The 2024 Chicago White Sox are certainly not a sleeping giant

The Chicago White Sox were one of the worst teams in MLB. They went 61-101 in 2023 for a variety of different reasons. They fired their GM and President and hired their incredibly underqualified head of development in Chris Getz.

Getz wasn't fit for his last job and he is even less fit to be in this role. If he succeeds in charge of baseball operations, he will be proving a lot of people wrong.

The White Sox traded Jake Burger who was their second-best player in 2023. Luis Robert Jr. is the best player on the team by far but the gap is large between him and everybody else.

We assume that Eloy Jimenez has an elite player in him but he hasn't gone a full season without some kind of health issue. When he is out there he hits well but they are still waiting for that true breakout.

The Chicago White Sox are one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball.

All of their pitchers underperformed except for the guy with off-the-field issues who likely won't even be back in 2024. They made some big trades during the deadline portion of the season and the biggest hit to the team came in the pitching department. Pitching is key to championships and their pitching stinks.

When you watched the 2023 MLB postseason, you saw big-money players showing up for their teams. The White Sox don't buy those kinds of players ever. They are one of three teams to never give out a contract north of $100 million.

Somehow, with all of that in mind, MLB Network analyst Dan Plesac still believes that they are a sleeping giant heading into 2024. He thinks that there is too much talent on this roster to not compete in the worst division in all of baseball.

The problem is that the talent on the team is wildly overrated. Outside of Luis Robert Jr and sometimes Andrew Vaughn or Eloy Jimenez, everyone has failed to reach their expectations. Most of the team just isn't very good.

If they were as talented as everyone always claims, they would have won a lot more than 61 games. Having 100 losses is the true mark of a bad baseball team.

Plesac also referenced the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers who are battling in the World Series right now. Of course, those two teams recently lost 100 games too so there is going to be that hopeful comparison.

The difference is those two teams lost 100 while rebuilding. Nobody was mad when the White Sox lost 100 in 2018 while they were building up their farm. In 2023, the White Sox were trying to bounce back from a mediocre 81-81 2022 season and they were even worse than that (by a lot).

Plesac's optimism is appreciated but it is a very flawed theory. The White Sox are likely going to be amongst the worst teams in the league again. Hopefully, Luis Robert Jr. is must-see TV again to make the season at least a little bit more interesting.