No to Cora and No To Hinch: Why the White Sox Need to Stay Away From Proven Cheaters

On October 12, 2020 Rick Hahn, General Manager for the White Sox, had a fantastic press conference. He spoke on the organization parting ways with Rick Renteria, who had been the manager for the last 4 years, and with Don Cooper, who had been the pitching coach for the last 6 decades (basically). Both of these moves were mostly met with a positive response as the Sox have finally ended their rebuild and plan to be competitive for the foreseeable future. "We've opened our window" as Hahn said on Tuesday. Hahn spoke on the health of first round pick Garrett Crochet (no restrictions, looking good) and mentioned that Andrew Vaughn, highly touted prospect, would be with the team for most if not all of 2021.

Everything sounding great, right? He even said he would look for a manager outside of the organization. This is not your older brother's White Sox. They won't bring in Frank Thomas to manage and potentially sully his otherwise stellar reputation with the fans. They want someone, as Hahn said, who has "recent October experience with a championship organization." This is when things get dicey.

If I'm looking at recent championship organizations, I look at the last 5 years. Here are the managers to win it all in the last 5 years.

Dave Martinez: Manager of the Nationals with a contract not ending soon.

Alex Cora: Currently suspended after investigation related to cheating with the 2017 Astros and 2018 Red Sox.

AJ Hinch: Currently suspended after investigation related to cheating with the 2017 Astros.

Joe Maddon: Manager of the Angels with a contract not ending Soon.

Ned Yost: Currently not working after managing the Royals for 10 years.

Taking out the two managers who are with teams currently, we are left with two cheaters and a retiree that didn't get a job after he left Kansas City. The White Sox may be looking at other options but the rumor mill is already turning and most people are saying the White Sox are going to go after AJ Hinch to be the guy who will lead this team to a championship. I am here to say this is a bad idea. As a quick note, most of what I'm about to say can be attributed to Hinch or Cora, but I believe Cora will be going back to the Red Sox so he is not really on the table.

Let me start by giving AJ Hinch the arguments those in favor will be spouting. AJ Hinch had an incredibly successful run in Houston, leading the team to the playoffs 4 times in his 5 years as manager, including 2 Pennants and 1 World Series Championship. That all happened. It can't be taken away. In fact, MLB specifically did not take any of that away when they disciplined Hinch and the Astros. He is young and he lead a team of young players to the biggest prize. The similarities between the 2020 Sox and the 2015 Astros when Hinch took over are evident.

Oh but he's a cheater and has shown little to no remorse for being one. That's where it all comes down for me. AJ Hinch, and the Astros organization, were disciplined for using improper video surveillance technology during the 2017 season. The Astros used a video camera in center field to film the opposing catchers' signs to the pitchers. Astros players or team staffers watching the live camera feed behind the dugout would then signal to their batter what kind of pitch was coming. Often this signal would come in the form of banging on a trash can.

It was a complicated and well thought out routine that the Astros knew to be against the rules. Not only that, when they were called out for potentially doing something nefarious DURING the season, AJ Hinch laughed it off and said people were making it up. When the Yankees accused the Astros of telling the batter what pitch was coming, AJ Hinch said "it made me laugh because it's ridiculous. And had I known that it would take something like that to set off the Yankees or any other team, we would have practiced it in spring training." He laughed. The reporters laughed. Now no one is laughing.

If AJ Hinch would have given a real apology when this all came out and he was suspended for one year, I would maybe be more comfortable with him coming to my favorite team. But he didn't. He didn't say "We did it, we shouldn't have done it, and I am remorseful." He instead "declined to comment further." He has not taken responsibility for this. He was the leader of a team and he helped them cheat at the highest level. He is the leader and if he didn't want to do this they would not have done it.

The White Sox manager position is the most coveted job in baseball right now. They are young, talented, and play in a big market. They will have their choice of manager candidates. Don't make it a cheater. Don't reward a cheater by giving him a really great job right after his suspension. Especially because, and this is where I may lose some of you, managers don't matter as much these days. The general manager is much more involved with the day to day operations of a team. The analytics department is very involved. The manager just has to create a good culture and not mess up the pitching decisions. That's where Renteria failed. He created the good culture, but he couldn't make a pitching decision to save his life. I don't want the culture Hinch will create.

What the White Sox don't need, 101 years after possibly the biggest scandal in baseball history, is to become involved in another one. 101 years ago the White Sox purposefully threw the World Series and it is still a black mark on the franchise. Why do they want to potentially add another one by getting involved with somebody like AJ Hinch? Don't even risk it. Go out there and get someone else.