The Chicago White Sox have earned every bit of scrutiny and distrust from their fanbase. The organization has burned the South Side faithful in numerous ways over the past couple of years.
White Sox fans were asked to endure a lot of losing from 2017-2019 while the roster was under the construction of a rebuild. That suffering was supposed to end with the Sox putting together a perennial contender through high draft picks and prospects acquired in blockbuster trades.
All the fans got out of it was one AL Central title in 2021, two postseason appearances, and just two total postseason wins. By 2022, it was back to watching mediocre baseball, and that quickly turned into another downright awful team.
The team's unraveling was mostly thanks to the meddling of owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who hijacked the team's competitive window by not authorizing enough spending in free agency. He also forced GM Rick Hahn to hire Tony La Russa to manage the team during the brief period of time they were actually competitive.
That created a dysfunction within the team's leadership, and it didn't take long for La Russa to suck the swagger out of the franchise.
It didn't help that the promising core of young players struggled to stay on the field. Eloy Jimenez, Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson, and Luis Robert Jr. all spent more time on the Injured List than they did winning games. The White Sox also got inconsistent play from core pieces such as Michael Kopech and Andrew Vaughn.
By 2023, the contention window was slammed close, and in 2024, the White Sox hit an all-time low with a record-breaking 121 losses in a single season.
Even though another promising young core has emerged in 2025, fans are still skeptical that things will turn around by the end of the decade. I see it every day on social media, and who can blame White Sox fans for having doubts?
When I was down at Rate Field for a Podcast Row event last Sunday, White Sox marketing and promotions director Michael Downey told me that the organization is aware of the distrust White Sox fans currently have.
An event like that is just one of the ways the franchise is trying to rebuild trust with a weary fan base. If the White Sox want to continue winning over their fans, here are three more things they can do.
1. Embrace the fan movements
Being part of the "fan community" needs to be a theme of this rebuild. In the late 1990s, the team used the "Kids Can Play" slogan to sell hope. In the early 2020s, "Change The Game" was plastered on every TV ad and t-shirt in town.
This go around, the focus should be that we are all in this together. Slowly but surely, the White Sox are starting to embrace that.
Whether it is honoring the "From the 108" guys with a bobblehead night or teaming up with Chicago Sports Bums and Sox On 35th to host a 21st birthday party for team mascot, Southpaw, the organization needs to continue to show us that they see us.
2. Provide more access to the team
One of the reasons the team had the Podcast Row event last Sunday at Rate Field was to provide access to podcasters who are normally on the outside looking in. The White Sox podcast community is plentiful and talks to the fan base on a weekly, sometimes daily basis.
Instead of hiding behind a curtain of secrecy like in the past, the organization wants to pull that curtain back. One way to do that is to involve the podcast community that talks about White Sox baseball regularly.
An important part of this event was that the access was no strings attached. This was not the organization trying to control the narrative.
Another way to provide access to the team is through the television broadcasts. The Friday Night All-Access broadcasts on CHSN have been a unique way to give fans access to the club they otherwise don't have. Sideline reporter Connor McKnight told me the goal of those broadcasts is to produce the same "island game" feel the NFL has created with Monday Night Football.
I hope more unique broadcasts are added to CHSN's broadcast in 2026.
The team should also add more content to the official YouTube channel. Even simple things like Will Venable's postgame comments in video form would create the impression that the team is more accessible.
Finally, the ballpark pass offer the team had for April and May games this season should be brought back in 2026, but it should also include September. 125 dollars for three months of baseball is another way to drum up support during non-summer, weekday nights at Rate Field.
3. Spend the money necessary to win
This likely will not happen until Justin Ishbia takes controlling interest of the team from Jerry Reinsdorf, which won't happen until 2029 at the earliest.
To be blunt, the lack of spending and lack of winning is the main reason this fan base has grown tired of the club. The White Sox are one of two teams to have never signed a player to a $100 million contract, which is the going rate for premium talent in today's market.
Reinsdorf did authorize the payroll to get over $200 million in 2022, but he did not allow it to go much beyond that figure. That meant the team still had to go bargain shopping for solutions at perennial position problems like second base and right field. The White Sox were trying win a division title with Josh Harrison and Elvis Andrus at second base, which was never going to cut it.
It would be nice to see Chicago finally hand out that elusive $100 million deal or spend the money necessary in 2027 or 2028 to contend for a World Series when this current core has matured.
Winning is the easiest way to earn back trust, and it takes money in baseball to do that. Before he gets bought out by Ishbia, let's hope Jerry opens up his wallet a lot more than we have seen in years past.