The Chicago White Sox End 2024 With the Ultimate Embarrassment
By Tim Healey
The Chicago White Sox set the record shortly after not one, but two devastating profiles came out in the media. Both profiles, one from The Athletic and one from ESPN, showed that the Sox weren't bad just because of injuries, bad luck, poor management, or because the team was trying to rebuild. Nor was it as simple as having a poorly constructed roster with a distinct lack of talent.
No, this was years in the making and is the result of a franchise that is, quite frankly, a mess.
Owner Jerry Reinsdorf is shown to be too involved in baseball operations and too unwilling to adapt to the modern game. He's also shown to be loyal to a fault to employees and stingy when it comes to spending on and off the field. And when he does spend -- the data will show that Reinsdorf, while having a reputation as not being a big spender on talent, is far from the cheapest owner in the sport when it comes to player salaries -- he spends poorly.
Not only that, but some former Sox players were reportedly toxic towards teammates. Team rules appear to have been poorly enforced. Former manager Pedro Grifol apparently talked tough about discipline and accountability, but either didn't walk the walk or tried to impose discipline at the wrong time. If the latter is the case, that can cause players to tune out instead of buy in.
This all adds up to agita for Sox fans -- and it's unclear, despite an open letter from Reinsdorf to fans apologizing and promising better days ahead -- if anything will change, let alone change soon. First-time general manager Chris Getz may or may not be in over his head, the jury's still out. The farm system seems barren of hitters and fielders, though there is some pitching talent. Yes, the Birmingham Barons minor-league team took home a title this season, but there's no guarantee that will translate to MLB talent.
The Chicago White Sox aren't just a bad team. Bad teams litter baseball and even storied franchises have terrible seasons. Sometimes it's even intentional as a team sets up a rebuild.
No, the White Sox are a major embarrassment in a major market.
Yes, other franchises may be worse. Ask Oakland A's fans who are saying goodbye to their team as it moves to Las Vegas via Sacramento. Ask Los Angeles Angels fans who've seen the team squander talent like Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Ask Tampa Bay Rays fans about how the team continues to try to compete on the cheap, or Miami Marlins fans about the dysfunction in South Florida.
But in a way, that almost makes the Sox situation worse. Normally an owner who cares and is loyal enough to not fire people too quickly would be a positive. And the Sox in-game experience, we must admit, is generally good. But Reinsdorf has been too loyal to underperforming employees, has at times underspent, and has at other times overspent on players who weren't worth the money. He's been slow to embrace analytics and he hired his old friend Tony La Russa to manage in 2020 when La Russa was the wrong fit for an emerging contender. Reinsdorf is too involved and making matters worse, while simultaneously perhaps unwilling to spend his way out of the mess.
If Jerry Reinsdorf really believes that Sox fans deserve better, here's what he can do: Empower his baseball people, make good hires, and be willing to spend on free agents if it makes sense. Similarly, he should spend smartly on free agents -- not overpaying for past performance -- and be willing to jettison employees who are underperforming. And he needs to embrace analytics as a tool.
He also needs to hire coaches who are excellent at developing talent. At all levels.
There are signs of hope -- the Sox do employ bright front-office minds like Brian Bannister. And maybe, despite a rocky start, Getz can improve as GM. But right now, the White Sox disaster of a season is no fluke. It's been headed this way for years, and while maybe if things had gone a little different in 2020 and 2021 this result could've been avoided, it seems like that even if that rebuild had succeeded, it just would've kicked the can down the road.
Until Reinsdorf changes how the franchise operates, real change seems too far into the distance to even contemplate.