[transplant99]

White Sox are a tire fire.

"We came in with no rules," Middleton said. "I don't know how you police the culture if there are no rules or guidelines to follow because everyone is doing their own thing. Like, how do you say anything about it because there are no rules?

"You have rookies sleeping in the bullpen during the game. You have guys missing meetings. You have guys missing PFPs (pitcher fielding practices), and there are no consequences for any of this stuff."

Multiple sources, who corroborated Middleton's account to ESPN, said a pitcher was seen napping during games as well as skipping fielding practice.

"When I got to spring training, I heard a lot of the same stuff was happening last year," Middleton said. "It's happening again this year, so not sure how I could change it. They don't tell you not to miss PFPs. They don't tell you not to miss meetings, and if it happens, it's just, 'OK.'"

"I wouldn't say anything bad about the pitching staff," Middleton said. "We went about our work the right way. I think the rest of the team struggled to do the right thing."

"If you're trying to create culture, you need your big dogs," Middleton said. "The guys who played in the WBC were our big dogs, and those are the guys I feel like can police the things that are happening.

"There was no jelling of the team. We're supposed to find our identity in spring training so we can roll out for the season. If you don't find your identity, you're scuffling from Day 1."

Asked where the void exists with the White Sox, Middleton said: "Leadership in general. They say s--- rolls downhill. I feel like some guys don't want to speak up when they should have. It's hard to police people when there are no rules. If guys are doing things that you think are wrong, who is it wrong to? You or them? It's anyone's judgment at that point."

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...-rules-culture