September of 2024 was one of the darkest times in the history of Chicago White Sox baseball. The team was wrapping the worst season of any team in the history of Major League Baseball, and new draft lottery rules prevented the White Sox from having a top pick in the ensuing draft.
Quite literally everything that could possibly go wrong for the White Sox went wrong, and it seemed like just the beginning of a long road back to relevancy.
Fast forward to one year later, September of 2025, and the White Sox have once again crossed the 100-loss threshold. The vibe around the team, however, is noticeably different.
Instead of a roster full of aging veterans clinging to life in the big leagues and a manager who doesn’t know the first thing about leadership, the White Sox have a roster full of promising young talent and a manager that’s well respected around the league.
Those on the outside may look and see another bad White Sox team and another year wasted, but fans who follow the team should be happy with the amount of progress made in 2025.
The expectation for the 2025 White Sox was never to compete
For starters, this team was never going to be competitive, because teams that lose 121 games simply don’t turn things around in one year.
The largest season-to-season win gain from any team in the divisional era belongs to the Arizona Diamondbacks, who won 65 games in 1998, followed by a 100 win season in 1999. Even if the White Sox were to match that 35-win improvement, that would put their 2025 record at 76-86, well short of making the postseason in the American League.
Expecting the White Sox to complete this year was never realistic. The team’s largest offseason moves were a new manager, a new director of hitting, and trading away their superstar pitcher for prospects. None of those moves were going to significantly impact their win total in 2025, but were instead putting the team in position for greater future success.
The team's success has been driven by young players
The 2025 team will end up with near 20 wins of improvement and much of the success has been driven by the young players on the team. 11 different players have made their big league debut for the White Sox this season, and many of them have been positive contributors to the club.
Of the White Sox team leaders in fWAR entering the final weekend of the season, the top three - Colson Montgomery, Kyle Teel, and Chase Meidroth - are all rookies. Five of the top seven are age 25 or younger. There is a clear group of players that feel like long-term pieces to a contending team.
The White Sox have a long way to go to be back in contention. Chris Getz will need to spend money to supplement the budding core, and further development from within will be crucial, but the team took a big step toward their goal in 2025. They’ll have another big opportunity this offseason.
The White Sox will have the top odds at the first overall pick in the 2026 MLB draft, and will have a chance to add another top prospect to their farm system.
Chris Getz has stated that the team is open to adding, and Sox fans should expect another big step forward in 2026. If you’d have told me a year ago where the team would be now, I’d certainly have been satisfied with the progress. There’s a long way to go, but it certainly feels like sunny days are ahead on the South Side.