Windows to the Soul

It is both a sign of the Tribune's decline and an explanation for it that Tribune writers seem incapable of admitting when they're wrong. Even the Tribune's public editor, whose job is to admit when the paper is wrong, almost never does so — and everyone knows that's not because the Tribune is always right.

A substantial portion of the Tribune's sports staff spent the winter blasting White Sox GM Ken Williams for his trades. At times they misrepresented their own arguments as fan sentiment, at other times they misrepresented the facts, until their work resembled propaganda more than reporting. It's early in the season, but so far Williams' trades have proven golden. One Chicago sportswriter has the nuggets to admit it, but of course, he doesn't work for the Tribune. Joe Cowley in today's Sun-Times:

Looking back on Williams' trades, he is 3-0-1, and even that tie is swaying heavily in his favor.

• Reserve Ross Gload for reliever Andrew Sisco: Gload entered Thursday as a spot starter hitting .250 for the Royals, while Sisco had a 2.25 ERA in four games, bolstering one of the top bullpens in the American League. Edge: Williams.

• Reliever Neal Cotts for reliever David Aardsma: Cotts wasn't scored on in his first two appearances with the Cubs, but Aardsma (1-0, 1.29 ERA) has been a beast for the Sox in clutch time. His nine strikeouts in just seven innings pitched leads the team. Edge: Williams.

• Starter Brandon McCarthy for reliever Nick Masset and starter John Danks: McCarthy is 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA for the Rangers, but his win came against Tampa Bay -- and that should not count. Masset won Game 3 against the Indians single-handedly, while Danks (0-1, 4.50 ERA) dominated the Twins, minus one mistake to AL MVP Justin Morneau. Edge: Williams.

• Starter Freddy Garcia in a package for starters Gio Gonzalez and Gavin Floyd: Garcia is on the 15-day disabled list, while Floyd (1.50 ERA after one start) is in Class AAA Charlotte and Gonzalez (2-0, 1.74 ERA) is in Class AA Birmingham. Edge: It's a tie.

Point is, these deals were to be measured in September, not in February. It's way too early to underestimate what Williams did.

That last sentence doesn't say anything that most Sox fans weren't saying back in February, and maybe it shouldn't be notable when a sportswriter finally states the obvious, but in a city where Tribune sets the media agenda, it's as notable as an earthquake. Tribune writer Phil Rogers admitted that the Sox maybe were right on one of these trades, but not without waffling on the bigger picture, and a week later he was back to his old dissembling self. Dave van Dyck and Mark Gonzalez, the wrongest of the aforementioned wrong on these trades, are still holding out and perhaps praying that circumstances eventually make them look prescient. van Dyck hasn't corrected a story that was factually incorrect.

Why can't they admit they're wrong? Generally, Tribune writers dismiss their paper's documented bias as a matter of "perception," they whitewash criticism in their own pages even when it makes news nationally, and they greet most criticism with an impenetrable wall of arrogance. No one behaves that way but the guilty.