The Chicago White Sox are a franchise that is completely out of energy. That is what happens when the team losses a record 121 games in a season.
The energy suck happened long before this historically awful 2024 season. It happened the moment owner Jerry Reinsdorf hired back Tony La Russa to manage the club in 2021.
It has been a steady decline into awfulness ever since. Well, there was the 2021 AL Central title, but it got ruined when the Houston Astros crushed the Sox in the ALDS.
Otherwise, this organization has become the worst-run franchise in all of baseball. A lot of that is because of Reinsdorf's outdated views of running a baseball team.
In essence, the team has been designed for an audience of one, and that is to make it pleasing to Jerry. The problem is he still pines for the days of when players were treated like indentured servants and analytics and data were not a thing.
Losing 121 games may have finally gotten the owner to realize it is time to run things like it is 2025, and not say, 1955.
General manager Chris Getz has made a lot of updates to the front office, but it will still take some time to bring the energy back to 35th and Shields.
The simplest way to solve the club's lack of juice is for the team to be sold. The problem is Jerry is not going to sell any time soon despite speculation he was considering it back in October.
Jerry is focused on building his legacy, a new stadium on the 78 built on the taxpayer's dime, to ever sell his beloved baseball team. The only way the Sox get sold is when Reinsdorf passes away. It is sad to hope for a man to pass away for things to get better.
However, there are still five ways this organization can be re-energized with Jerry Reinsdorf as the owner in 2025 and beyond...
1) Jerry has to get out of the day-to-day operations and stop being loyal.
A lot of the reporting on the demise of the Sox has pointed back to Reinsdorf being too involved in how the club is run. His way does not work and he must get out of the way.
It also means his loyalty and patience must be eradicated, especially if Getz puts together another roster that wins less than 40 games. It is cruel, but Jerry's loyalty has also led to no accountability in this franchise. If this club is flirting with the wrong side of history again, well, someone has to take the fall.
This time there is no Pedro Grifol to take the blame. Jerry's loyalty to Grifol is also an example of how it can hurt the organization.
Grifol should have been fired after the team got off to a 3-22 start. Instead, he stayed on until August, and during that time, the Sox had two double-digit losing streaks including one that tied the American League record.
The only reason Pedro stuck around that long was Jerry did not want to pay Grifol to go away. This sort of logic has led to the franchise being one where no one is held accountable for historical failures.
While you cannot judge new manager Will Venable on wins and losses, and in a way the same goes for Getz, you cannot let Getz off the hook if he puts together a roster that breaks a record no one wants. Especially one the Sox just set.