For all the pain and suffering the White Sox and their fans have endured through this record-setting season of defeat, not to mention the 101-loss 2023 season, the payoff, if there is one to be had, might not come any time soon.
Not next season, with the Sox’ rebuild still trying to find traction in its early stages. And who knows about 2026. There are too many uncertainties with the current roster and how minor-league prospects will pan out to know for sure.
When the Sox were losing an average of 95 games during the rebuilding years of 2017 to 2019, the promise of Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert Jr., Carlos Rodon, Michael Kopech and Dylan Cease drove the lofty-expectations bus. While the farm system is ranked as high as eighth in various ratings, the major-league picture isn’t so good.
The Sox’ star position player, 2023 All-Star center fielder Robert, 27, is fighting a prolonged slump and batting .200/.262/.392 with 12 homers and 17 stolen bases in 65 games. He missed two months with his latest injury and might be on the trade block in the offseason with his value potentially lessened by a hip flexor injury (his latest) suffered in April and his subpar performance after he got healthy.
And All-Star left-hander Garrett Crochet, 25, likely will join Robert in general manager Chris Getz’s trade discussions, unless ownership veers off long-standing practices — with very few exceptions — of not paying top-market value for prized pitchers.
What’s more, if and when free-agent spending of any significance takes place, it won’t be this offseason.
“I wouldn’t say we’re too far; it isn’t going to be right now,” Getz said recently about a spending timeline. “There’s a maturation to players in our minor-league system and our 40-man and 26-man roster. You need to figure out where your needs are, and those are still evolving.”
The Sox push back against the notion they don’t spend like a big-market team, pointing out that they ranked seventh in payroll in 2022 at more than $200 million, according to Spotrac, with large outlays for Jose Abreu, Lance Lynn, Yasmani Grandal, A.J. Pollock, Liam Hendriks, Moncada and more. But they’re one of two teams (with the Athletics) to never give a $100 million contract. Andrew Benintendi’s five-year, $75 million contract, which also underscores less-than-shrewd judgments of how resources were allocated, is the biggest in franchise history.
Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf cut payroll this year to around $133 million, according to Spotrac, and is expected to trim again next year. The soonest commitment to winning would be 2026, and with the current team on pace for 125 losses, .500 baseball never looked so far away.
“There is going to be a financial component to improving our major-league club,” Getz said. “The time is not right now, but I would say we’re not too far off from being able to do that. In the meantime, let’s get our organization as strong as possible with the players we have here, continue to make good decisions and know the big decision as it stands today is finding the manager that can get us where we want to go.”
When and if they get there is what we’re watching. As for turnarounds, a year after setting a record for losses with 120, the 1963 Mets were 51-111, and the 1988 Orioles, whose 21-game American League-record losing streak was tied before manager Pedro Grifol got fired last week, went 87-75 in 1989.
More recently, the 2003 Tigers, who went 43-119, were 72-90 the next year and reached the World Series by 2006.
With three brief postseason appearances since its 2005 World Series championship, an organization that hasn’t earned a right for optimism is keeping its fingers crossed.
Note: The Sox open their spring-training schedule Feb. 22 against the Cubs at Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona, MLB announced. The spring finale is March 23 against the visiting Diamondbacks before the regular-season opener against the Angels at Guaranteed Rate Field on March 27.
Spring-training schedules were announced Thursday.
But not for long. “Of course, you won’t,” he said. “You just have to keep working.”
After fielding the worst team in baseball the last two seasons, the Sox are dropping prices by a 10% average.
Juan Soto homered three times in the Yankees’ 4-1 victory Tuesday that dropped the Sox to 29-92.