CHICAGO — We don’t need to wait until the MLB investigation is completed to know Mike Clevinger is done in Chicago.

The newly signed White Sox pitcher, who is under investigation after allegations of domestic violence and child abuse by the mother of his 10-month-old-daughter, denied the disturbing accusations through attorney Jay Reisinger, who called Clevinger a “loving and caring father.”

It will be up to MLB to determine whether Clevinger should be suspended, and if so, for how long. Then it will be on the White Sox to do the right thing.

The only real choice is to cut ties with Clevinger and take the “L.” Move on and try to forget the signing ever happened.

Clevinger won’t be able to recover from this, at least in Chicago, just as former Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer never had a chance to return to Los Angeles after his suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy.

The sooner the Sox realize this, the better it will be for the team, the fans and the city.

The Clevinger saga is certain to become a spring training distraction, whether management or players are allowed to talk about it or not. His probable absence won’t preclude the media from mentioning him, and how the Sox deal with the hole in the rotation will be a storyline to follow for the entire six weeks.

This is a fork-in-the-road season for the Sox, and Clevinger simply cannot be a member of that clubhouse if they hope to regain the trust of fans still reeling over the underachieving ways of 2022. With a new manager in Pedro Grifol and most of the same cast of characters, the urgency to erase last season’s drama has never been greater.

General manager Rick Hahn addressed that fan angst near the end of ‘22 and noted that he, Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and executive vice president Ken Williams agreed it was the “most disappointing season of each of our careers.”

“Look, this is going to have an effect,” Hahn said. “This is going to impact people. This is not a feeling that any of us want to experience again.”

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