As tickets go on sale Thursday for the Cubs’ annual fan convention, the White Sox were not ready to commit to hosting SoxFest this winter.
If the winter passes by without one, it would mark the fourth straight year.
There are “no official plans for SoxFest to announce at the moment, but we are working on plans to celebrate fans this winter,” a team spokesperson said Wednesday.
In what form that takes shape remains to be seen. The team waited until last October to announce it would not be holding SoxFest in the upcoming January “due to several factors,” marking the third straight year without the convention. COVID-19 concerns were cited as reasons in 2021 and 2022.
“We recognize our fans may be disappointed the event will not take place,” the team said in a statement last October. “Please check back throughout the 2023 baseball season for updates regarding future plans.”
The Sox were coming off one of their most disappointing seasons in recent memory in 2022, when they finished 81-81 after winning the AL Central in 2021. The Sox were 46-69 going into Wednesday’s home game against the Yankees, making things even worse for a disgruntled fan base that waited patiently through a rebuild, only to see it fail.
The Sox moved the event from the Chicago Hilton to McCormick Place in 2020.
Going for the win
It’s all but certain catcher Yasmani Grandal, 34, and infielder Elvis Andrus, 35, will not be with the team next season but they continue to get playing time in part because manager Pedro Grifol will “never compromise a major league win for development.”
At 25 games under .500 with 50 to play through Tuesday, Grifol said he understands those who say rookie Carlos Perez and Korey Lee — who’s at Triple-A Charlotte — should be catching for development purposes, and Zach Remillard or Triple-A infielder Lenyn Sosa should be playing second base instead of Andrus.
“We are in discussions about that but today is not the right time,” Grifol said.
And Grifol said “it’s really important for us to finish strong as a team” as a springboard into next season, and Andrus had eight hits in his previous 19 at-bats.
Grifol wants a strong finish where “everybody can go back home and have a good, healthy offseason and get back ready to play.”
“Elvis will play his share. Remillard will play his share. And then we’ll see what happens moving forward,” Grifol said. “But Elvis is playing good baseball right now. Him and Remillard will split some time there, and then when Timmy [Anderson] gets a day off, Elvis will go to short. Maybe Moncada, when he gets a day, I’ll move Remillard over there to third base. But we’ll match it up. I get your point [about playing younger guys], and you are correct.”
Mum’s the word
Anderson’s appeal of his suspension for his fighting in Cleveland Saturday remains active, and until it’s resolved, he isn’t to talking to media.
Anderson was suspended six games and fined $20,000 by major league baseball. Michael Kopech was fined $1,000.
The Oscar
Rookie right fielder Oscar Colas returned to the lineup after nursing sore legs and a small cut on his finger the previous two days and hit his third homer, a 415-foot shot against Luis Severino in a three-run second inning.
