It is sad seeing what happened to the core of the Chicago White Sox 2021 AL Central-winning team

Four years ago, the Chicago White Sox were the toast of the baseball world, and now they are a laughingstock.

That is what happened when the Sox went from winning the AL Central in 2021 to losing the most games in a 162-game season three years later.

Talk about a fall from grace. It was so much more than a fall. It was a total crash, and the impact went beyond hitting rock bottom.

A lot can be attributed as to why the Chicago White Sox competitive window yielded just two playoff victories at the start of the decade. Owner Jerry Reinsdorf never authorized enough spending to put the franchise over the top. Tony La Russa was brought back to manage even when it became clear the game had past the Hall of Fame manager bye.

The list seems endless.

One reason the White Sox are in their current sorry state is how the core of that 2021 team declined so rapidly.

Tim Anderson went from being talked about as the face of MLB to now having to try to salvage his career with the Los Angeles Angels on a minor-league deal.

Injuries and personal issues off the field saw Anderson go from being an All-Star with the Sox to getting released by the Miami Marlins in 2024. He was hitting .309 in 2021 and crushed quite possibly the most memorable home run of that season during the Field of Dreams game.

TA hit just .214 for the Marlins in 2024 and you know he was bad when the Marlins decided to give up on him. That's not nearly as bad as the White Sox giving up on a player, but both franchises did just that when the Sox declined to exercise his option for last season in favor of bringing in Paul DeJong.

If you had traveled back to 2021 and told anyone that Paul DeJong would be a better hitter than Tim Anderson and have value on the trade market, you would have been laughed out of the building and had hot giardiniera thrown at you.

It's not just sad to see Anderson's decline.

Jose Abreu is hoping some team will give him one more shot.

The franchise pillar of the White Sox for so many years was allowed to leave after the 2022 season. He had a decent year with the Houston Astros in 2023 after signing with them in free agency.

He was so bad last season that he got demoted all the way down to the Astros Complex League team. When that was not enough to revive his career, Houston released him. He spent time this winter playing in Puerto Rico hoping to showcase that he still has something left to give to the game.

So far there are not any takers.

Eloy Jimenez and Yoan Moncada were supposed to be counted on as key players on multiple title winning teams on the Southside.

Instead, injuries do in part to maybe their bodies were not cut out for a 162-game season and partly to speculated terrible work ethic after getting massive contract extensions are seeing their big-league careers hang by a thread.

Jimenez signed a minor-league deal with Tampa and Moncada will likely have to settle for the same with a MLB team. However, Moncada's talent and ability to play solid defense give him a decent shot to get a guaranteed contract, but it will not be nearly what he was making with the White Sox.

About the only players who made up the core of that division-winning team who are thriving are pitchers Dylan Cease and Michael Kopech--both of whom were traded away.

Only Luis Robert Jr. remains and even his days are numbered with the White Sox. It is just sad to see all that promise getting snuffed out so quickly.