Adam Dunn and What Went Wrong with the 2011 Chicago White Sox

While it would've been easier to write an article on what went right for the 2011 Chicago White Sox, I felt it was necessary to delve into the most disappointing team in franchise history. With the Chicago White Sox's season ending today, it feels fitting to craft a post-mortem on this team and attempt to pinpoint where it exactly went off the rails.

The list could obviously go on for days but here's a sampling of what stood out as the biggest contributors to the extremely disappointing season of the 2011 Chicago White Sox. 

Adam Dunn's meltdown

No doubt the biggest nightmare on the South Side was the horrid season by Adam Dunn. Dunn finished just a few at-bats short of setting the record for worst offensive season ever. Yes, it was that bad. Worse yet, Dunn was miserable from the start (.160/.300/.267 in April and May) and just never put together a solid month.

Dunn's strikeout percentage has always been a cause for concern but it becomes less troublesome when he's hitting for his usual power. Dunn had averaged 34 home runs in his first eight full seasons in the big leagues. In 2011, Dunn hit 11. Dunn's slugging plummeted from .534 in 2010 with the Washington Nationals all the way down to .277. Yes, .277. His OPS+ 138 to 56. 

Dunn's swing and miss percentage actually dropped from 13.8% to 12.6%, but the most troubling number is Dunn's career-high 57.5 percent O-Contact% (percentage of times a batter makes contact with the ball when swinging at pitches thrown outside the strike zone).

The once patient Dunn stopped laying off pitches outside the strike zone and began reaching for anything and everything. That's not good long-term for someone who relied so heavily on their plate patience and batting eye. 

There's no way to spin Dunn's numbers, he had an atrocious season by any players standards, not just a man owed $30 million-plus over the next three years. Dunn's Wins Above Replacement of minus-2.9 were far and away the worst in Major League Baseball, the next closest player with at least 300 at-bats was Orlando Cabrera (-1.3 WAR).

The good news? It can't get much worse and hopefully it doesn't as Dunn is on the hook for $34 million over the next three years. 

Alex Rios' struggles

Alex Rios is an engima, White Sox fans were aware of that when he felt into our collective laps during the 2009 waiver deadline. Rios relieved maany fears in 2010 by putting up an impressive .284/.334/.457, 3.7 WAR season. 2011 was different, very different.

Not only did Rios regress tremendously offensively, he became one of the worst defensive centerfielders in baseball. Numbers-wise Rios' UZR/150 plummeted from 1.2 to minus-7.2. White Sox fans were also treated to horrible misreads, bad throws and wrong steps.

What's more frustrating is Rios' obvious regression defensively apparently was not obvious to former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. Guillen seemingly insisted on starting Rios in center despite the presence of Alejandro De Aza, a natural centerfielder who played exceptionally well in 144 innings in center.

Gordon Beckham's Continued Regression

Do you remember that faithful half season in 2009? Gordon Beckham set Chicago on fire (pardon my horribly overused cliche) but the White Sox rookie shot up through the minor leagues and found himself as a focal point of the major league team. Finishing fifth in rookie of the year voting, the 22-year-old Beckham looked like a superstar of the future for the White Sox.

That was then, this is now. Beckham has two straight years of sub 90 OPS+, including a putrid 70 in 2011. Beckham's sweet swing that generated 14 home runs in 2009 has since produced 18 over the past two years. The opposite field power that saw Beckham hit 28 doubles is seemingly non-existent as Beckham hit only 23 in 2011. 

Beckham saw his rate of balls swung at outside of the strike zone climb skyrocket to 36.9%. Not good. Simply put, Beckham's swing is a mess. Not only do the numbers show Beckham's swing as a shell of it's former self but the swing itself appears to be a mess.

One can only hope Greg Walker's replacement attempts to return Beckham's swing to his college/minors/2009 ways or else the White Sox will have to consider other options at second base. A far cry from the man Chicago radio host Terry Boers wouldn't have traded for Adrian Gonzalez in 2010. 

Beckham continues to shine defensively so it's possible the Chicago White Sox simply allow 2B to be their offensive punt position, but why allow someone with seemingly as much talent as Beckham erode as he has. Never an Ozzie Guillen fan one would hope Beckham is reinvigorated by a new manager and hitting coach.

The Dayan Viciedo Situation

Not much can be said for the Dayan Viciedo situation on the South Side since much of it happened behind the scenes but simply put there was no reason for August 28 to be the date of Dayan Viciedo's first MLB at-bat of 2011.

Viciedo dominated AAA pitching in 2011 to tune of a .296/.364/.491 season including 20 HR in just 505 plate appearances. IT was obvious by May that the White Sox offense was going to have issues and yet Viciedo waiting in Triple-A. June and July had passed, Viciedo still waited.

Guillen balked at the idea of benching Juan Pierre in favor of the 22-year-old Cuban then claimed that if White Sox general manager Kenny Williams brought him up he'd play him. White Sox fans justifiably were confused by what appeared to be a power play between Williams and Guillen result in Viciedo continuing to waste away in Triple-A while his MLB team struggled on offense.

Since finally being brought up in late August, Viciedo hasn't lit up MLB pitching but still finds himself at a respectable .265/.339/.327, 83 OPS+ in only 109 plate appearances. The bigger issue with the entire Viciedo situation was not Viciedo himself but the continued disagreements, power plays and petty team-hurting arguments between Williams and Guillen.