Why Chris Sale is clearly in the wrong in Saturday's throwback jersey fiasco

Saturday afternoon, word got out the White Sox had scratched ace lefty Chris Sale from his scheduled start Saturday night. Given the recent rumors, you couldn't help but think a trade was imminent. Reports then indicated Sale had the flu.

That was not the case, however. Sale was not traded and he did not have the flu. The White Sox sent Sale home Saturday, and on Sunday suspended him for what it, at the time, called a "non-physical" incident in the clubhouse.

On Sunday, White Sox GM Rick Hahn clarified:

"Chris has been suspended for violating team rules, for insubordination and for destroying team equipment. While we appreciated Chris' talent and passion, there is a correct and and incorrect way to express concerns about team rules and organizational expectations."

What did he do? Sale cut up the throwback jerseys the White Sox were scheduled to wear Saturday.

"Sale asked that they not wear (throwbacks) on his day because they are uncomfortable. Things escalated when they wouldn't relent," a source told Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.

Here are the throwback uniforms the White Sox were scheduled to wear Saturday night:

Now here are the throwbacks the White Sox actually wore Saturday night, after Sale destroyed the uniforms they were scheduled to wear:

It's worth noting that most pitchers, especially veterans like Sale, get to pick the uniform each game. It's one of those weird old school baseball traditions. Saturday's throwbacks were part of a promotion, however, so Sale did not have input into the day's threads.

Either way, Sale is clearly in the wrong here. Not getting to wear the jersey you want to wear is not an excuse to act like a child and cut the throwbacks to pieces. I mean, he literally took scissors to them so no one could wear them. What is that? It's like a child breaking a toy because if he can't play with it, no one can.

Sale had a run-in with management earlier this season after the Drake LaRoche incident, remember. He reportedly called team president Kenny Williams a "bold-faced liar" and hung LaRoche jerseys in his locker as a protest against the team's decision to remove Drake from the clubhouse.

This is not a one-time thing now. Sale has been insubordinate multiple times within the last few months because things weren't going his way. First Drake LaRoche was let go, and now Sale was going to have to wear throwbacks he didn't find comfortable. There's a mature way to deal with that stuff. Sale took the lower road.

The good news for the White Sox is Sale is so ridiculously good, these recent outbursts don't figure to hurt his trade value all that much, if at all. If this were, say, a back-end starter or fringe roster player, these sort of outbursts would make him persona non grata around the league. No one would tolerate that.

In fact, Hahn confirmed that the ban will not impact Sale's status leading up to the trade deadline.

Sale is a capital-A Ace, one who is in his prime and signed to a ridiculously below-market contract for three seasons beyond this one. Teams have shown time and time again they will overlook off-the-field stuff as long as the player produces on the field, and Sale produces like few others. Teams will live with temper as long as Sale dominates.

For now, it's up to Williams and the rest of the White Sox staff to get Sale back with the team and under control so he can go out and help the club win. I wouldn't say the odds of a trade are higher now, but the club could have a little extra incentive to get a deal done now. There's clearly some bad blood between Sale and the White Sox brass.