White Sox Omit Keynan Middleton’s Name From Scoreboard After He Criticized The Team

Reliever Keynan Middleton was recently traded from the Chicago White Sox to the New York Yankees. And on his way out of the South Side, he had some extremely harsh words for his former team's culture and clubhouse discipline.

Middleton said that the White Sox essentially had no rules, with lax behavior tolerated by team management.

"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. 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," he added. "You have guys missing meetings. You have guys missing PFPs (pitcher fielding practices), and there are no consequences for any of this stuff."

He also said this was a longstanding issue with the White Sox that continued from the 2022 season.

"When I got to spring training, I heard a lot of the same stuff was happening last year," he said. "It's happening again this year, so not sure how I could change it."

Those comments didn't make him any fans with the organization. And sure enough, in his first game back with the Yankees, the scoreboard at Guaranteed Rate Field somehow forgot to put up Middleton's name while he was on the mound.

Well that sure seems petty!

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 09: Relief pitcher Keynan Middleton #93 of the New York Yankees throws in the fifth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on August 09, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)

Chicago White Sox Deny Scoreboard Omission Was Purposeful

The White Sox issued a statement on Thursday, denying that they excluded Middleton's name on purpose.

"The omission was not intentional but resulted because of duplicate players listed under one uniform number on MLB's downloadable Yankees roster. This glitch has arisen from time to time this season when multiple players have worn the same number for a team, and we regret it occurred tonight."

That seems reasonable enough, but the timing of the "glitch" seems to be a bit, shall we say...suspicious.

It's the latest episode of what appears, on the surface, to be extremely petty behavior by MLB organizations. The Baltimore Orioles' reported suspension of broadcaster Kevin Brown has been widely panned by fans and broadcasters.

READ: ‘FREE KEVIN BROWN’ CHANTS BREAK OUT AT CAMDEN YARDS

Middleton's remarks about the team culture were also backed up now-Dodgers pitcher Lance Lynn. Lynn told the Los Angeles Times that Middleton wasn't wrong in his assessment of the poor clubhouse culture.

The White Sox entered the season with high hopes, before quickly falling out of contention, yet again. For the former players, there's a clear explanation for the past two disappointing seasons.

And apparently the organization isn't interested in hearing about it.