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Levine: Robin Ventura Deserves Another Shot

By Bruce Levine--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- When baseball seasons go bad, just as in other real or imagined events that occur in life, someone usually is the fall guy.

In the case of the Chicago White Sox's disappointing campaign of 2015, the first finger of blame will be pointed at manager Robin Ventura and his coaching staff. This probably isn't the the fairest way to look at this group, which failed to get into contention all season. Despite the reality of the situation -- that poor and underachieving individual seasons by the team's position players caused the stumble to a 65-71 record entering play Tuesday -- the first reflection always goes into the dugout.

The 2015 club was constructed by the White Sox front office. It was mostly praised by baseball types like myself as a strong body of work, adding quality pieces toward competing for a division title with Kansas City and Detroit. The player development positions of center field, right field, second base and third base were largely ignored as question marks. That wasn't the case by Sports Illustrated, which picked the White Sox to finish fourth in the division and to have a record under .500.

The pitching staff  was fortified by free agent David Robertson at closer, free agent Zach Duke in a set-up role and starter Jeff Samardzija, acquired in a trade with Oakland. Big bats added included Adam LaRoche and Melky Cabrera to help the sluggers such as Jose Abreu and Alexei Ramirez coming off of All-Star seasons in 2014.

General manager Rick Hahn said that Ventura and staff will be a part of the big-picture analysis of everything in the organization. Those decisions should come quickly when it comes to the big league staff.

"Everybody gets analyzed," Ventura said in response to his job status. "You expect that. That is his job to do that. I am not surprised by that. We are just as disappointed as everybody else. I am just a disappointed in what we have (record) here. When you analyze it, you go through coaches, you go through players. You go through the whole process. I would like it to be better as well."

Ventura was saddled with two poor ball clubs in 2013 and 2014. He should bear little burden for those teams. This year's group was built to win. The White Sox came out of the chute as a poor club on offense, defense and on the bases. Some of that must be on the coaching staff, but the chemistry angle also has to be considered.

When you change upward of 14 players from the previous season, an adjustment period almost assuredly must be considered. The team had lost its veteran leaders from the past when both captain Paul Konerko and Adam Dunn retired. The new leaders, such as pitchers John Danks and Chris Sale, had to be established along with Abreu from the players' side.

I asked Ventura if the finger pointing this time of year when a club has failed to get the job done is fair.

"Well you're not going to point a finger at a player for not playing well," Ventura said. "That is just a part of doing business. You want them to do well. We are trying to get them to play better. So you are either going to keep that player or not."

Another season for Ventura would be fair considering his baseball tactics and the player handling seem to be solid. As Ventura said, this is a results business. For the record, the results haven't been there for the White Sox in 2015.

Nothing is forever, so if the upper management decides to fire Ventura, it wouldn't be a total shock. Still, everyone has to accept blame and look into their own mirror before finger pointing gets out of hand. There's enough blame to go around, beginning with the players, for this below-average season on the books.

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.

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