The White Sox simply wrapped up the worst MLB season because the Taft administration. 41 wins is the fewest whole because the notorious ’62 Mets, only a .253% profitable proportion. That quantity acquired even worse after the White Sox bought off their few remaining property on the deadline, buying and selling Erick Fedde, Paul DeJong, Eloy Jiménez, Michael Kopech, Tommy Pham, and Tanner Banks away to depart the White Sox as an Island of Misfit Toys. The White Sox are in shambles. Let’s see if there’s any hope.
Rotation
Garrett Crochet may be very prone to be traded this winter. Crochet was implausible within the first half and ought to be a beneficial commerce asset, however that’s all he’ll be for the White Sox. Because of this, Chicago will probably be pressured to make the most of their homegrown expertise, which incorporates the next gamers:
2024 White Sox Farm Graduates
This brings us to Davis Martin, a former 14th-round draft decide again in 2018 (!) who has clawed his method by way of the minors to make the massive league rotation. Martin’s 47 innings as a starter confirmed him treading water as he struggled to maintain his walks down. Martin’s 10.5% stroll price brought about him to battle, which actually inflated that WHIP and ERA. If Martin can rein in his four-seam places (only a 61% strike price), it may transfer his walks to a way more palatable 8.0%, and preserve his strikeout price nicely above 20%. Martin, like Cannon, could be a stable back-end rotation piece, albeit with a bit extra upside on account of his wonderful slider and stable batted ball knowledge.
Drew Thorpe is among the strangest pitchers in MLB. He cruised by way of the minors on account of getting a real 70-80 grade changeup… and principally nothing else. His fastball grades out very poorly, and his slider doesn’t fare a lot better. Thorpe toyed with a sweeper in 2024, and possibly an improved model in 2025 can alleviate some struggles towards same-handed hitters. As for his fastball? His four-seamer clearly wants higher places, as its 9.9% mistake price and 60% strike price are exemplary of his management points. Thorpe nearly by no means throws his changeup early in counts, so he has to depend on his subpar fastball and breaking ball to get by way of hitters. Thorpe is younger, and a velo spike or management enchancment is feasible, however he’s going to wish loads of growth to succeed in his full potential.
The final starter who will get a paragraph right here is Sean Burke, who I wrote about in additional depth in my Small Pattern Standouts piece. Burke has a very nice fastball and stable secondaries, with – cease me if you happen to’ve heard this one earlier than – questionable management. Burke’s 16 innings as a starter had been promising however clearly, we have to see extra. Burke stands at 6’6″, with seven ft of extension and almost 18 inches of iVB on his 95 mph-sitting four-seam fastball. That is very encouraging, however the skill to deal with a full season’s workload continues to be an enormous query mark. Out of all of the pitchers talked about to this point, Burke would possibly simply have the very best upside… and the bottom flooring.
Nastrini I actually don’t see changing into greater than a spot starter or innings eater for the White Sox. His stuff is ok however his command is so horrible that he’d have to see main adjustments earlier than taking him critically as a chunk of the longer term. Ky Bush has seen his velo fall off a cliff and with it his enchantment as a prospect. His fastball is tolerable however the remainder of his arsenal is principally negligible. If Bush can modify his pitching type to be extra floor ball heavy there is perhaps a rotation path for him, however he’s nothing however organizational depth for all intents and functions. That makes the No. 5 spot within the rotation up within the air, prone to be held down by an innings-eater veteran on a one-year deal.
You can also make a case for this rotation going ahead, particularly with some sturdy prospects within the higher minors (extra on that later). Cannon and Martin is perhaps depressing as your No. 1 and No. 2 starters, however serviceable as your No. 3 or No. 4 starters. If all goes nicely, Burke and Thorpe may turn into critical property, whereas Cannon and Martin have excessive sufficient flooring to maintain the rotation afloat. Regardless of buying and selling Fedde on the deadline and Crochet seeing his utilization plummet, White Sox beginning pitchers after the deadline had been twenty second in ERA. With a horrible protection and nothing to play for, White Sox starters truly had a greater two-month stretch to shut out the season than the Phillies, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks. Give these rookies one other 12 months to develop, and possibly they will flirt with being a mere common rotation. That might be a serious enchancment.
Bullpen
Let’s transfer on to the bullpen, and the White Sox entrance workplace ought to actually ship present baskets to the Blue Jays and Rockies for taking the warmth off of how unhealthy the White Sox bullpen was. Bullpens are inherently variable, so projecting their future is a tough process, however there are some names value mentioning.
Gus Varland, acquired by way of a waiver declare shortly after the commerce deadline, proved to be one of many few first rate arms within the White Sox pitching workers. Not solely did he publish a 3.54 ERA throughout 20.1 innings with the White Sox, however he struck out 28.2% of batters whereas strolling simply 4.7%. He did this off the energy of his fastball, which sat within the mid-upper 90s and had very sturdy vertical and horizontal break, making it one of the vital efficient fastballs in MLB outright. It’s transactions like these – getting a top quality reliever for principally nothing – that may actually assist flip a franchise round. If Varland can proceed his success and be a dependable center reliever, or perhaps a setup/nearer, then it’s a serious organizational win.
I’d even be remiss to not discuss Prelander Berroa, who’s actually one of many stranger relievers in baseball. Now together with his fourth group, the 24-year-old righty has actually filthy stuff, together with a 97+ mph fastball with tons of iVB and a 133 Stuff+ slider. The issue is that he walks 16% of batters. As with each White Sox pitcher, Berroa could have a really lengthy leash in 2025, that means he could have loads of time to rein in his management. If Berroa can drop his stroll price to even 9 or 10% he may be one of the vital electrical relievers within the sport, however that may be a huge if.
The remainder of the bullpen is unhealthy in an uninteresting method. John Brebbia is unhealthy, Steven Wilson is unhealthy, Justin Anderson is unhealthy and Jared Shuster can also be unhealthy. Fraser Ellard is okay although, and the White Sox have Ron Marinaccio for some cause. It’s a bullpen that undoubtedly goes to get a few of the rotation rejects all through subsequent 12 months, so if guys like Sean Burke or Ky Bush don’t have sufficient for the rotation they may actually discover a spot within the ‘pen.
Lineup
The 2024 White Sox rotation was beneath common within the second half, however the lineup was actually dismal. The White Sox had been useless final in Runs Scored (507) and WRC+ (75). Because of this, place gamers for the White Sox generated -6.3 fWAR as an entire, a traditionally horrible crew. 29 groups have had a damaging mixed fWAR amongst batters within the integration period, and the 2024 White Sox are simply the sixth crew within the new millennium to fail to have a roster above substitute.
The White Sox’s 507 runs are the fewest runs scored in a 162-game season since 1972 when the general league offense was method down. That comes out to three.1 Runs per sport, the 18th worst within the live-ball period, which doesn’t account for 1960’s second dead-ball period offense clogging up the leaderboard. There hasn’t been a crew this anemic at scoring runs because the ’81 Blue Jays in a shortened season. A traditionally terrible season.
Oh, and don’t assume that their poor offensive efficiency is a results of a glove-first roster development. The White Sox not solely completed useless final in Statcast Fielding Run Worth, however Fangraphs has the 2024 White Sox because the twelfth worst defensive crew general since 2000. They possible would have completed even worse had it not been for Nicky Lopez lending his providers to the junkyard that was the White Sox infield.
Whereas the White Sox rotation isn’t a very tough promote, the White Sox lineup is a special story. In addition to Luis Robert Jr. (who could not even be on the crew by Opening Day), this lineup is nearly completely devoid of expertise.
So… is there hope?
Alright, I’ll do my greatest.
Andrew Vaughn might be the very best hitter on the White Sox, which is a particularly low bar, however he’s at the very least a succesful bat. Vaughn is tolerable towards righties, however does pretty nicely towards lefties, with a 113 profession OPS+ towards southpaws, versus a 96 OPS+ towards RHP. Maybe Vaughn can enhance his method towards righties, but when not, Gavin Sheets may function a platoon bat towards righties. Vaughn and Sheets are principally unplayable within the discipline, so possibly their greatest wager can be to run a DH platoon between them, with some 1B reps if wanted. It’s hardly a supreme offensive drive, but it surely’s one thing.
One other straw to understand onto could also be Lenyn Sosa. Sosa is a 24-year-old utility infielder that HATES WALKS!!! His 3.3% stroll price is indicative of his plate method – loads of swings and loads of chases. Sosa’s accomplished this all through his skilled profession, and the outcomes have been combined. Sosa hits a ton of line drives and a ton of Flares & Burners. He doesn’t have an particularly excessive batting common, however when he does put the ball into play it typically does decently nicely. His .304 xwOBA is nothing to jot down dwelling about but it surely’s much better than his .280 wOBA, indicating that Sosa can carry out higher.
Sosa has performed everywhere in the infield in his main and minor league profession, by no means actually performing nicely anyplace. With Sheets and Vaughn being successfully incapable of taking part in first base, I feel that Sosa may show to be an above-average 1B, or they will proceed utilizing him as a utility infielder/righty platoon. A utility infielder that doesn’t steal or play good protection isn’t very thrilling however maybe Sosa – nonetheless simply 24 – can enhance on a couple of weak points of his sport to grow to be an on a regular basis participant. On a standard crew, Sosa can be nothing greater than organizational depth, however on the White Sox, he will get an entire two paragraphs about him! Gasping at straws certainly.
The final little bit of hope for the lineup is that Colson Montgomery is inching nearer to creating the massive league roster. Montgomery got here into the season a consensus high prospect however had an underwhelming Triple-A marketing campaign. A .710 OPS is hardly disastrous for a 22-year-old, however his future projection is rather more combined than it was final April. Nonetheless, scouts agree Montgomery is a top-40 prospect, and with a powerful Arizona Fall League marketing campaign, his inventory could also be rising once more. The White Sox would possibly take their time with Montgomery (they don’t have a lot to lose, do they?) so maybe he gained’t see the massive leagues till late in 2025 and even 2026. All that being mentioned, Montgomery is probably going the obvious supply of optimism for a nicely in any other case run fully dry.
Exterior of that? Gosh, it’s brutal. Possibly Dominic Fletcher learns the best way to hit, or Andrew Benintendi remembers. I actually tried to search out one thing to sit up for however there simply isn’t a lot right here. Such a wretched roster is making me unhappy, so let’s see if there are any yields to be seen on the farm.
The Farm
The saving grace for the White Sox could also be that their farm was quietly one of many extra productive of any group in 2024, and with some good luck in growth, it may make the White Sox a drive once more.
Let’s begin with Noah Schultz, who’s at present one of many high pitching prospects in all of MLB. Schultz was drafted out of Oswego Excessive Faculty, simply an hour away from downtown Chicago. Schultz has, so far, crushed the decrease ranges of the minors. He’s persistently placing out nicely over 25% of batters and, at age 20, held his personal in Double-A, posting a 1.47 ERA in 61 innings. Quantity continues to be a query for Schultz (these 61 Double-A innings got here in 16 begins), as are his non-slider pitches. His fastball sits within the mid-90s however has been hittable. Nonetheless, his standout slider has saved him one of the vital productive pitchers in MiLB. Schultz is form of a harder-throwing, lefty model of Drew Thorpe within the sense that he has a really 80-grade pitch and mediocre-to-bad major choices. If Schultz can enhance upon his fastball and possibly develop a splitter or enhance his subpar changeup… look out.
The White Sox even have Hagen Smith, who had a sensational collegiate marketing campaign with Arkansas, placing out 17.3 batters per 9 innings. Debuting in Single-A Winston Salem, treaded water in his three begins. Nonetheless, Smith has higher 90s velo and a gnarly slider, giving the southpaw an enormous swing-and-miss profile. How he’ll regulate to the professional sport we have now but to see, however the 21-year-old Smith actually has one of many liveliest arms within the minors.
As a result of we’ve already mentioned Montgomery, the one different main prospect to notice is Edgar Quero, who the White Sox acquired with Ky Bush within the extraordinarily humorous Lucas Giolito commerce with the Angels. Quero is a catcher (for now) who has boasted double-digit stroll charges at nearly each stage of the minors. His uncooked energy and skill to remain at catcher are query marks, however Quero has to this point hit nicely above common at each stage of the minors. Simply 21 years outdated, Quero can nonetheless have loads of time within the oven earlier than he must make his MLB debut, however it is extremely encouraging that he’s holding his personal at Triple-A regardless of his youth.
The remainder of the farm system has a great deal of query marks however there’s expertise sprinkled all through. 2023 seventh-round decide George Wolkow is a gigantic human, listed at 6’7″ and 239 lbs. He has super uncooked energy but in addition an amazing whiff price – posting a 40% Okay price in A ball. Wolkow is loopy younger, born in 2006 (!), making his promotion to Single-A spectacular. If he can rein in his strikeouts, Wolkow may go from a fringe, enjoyable prospect to a company staple. Jacob Gonzalez had a famously horrible 2023, however his 2024 was a major enchancment. At present, Gonzalez tasks not more than a utility IF function, however there’s all the time an opportunity he can develop his glove or energy.
There are another names: Brooks Baldwin, Samuel Zavala, Wilfred Veras, and Bryan Ramos, that deserve a point out however frankly, I’ve little to say about them apart from they is perhaps serviceable contributors sometime. If we wish to go method down the prospect record: Alexander Albertus was doing fairly first rate in Single-A earlier than a season-ending damage, Jeral Perez performed within the Futures sport, Trey McGough is a lefty reliever prospect however would possibly find yourself being an excellent one, Javier Mogollon has crushed rookie ball, and Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa is a Triple-A reliever who would possibly simply have the very best identify within the minors.
Regardless of a putrid season, the White Sox usually are not eligible for this 12 months’s draft lottery, and thus can’t draft larger than tenth general. Fortunately, the farm has seen some inner growth to make up for the shortcomings, however they should go into the draft with out the highest expertise obtainable to bolster their farm. General, the trajectory of the White Sox could rely upon whether or not Schultz and Smith can keep wholesome and develop easily. A 2026 rotation of Schultz/Smith/Cannon/Thorpe/Burke might be super, however a lot must go proper for that to occur. The White Sox have an enormous organizational gap with place gamers, so if Quero or Montgomery flare out, there isn’t a lot organizational depth to fall again on.
So… What Now?
A peculiar downside with the White Sox is that there isn’t a transparent path towards their rebuild. They’ve only a few foundations to construct on and are hampered by a Benintendi contract that will get worse by the 12 months. Signing a big-time free agent gained’t repair the atrocious lineup depth, and buying gamers on a shorter time period will simply have them play throughout a window that was by no means open to start with. What the White Sox entrance workplace ought to prioritize is high-upside signings that may be flipped on the deadline.
Max Kepler is probably going going to discover a new crew and might be each a steady bat and high quality defender for the White Sox, plus if he regains some energy he might be simply flipped to a contender. Drew Smyly might be a veteran arm for a younger rotation. Gary Sánchez would definitely be an enchancment over Martín Maldonado. In 2023 the Royals flipped Aroldis Chapman for Cole Ragans, so possibly the White Sox may purchase some prospects.
Additional down the street, the Sox have to prioritize including an actual elite bat to the lineup. The pitching workers is weak however is shifting in the best course, whereas the lineup at present has no course. Don’t anticipate the White Sox to spend huge this offseason, however in 2025 and 2026 they might be ready to make their transfer. The 2021 Rangers had been dismal earlier than spending half a billion {dollars} on Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, they usually acquired a World Collection out of it. It’s uncertain the White Sox comply with that route, but when there’s hope, it could have to come back from the proprietor’s checkbook eventually.
2025 won’t be fairly for the White Sox. There may be some optimism available right here, but it surely’s a bleak outlook. A brand new proprietor and a few participant developmental successes may flip this void-of-talent crew into one thing that’s truly value keeping track of, hopefully as soon as once more bringing good baseball to the south aspect.
