Opinion

There's an old—and erroneous—cliche about the Chinese symbol for "crisis" being the same as the one for "opportunity."

In the case of Chris Sale, the Chicago White Sox and any prospect-rich contenders seeking an ace via trade, it might end up being true.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — What began as a quirky story about a boy and baseball has exploded into an ugly rift in the Chicago White Sox organization punctuated by ace Chris Sale saying the players were “bold-faced lied to” by club vice president Kenny Williams and demanded a meeting with owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Flip your bat, pump your fist, shoot your imaginary arrow and come sit down with us for a few minutes as we investigate exactly how tired baseball is.

Like, take-a-two-hour-nap-each-afternoon tired?

Gulp-a-Red-Bull-or-two-a-day tired?

Enter-a-dance-competition tired?

"I do agree with what Bryce is saying," Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Archie Bradley says. "Maybe his words were a little off. It's not tired.

Nathan Eovaldi was just one inning into his second start of spring training, but New York Yankees television analyst John Flaherty was impressed.

"He looks locked in already," Flaherty said on the YES broadcast Wednesday night.

Oh, we really shouldn't be wringing our hands over bad spring training performances. But sometimes, well, it's just too hard not to.

At roughly the midway point of Major League Baseball's 2016 exhibition season, there's no shortage of bad performances to choose from. And while many of them can and should be ignored [nods in the direction of Paul Goldschmidt], we're going to focus on 10 in particular that are worth fretting about.

If the exhibition slate were a trip around the bases, we'd just be hitting the bag at second—still a couple of 90-foot sprints away from Opening Day, but a lot closer than when we started.

And while the scores of these Cactus and Grapefruit League contests don't matter, there's still plenty of consequential stuff going on between—and outside—the lines.

In the second inning of his second spring start Monday against the San Diego Padres, Jake Arrieta put a man on base for fun.

After they lost Zack Greinke to free agency, the Los Angeles Dodgers went after starting-pitching depth like they were doomsday preppers who could see a pitching apocalypse on the horizon.

But in recent weeks, the Dodgers' depth has eroded to a point where we feel obligated to propose a solution to the problem. In 10 easy letters, here it is: Jose De Leon.

Spring training in Major League Baseball may be little more than a glorified practice session, but it does serve one practical purpose. Without it, teams would have a tough time resolving their position battles.

And with the 2016 exhibition season basically half in the bag, now's a good time to check on the big competitions.

We're going to look at 10 of the spring's key position battles and provide a few updates about how they're shaking out. This will include who's involved and how they're performing, as well as any commentary that's coming out of the given team's camp.

In the midst of an offseason shopping spree meant to restore its success, the Boston Red Sox pulled off a largely unheralded trade, acquiring Carson Smith from the Seattle Mariners.