The Chicago White Sox are expected to lose more than 100 games again in 2025. The question will be whether it is the run-of-the-mill kind of losing or historic losing like what the Sox did in 2024.
That does not mean you should not have some expectations or hopes this season. It just means it should be tempered or have nothing to do with winning.
Here are seven reasonable expectations or hopes to have in 2025...
The Sox should win at least 50-60 games.
While the Sox have not spent much in free agency, the offseason moves made should at least get the team back to the "factory settings" of a baseball team when it comes to winning and losing.
Basically, those settings are the old cliche that explains how much variance happens in a 162-game season and that is a team will win 60 games, lose 60 games, and then it matters what a team does with the other 42.
In 2024, everything that could go against the White Sox including variance did. You had the Sox losing games on the most unlikely walk-off home run-robbing grabs or a closer like Michael Kopech just trying to throw harder where he ended up blowing saves.
You also had it where the Sox rarely ran into a starting pitcher having a bad game or the opponent's defense just being downright awful. Sure, the Sox were not talented and that is why they were going to lose 100 games. It was those other factors that helped him lose 121.
Hopefully, all these minor moves can at least get the Sox back to being a team that also does not have a lot of automatic outs in the lineup. You got to remember Martin Maldonado was getting at-bats frequently in April and May.
Now with the focus shifting of getting hitters who can get on base, that should create more opportunities to score runs.
You would like to think Will Venable, even if with his lack of manager experience, is a more competent leader than Pedro Grifol. All of that should at least be enough to get a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 60 wins. It is still bad, but it is at least not historically bad.