The Chicago White Sox are bad. The fans know it and every other team in the league knows it too. It’s gonna be a while before they are good again and we can only hope that they start to move things in the right direction starting now.
It felt like they were down that path after the 2016 season ended and they started their rebuild. Unfortunately, things have not gone well as players haven’t reached their ceilings, bad trades have been made, and they haven’t done anything to supplement prospects that did turn out well.
Right around the time that the White Sox started the rebuild, you may have noticed that the Atlanta Braves pretty much did the same thing. They weren’t very good for a while and then all of a sudden they were World Series contenders.
On Wednesday, they clinched the NL East for the sixth consecutive season. That is a remarkable run of dominance in that division. There are some really good teams that have been in that division during that time.
The Atlanta Braves are one of the best teams in the league right now.
The best year of them all for the Braves was the 2021 team as they ended up winning the World Series. It was one of the greatest years in their franchise history.
Of course, the White Sox took a big step that season as well, and looked like they were keeping pace with them despite not coming out on top. It sure would have been cool to see them eventually meet in the fall classic.
The reality is that the White Sox didn’t do what was necessary to supplement the roster that they built that year, unlike the Braves. That is what led to the White Sox becoming the team that they are today.
Now, The Braves are going into the playoffs believing that they can win the World Series once again. Meanwhile, the White Sox are trying to finish out this season with no real direction going forward.
Heading into the off-season, the White Sox should look at everything the Atlanta Braves have done and try to replicate it. Even if that means starting over from scratch and doing things differently by the time they’re good again.
This is the model franchise in the league right now and the White Sox can learn a lot from them. If that’s what helps them finally become a winner, so be it.