White Sox starter Chris Sale has been suspended for five games by the organization for his actions on Saturday before what was a scheduled start.
Here's the statement:
Take note of the "destroying team equipment" part. Initially, the word was that Sale had the flu and that's why he was a late scratch from Saturday's game. Later, reports emerged that he was dissatisfied with the throwback uniforms the White Sox were going to wear that night. His complaints apparently fell on deaf ears, so he took matters into his own hands by cutting up the throwbacks. The White Sox then sent him home and now he'll remain there until Thursday.
Here are three aspects to consider in this situation.
1. This isn't the first time Sale has clashed with the front office
This past spring, Sale was livid about the situation regarding Adam LaRoche and his son, Drake, to the point that he called White Sox president Kenny Williams a liar and reportedly had a "contentious" meeting with the front office.
Now he freaked out about uniforms. Sure, maybe the collar was uncomfortable, but it's hard to justify cutting up the jerseys as a protest while everyone else is out taking batting practice.
Given that Sale was suspended for five games, this seems like it's putting the stop to a pattern of behavior. We probably don't -- and won't -- know everything that's gone on between Sale and the front office this year or even in year's past. Perhaps a divorce would be best for all involved ...
2. Sale's name has been a hot one in trade rumors the past few days
And there's our jumping off point, because this probably wasn't only about the jerseys. Obviously the collar on the jerseys bothered Sale, but he'd probably been hearing all the trade rumors and was already more than simply annoyed as he showed up for work on Saturday. The rumors started off innocently and then spread rapidly throughout the day on Saturday, to the point that it was a realistic discussion that him being scratched from his scheduled start might have meant he'd been traded.
Now, one might wonder if this incident hurts Sale's trade value and I'm not seeing it. Teams take on guys with domestic violence history. Milton Bradley kept getting deals for years after it was known that he was a problem in the locker room. Sale cut up a bunch of jerseys. Childish (albeit kind of hilarious to picture)? Sure. But he's also an awesome pitcher who probably just needs a change of scenery.
General manager Rick Hahn confirmed that the ban will not impact Sale's status leading up to the trade deadline. He's no more or less likely to be traded because of this, says the GM.
In my opinion, if anything at all happens from this incident, it might compel the White Sox to try harder to trade him. We'll find out in the next seven days.
3. His next scheduled start is Thursday against the Cubs
The White Sox enter Sunday 10 games out in the AL Central and seven games out of the second wild card with five teams to leapfrog in order to get to the playoff spot. They are getting to the point of being a clear non-contender.
If Sale takes the ball again for the White Sox, there's always a chance he gets injured. With Sale suspended, the ways in which he can harm his trade value are awfully limited, so it would seem that the window to trade him is these next five days.
If he does take the ball on Thursday in Wrigley Field, it'll be pretty fun to see how everything goes down -- even if the most likely outcome is just a normal game with no fireworks.