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Emma: White Sox Offer Few Reasons For Optimism

By Chris Emma--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- To his credit, Robin Ventura doesn't seem fazed by the challenge he faces -- at least not to the naked eye.

Instead, the White Sox skipper is keeping his California-cool demeanor, even as his job security dwindles with a disappointing season. Chicago sits dead last in the AL Central at 28-37 entering Friday's tilt with Texas.

Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf gave general manager Rick Hahn the green light to be aggressive this past offseason, and the team has been a failure thus far. The blame naturally falls on Hahn and Ventura first, so their Friday pregame discussion with Reinsdorf by the third-base dugout was surely less than pleasant.

Of course, very little has been pleasant for the White Sox this season.

"It's professional baseball," Ventura said before Friday's game. "You have to go through it, keep your wits about you, stay positive and grind things out. It's a tough game because it's every day. If you want to look at the glass half-empty, you're going to end up losing that game and it will cost you more. You have to put that behind you and grind every day."

Ventura continues to accept the blame. After all, it's easier to fire one manager than an entire roster of players. But if the White Sox don't dramatically turn around their season, Hahn will be selling at the trade deadline.

A White Sox team built to compete for a division crown sits in last place, and a lineup of proven veterans has underachieved. There was no guarantee that this team would be good but also very few indications that it could be so bad.

"We're going to band together and turn it around," Ventura said.

That's an ambitious thought. Friday marks Chicago's 66th game -- six games past Hahn's 60-game judgment point -- and the White Sox haven't seen much proof that it will come together.

Jose Abreu continues to mash in the middle of the White Sox's order, and Chris Sale has been striking out batters at a rate -- 11.71 per nine innings -- that's drawn comparisons to Randy Johnson, but that's about all for positives to offer.

The biggest offseason signing, Melky Cabrera, has a -0.9 WAR on Fangraphs. Cabrera has just eight extra-base hits this season. The prized trade acquisition, Jeff Samardzija, has a 4.67 ERA and 3.75 xFIP (expected fielding independent pitching). Those numbers suggest Samardzija wouldn't be worthy of that $100 million he desires in a next contract, even with luck on his side.

The White Sox and their pitiful play has put Samardzija in a holding pattern. With his contract up at the end of this 2015 season, it appears likely he will be moved from a Chicago team for a second straight trade deadline, though he may not even earn the $85 million he declined from the Cubs in 2014.

Promising rookie Carlos Rodon has been inconsistent, closer David Robertson hasn't been needed much and free-agent signing Zach Duke carries an unsatisfactory -0.4 WAR rating.

But it's the White Sox's brutal batting that's been the main source of concern. Their lineup features 10 regular players with a negative WAR rating. For the old-school, only Abreu and Avisail Garcia have batting averages over the .270 mark.

Inexplicably, Alexei Ramirez carries a WAR rating of -0.8, the worst among qualified shortstops. That's a key bat the White Sox wish they could count on.

Collectively, the White Sox's numbers have been brutal. They check in as a -3.6 WAR, the only team in baseball below replacement level. Their team batting average is a lowly .236, good for 29th in baseball, and their .281 BABIP (batting average on balls in play) suggests they haven't been unlucky. They carry a league-worst UBR (ultimate base running) of -6.5. By comparison, Toronto leads the majors at 8.9. And their defensive runs saved number is at -49 -- essentially, allowing 49 runs in 65 games.

By the metrics, the White Sox are the worst team in baseball offensively, defensively and on the base paths.

All of this has equated to an extremely disheartening season for the South Siders. The struggles have been aplenty.

"You have to be tough-minded, disciplined, and you have to be tough enough to stick it out," Ventura said.

Unfortunately for the White Sox and their manager, change could be coming all across the board, unless a remarkable turnaround should occur.

Follow Chris on Twitter @CEmma670.

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