Did the Chicago White Sox Become Awful Because of Bad Players or a Bad Clubhouse?
By Todd Welter
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There is nothing wrong with Getz wanting to fix the clubhouse culture (and the defense for that matter).
And that’s the other part to this. As a fan, you want the White Sox to sign players who fix all of their problems.
— Chuck Garfien (@ChuckGarfien) March 22, 2024
Sox fans are smart. You know what the team needs.
But after what happened last year, players weren’t exactly lining up to come here.
Fix the clubhouse.… https://t.co/wAtPd9e6Cq
If Getz was going to get limited financial resources, it is not an awful idea to try to upgrade these two areas to see if that can help win on the margins.
The problem is his acquisitions project to have a roster that will finish with a 23.6 fWAR. Also, Reinsdorf told us the reason he just promoted Getz instead of conducting an extensive general manager search after he fired Williams and Hahn was that Chris was going to turn things around quickly. Well, a 23.6 fWAR forecast is not exactly getting things turned around fast.
This team can have all the family dinners that they want, but that is still not forecasting many victories. Turning things around quickly usually means spending money in free agency to cover holes that your system could not fill. The Sox had a lot of them, and Getz chose to plug them with guys like Paul DeJong and Nicky Lopez. Two players who have already had their career season and are now neutral fWAR players at best.
Although to be fair, Chuck correctly points out that a toxic clubhouse culture is not exactly going to attract great players in free agency.
Agree. To bring in the type of players you (and I) want, they need to scout well and build a strong core in the clubhouse so players want to play here. I want more than guys with just TWTW! But that’s how bad things got last year. Rock bottom. 101 losses. Getz built a team… https://t.co/3Q9HT1KBNM
— Chuck Garfien (@ChuckGarfien) March 22, 2024
What is probably getting missed in all of this is the fear that Getz is running the team per Jerry Reinsdorf's wishes. This means he is running the Sox like this is still not 1955 and Branch Rickey is still around. The Sox have been slow to embrace the modern run to a team and acquire players. The recent collapse is proof of that. The owner would not spend enough to put the team over the top and the previous regime did a bad job constructing the roster with the limited resources it had.
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