The Chicago White Sox made plenty of terrible decisions during their last rebuild that negatively impacted the long-term future of the franchise. Two of those decision also turned out to have a positive impact on the Detroit Tigers.
The Tigers owe the White Sox a big thank you for these blunders, as Detroit got the right manager to lead the team and a core player who looks like a perennial All-Star.
The White Sox hired Tony La Russa over A.J. Hinch
I firmly believe that Chicago's decision to hire La Russa over Hinch set both franchises down the paths they are currently on. The White Sox have known nothing but letdown and losing ever since re-associating with La Russa in the 2020 offseason.
Bringing back La Russa from retirement showed just how dysfunctional the organization's leadership is - another reason the Sox are in their current poor state.
Former White Sox GM Rick Hahn reportedly wanted to hire Hinch after firing Ricky Renteria. Owner Jerry Reinsdorf wanted to go with La Russa to make up for the regret he had after firing him back in the 1980s. The owner easily won out, despite Hinch having interest in the job and aligning better with the modern game.
It didn't help that the White Sox announced La Russa's hiring on social media with a graphic that had Hinch's signature on it.
While the White Sox won the 2021 AL Central title and had one season of success under La Russa, it was clear the game had passed Tony by even during that season. La Russa even admitted to not knowing about MLB rule changes at one point.
La Russa's strategic decisions were baffling, and the clubhouse started to fray under his leadership. Then Tony was forced to retire from managing again because of health issues.
Hinch ended up taking the Tigers' job in the same offseason he was pursued by Chicago and led Detroit through a rebuild period to an improbable postseason birth. He gets a ton of credit for the Tigers' magical late-season run to claim an AL Wild Card spot in 2024 and a playoff series win.
I think the White Sox would be in a different state had Hinch been running things during their most recent contention window. He would have had them playing much better baseabll in 2022 when the team underachieved to a .500 record.
The White Sox drafted Andrew Vaughn over Riley Greene
It has become painful to think about how the 2019 MLB Draft shook out for the White Sox. If the Sox had lost just two more games, they would have been picking second overall with an opportunity to draft Bobby Witt Jr.
Then the White Sox took college first baseman Andrew Vaughn with the third overall pick, whose MLB career has varied from replacement-level to terrible. Vaughn had been so bad in 2025 that he was demoted back to Triple-A as a 27-year-old.
Had the White Sox decided to go for a high-ceiling high school player like outfielder Riley Greene, maybe the Sox would be in a better state. Instead, Chicago went with the high-floor guy, and it left Greene on the board, who the Tigers eventually took sixth overall.
Greene was a huge catalyst for Detroit's run to the playoffs last season with a .262/.348/.479 slash line, a wRC+ of 135, and an fWAR of 4.0. He is having another great season in 2025, with an fWAR already at 1.4 while pacing for 33 home runs. Greene has become a core piece for the Tigers and looks like a perennial All-Star. He was selected to his first career MLB All-Star Game in 2024 at just 23 years old.
For context, Vaughn's fWAR last year was -0.2 and has dropped to -1.3 this season. He is looking like an obvious non-tender for the White Sox in the offseason.
Now, at the time, if there was a high school player the White Sox were tied to, it was current Nationals shortstop C.J. Abrams. However, long-time White Sox reporter James Fegan, who was with The Athletic in 2019, pointed out the Sox were debating taking a high school player because of the longer development path.
Greene would have fit in nicely in Chicago since he would have come up when the Sox desperately needed rebuild reinforcements. Instead, Vaughn has come to represent one of many reasons the White Sox have descended into baseball purgatory. Greene has helped Detroit return to glory.