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 A lot of that is because of Reinsdorf's outdated views of running a baseball team.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.
2) The majority of the White Sox's highly touted prospects pan out.
The White Sox currently have six prospects in MLB Pipeline's Top 100. Thye also have a farm system steep in pitching.
The hope is top pitching prospects Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith develop into aces to replace the recently traded Garrett Crochet and Dylan Cease by 2026. Since the Sox do not pay pitchers, it is imperative those two develop into All-Star pitchers.
They are exciting pitchers with what they can do on the mound. Jonathan Cannon, Drew Thorpe, Sean Burke, and Davis Martin also have the potential to be solid to good pitchers. Thorpe has the stuff to be an ace in the mold of Mark Buehrle (only Thorpe is right-handed). The Sox have plenty of other arms to provide cover in case some of those guys do not pan out.
The position prospects the team has close to the big leagues also must produce to get some excitement back. Colson Montgomery, Edgar Quero, and the recently acquired Kyle Teel, all will have a chance to make the big-league club out of spring training.
It would be nice if those three produce and be in the running for AL Rookie of the Year when they debut. Bryan Ramos also has a high upside, so it would be nice for him to prove he can be a good MLB player.
It could not hurt to see Chase Meidroth or Brooks Baldwin produce at the plate considering second base has been a black hole in the lineup since 2002.
It would be great to know that those these youngsters can provide hope for better days. Braden Montgomery is also another highly touted prospect, but he is not likely to make his MLB debut until 2027.
Still, it would be nice to see him put together an exciting season in the minors.
3) Hit on the next couple of drafts and international free-agent signing cycles.
It would be great for the Sox to draft their Bobby Witt Jr. or sign their version of Jackson Chourio in international free agency.
The Sox could use an infusion of talent and one that does not involve trading their current assets because the team cannot draft and develop well.
The club cannot walk away from these terrible seasons with picks in the vein of Andrew Vaughn and Nick Madrigal. They must get some cornerstone players out of the next couple of drafts--even if it is more pitching.
The international scouting department got overhauled and hopefully that results in getting some young studs. You got to go back to Maggilo Ordonez and Carlos Lee for the last time the international department found some dudes. Jose Abreu and Luis Robert Jr. were other successes, but they were older prospects.
You want this department to find a couple of talented young players who become outstanding much like the Milwaukee Brewers or Cleveland Guardians have done.
4) Keep the players who do develop around beyond their years of club control.
It would be nice for this organization to stop trading away its star players because they are nearing free agency and ownership does not want to pay them.
Keeping the players who possibly develop around for a decade or more would be nice for once.
5) Sign Roki Sasaki.
That would be the stunner of the offseason. It is unlikely to happen but the Sox have an outside shot given Sasaki's ties to 2005 White Sox legend Tadahito Iguchi.
Signing the Japanese equivalent to Paul Skenes would immediately inject some excitement back into this organization.
While it likely will not happen, the Sox have yet to get a meeting, his addition would give the Sox another top young arm in their rotation. It would also be huge for the Sox to outbid the Los Angeles Dodgers or the San Diego Padres.
Also, it would be nice for the Sox to do something beyond shooting their shot.