ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Chicago White Sox are at closing in on the trade deadline and manager Robin Ventura understands the organization needs to make decisions one way or the other.
"You never get to a point where you’re just giving up," Ventura said of his Sox, who have lost eight of their past 10 games and 26 of the last 36. "There could be a time when direction is a little different. If it ends up that guys do get traded, it does become different. With these guys, you don’t quit. It’s still a professional game, and they have the obligation of going out there and performing at their best. There’s never any change of just trying to win games."
Ventura said he has had conversations with the team about their effort and the importance of battling through the adversity.
"It’s been mentioned," Ventura said. "But again, any time you get down and you feel like your back is against the wall, that’s the first thing you have to make sure you’re doing is doing everything you can, running hard. Because any time you don’t, it kind of adds to the disgust of not doing well."
The White Sox are 16 games under .500 before the All-Star break for the first time since July 6, 1998. They have been shut out nine times and are looking to avoid their seventh series sweep.