The Chicago White Sox organization has pushed back against claims made by pitcher Keynan Middleton that the team runs with “no rules.” Middleton was recently traded to the Yankees and accused Chicago of being disorganized after pitching two innings against the Astros Sunday.
“We came in with no rules,” Middleton said. “I don’t know how you police the culture if there are no rules or guidelines to follow because everyone is doing their own thing. Like, how do you say anything about it because there are no rules? You have rookies sleeping in the bullpen during the game. You have guys missing meetings. You have guys missing PFPs (pitcher fielding practices), and there are no consequences for any of this stuff.”
White Sox general manager Rick Hahn swiftly pushed back against Middleton’s comments Monday. Despite multiple sources corroborating many of Middleton’s claims, Hahn said that specific accounts concerning the team’s dysfunction were inaccurate.
“I was surprised to see the report this morning,” Hahn said. “At no point during the course of the year had there been a reliever sleeping in the bullpen during that game. That’s just wrong.”
Hahn went on to say that disciplinary actions for players were taken but kept private, as is typical of many MLB clubhouses. The general manager then accused Middleton of misconduct before leaving for New York.
“Quite frankly, it’s a little bit ironic that Keynan’s the one saying this, because my last conversation with him face-to-face was a week ago in the clubhouse where he sought me out to apologize for his unprofessional behavior Pedro (Grifol) had called him out on,” Hahn said. “At the time I figured that was a one-off.”
Manager Pedro Grifol, who Hahn referenced in his comments about Middleton, also addressed the pitcher’s claims Monday. While he did not deny anything that Middleton said, he took a more positive stance on the team’s culture since he arrived in the off-season.
“I’ve been talking about culture here since day one and brought it up again about three or four weeks ago,” Grifol said. “I feel like we’re not even close to where we need to be, but we’re heading in the right direction.”
The White Sox currently have a 46-68 record and will likely miss the playoffs for the second straight season. The team made the postseason in 2020 and 2021 but only managed to go 81-81 for former manager Tony La Russa last year before his departure.
