At the end of a disastrous season for the Chicago White Sox, a thin glimmer of hope shone from the American South.
The Birmingham Barons — the White Sox’s AA farm club — won their first Southern League championship since 2013.
The White Sox are devastated after finishing the campaign with a 41-121 record, shattering the modern record for most losses in a season. They also had the worst collective batting average in the major leagues at .221 and the worst fielding percentage at .278, and they finished the season with 507 runs scored, 133 home runs and 485 RBIs.
The White Sox’s opener payroll next season will likely be lower than this year’s $142 million — which is down from $189 million in 2023. So if the White Sox want to progress in 2025, they will probably have to do so by focusing on the development of their hopes, as well as on their school clubs.
“Our development system is improving,” noted general manager Chris Getz at the end of the campaign. We will try to add elements to our team, but generally speaking, we are quite confident with the development of our prospects. We are confident that our development system will have a real impact on the performance of our Major League club. »
In the letter to team fans Saturday, White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf promised the organization will do everything in its power “to fix this in 2025 and moving forward.”
“This includes the sustained development of our players within our current roster, the development of our prospects with our farm clubs, the evaluation of the free agent market and that of transactions in order to improve our club as well as the overhaul from our statistics department, Reinsdorf wrote. All this will allow us to improve each sector of our organization, keeping in mind our desire to fight for championships. »
While the White Sox roster has been atrocious this season — and it’s highly unlikely that reinforcements are on the way — the situation seems a little more encouraging on the mound.
Garrett Crochet finally came into his own this season, finishing it with a 3.58 ERA with 209 strikeouts in 146 innings of work. Rookies Jonathan Cannon, Sean Burke and Jairo Iriarte also appear to be progressing.
The White Sox also have promising left-handed pitchers in Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith in the minors. Schultz, 21, finished the campaign in Birmingham, where he went 0-3 with a 1.48 ERA in 16 starts. Smith, also 21, was the fifth pick in this year’s amateur draft out of the University of Arkansas.
“If we want to see the glass half full, we have to look at our development system, where our gunners are and our hopes for our rotation for next year and the following seasons,” said Getz.
“It seems like we’re in a good place from a balance standpoint between starters and relievers, and now it’s about putting more runs on the board,” he added.
And that’s where the problem lies.
Of course, right now, the identity of the next White Sox manager is the organization’s priority. Grady Sizemore, who helped lead the White Sox to a 13-32 record after Pedro Grifol was fired Aug. 8, is a candidate for the permanent job. Getz could also talk with former Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, who played for White Sox advisor Tony La Russa in St. Louis.
“Chris is far along in his hiring process,” Reinsdorf noted in his letter. He has identified the key qualities our next manager will need, and has already begun an exhaustive search of a wide range of candidates to lead the White Sox in the dugout and locker room. »
