
In this week’s “Polling Place,” your home for Sun-Times sports polls on Twitter, we wanted to know if the fine fans suffering throughout this miserable season felt the Sox were too far gone to avoid a sell-off before the Aug. 1 trade deadline. Take a guess how that turned out.
“A dead, old team with a bad owner, GM, prez, farm, scouts and location,” @chitown_v called the Sox. “Sell or move.”
“If only Jerry [Reinsdorf] took this message to heart,” @JJHantsch commented as the “sell” votes piled up.
Next, we asked whom you’d pick if you were putting together a team and had to hire the Sox’ Pedro Grifol or the Cubs’ David Ross as your manager.
“I voted Ross just because I’d fire Grifol first … and then Ross,” @00723maui wrote.
Last, we asked about the Sky: Now that James Wade has left them for an NBA assistant coaching job, should they separate the coach and general manager roles?
On to the polls:
Poll No. 1: Are the White Sox too late to avoid being sellers at the Aug. 1 trade deadline?
It’s time for this week’s “Polling Place.” Let us hear from you! Selected comments will appear in Saturday's paper.
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) July 6, 2023
Q1: Are the White Sox too late to avoid being sellers at the Aug. 1 trade deadline?
Upshot: The results are deafening. Then again, the correct answer was pretty obvious, wasn’t it? So much for that championship window, folks. How long did it stay open, a year and a half? That sure wasn’t the plan, and that’s assuming there was a plan. “Whatever saves Jerry the most money is what they will do,” @rsheadcabbage predicted. Yeah, maybe so.
Poll No. 2: If you had to hire Pedro Grifol or David Ross to manage your team, who would be your guy?
Q2: If you had to hire Pedro Grifol or David Ross to manage your team, who would be your guy?
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) July 6, 2023
Upshot: Most of the commenters wrote something along the lines of, “I pick neither,” which doesn’t answer the question. Well, one supposes it does in a sense. Ross wins out easily, not that it will spare him the ire of fans if the Cubs don’t have an electric turnaround. A tip of the cap to @jumbo_bison for this clever line: “Managing via Twitter poll would be a better option.”
Poll No. 3: Now that James Wade has left the Sky, should they separate the coach and general manager roles?
Q3: Now that James Wade has left the Sky, should they separate the coach and general manager roles?
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) July 6, 2023
Upshot: Wade won a championship and came fairly close to a second one, but the Sky have many miles to gain on the WNBA’s best teams now — and it doesn’t seem likely they’ll pull it off if whoever is coaching the players is the same person duking it out with their agents over contracts. This vote is a rare order for more cooks in the kitchen.
