Cleveland, this one's for you: What we wish the White Sox would learn from consistent Guardians

For the Chicago White Sox fans hanging in there and enduring the end of this brutal season, watching the series against the Cleveland Guardians proved two things remain true: the White Sox are terrible and the Guardians are very good.

Since the AL Central was formed in 1994, the Guardians never finished last in the division. They have won 11 division titles and have made the playoffs in five of the last eight years.

Cleveland has consistently put the pieces together to compete well above their market size and embrace the underdog role.

With the White Sox losing their 114th game and getting swept for the 23rd time this season, we'll look at how Cleveland has been able to sustain their success and where the Sox should be taking notes.

Investing in the organization should not just be monetary

As the adage goes, good things come in threes. If you're the Guardians, they come in fours.

Before the start of the 2024 season, The Athletic conducted a poll across Major League Baseball and asked 40 executives to rank the top five front offices. Points were awarded for each position with organizations earning 10 points for first place votes and one point for fifth place.

To little surprise, Cleveland’s front office was a popular nominee, garnering enough votes to earn them fourth place behind juggernauts like the Dodgers and Braves.

In July, it was revealed that Cleveland's front office worked extensively with their players in the offseason to alter their batters' approach at the plate, increasing bat speed at the expense of strikeouts.

Guardians hitters excelled at making contact in 2023 but the front office saw room for improvement and essentially trained their players to accept failure in the new approach. The change could ultimately end up seeing Cleveland go from a playoff team to a serious title contender, as they sit atop the American League at the time of this article.

Accepting swing-and-miss is the smaller message here. When organizations are run by good front offices it's easier for the players and staff to buy in to the culture because of the domino effect that happens when there is vision. It is then that we see teams build something long-lasting as the Guardians have been able to do.

The White Sox...well, they're definitely putting together a season for the ages.