Maybe the Chicago White Sox will not hold the record for most losses in a 162-game season for as long as the New York Mets did.
The 121 defeats the White Sox had in 2024 snapped a record the Mets held since 1962.
The most embarrassing part regarding the White Sox's record losing was that the Mets originally set that dubious mark during their first season of existence. The White Sox franchise had been around for 124 seasons before setting a new standard in losing.
Also, the methodology of constructing rosters was much better in 2024 than in 1962. Plus, the technology to help develop players was ten times more advanced in 2024. That is why the White Sox were a special kind of bad to break a mark labeled amazing when the Mets did it.
It is also why it feels like it would be impossible for another franchise to lose that many games unless it was trying really hard to be bad.
Since the new draft rules try to deter tanking, not many clubs are going to aim to be record-setting awful in the name of getting the best draft pick. Teams are going to be bad because of terrible ownership or an incompetent front office. It would take a special kind of awful ownership and front office like what the White Sox had to win 41 games or fewer.
Well, the impossible could be possible with the Colorado Rockies already at the same record through 26 games as the White Sox were in 2024.
Being on the same pace is not the only reason the Rockies have a shot at breaking the White Sox's dubious record.
FanGraphs' Dan Szymborski ran his ZiPS projections and found that the possibility exists that the Rockies could end up with 122 losses or more.
He also found that this year's version of the White Sox could be even worse than the 2024 version.
Also, it is worth noting that the possibility remains very small. The Rockies would also have to string together massive double-digit losing streaks like the 2024 White Sox did. Colorado's bullpen would also have to blow an insane amount of saves, like the 37 the Sox pen did last year.
Their defense would also need to be comical on most nights, and simple variants like running into an opposing team having a bad week would have to be nil.
Scoring runs would also have to be nearly impossible, as the 2024 White Sox scored just 505 runs last season. Since the Rockies play at Coors Field, they always have a chance to put enough runs to win more than 41 games.