Here Comes The Pain: The 2024 Chicago White Sox

As we approach Opening Day this coming Thursday, we hear all the usual cliches. That hope springs eternal and that in baseball anything can happen. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think those sayings apply to the 2024 Chicago White Sox. I'm not going to sugar coat things, it's going to be ugly.  

In many ways, we will be grasping at straws to find silver linings in a season that looks to be full of losses and ugly play. We've been resigned to this fact for several months now, but it doesn't take the sting away for those of us that follow this team each and every day. People are probably tired of hearing me say it at this point, but I firmly believe the hardest thing in sports is to be a diehard baseball fan of a team that gives you no hope. 

Each day for the six-month marathon that is the regular season, you are reminded that you have no chance at October glory. You might have one or two memorable games over the course of 162, but the vast majority of nights will be filled with anguish and irritation as you have to watch your team get outplayed by their opposition.

We all know it wasn't supposed to be this way in 2024. Over the course of the offseason we have taken a look back at the various phases of Rebuild 2.0 and how there were systemic failures in every aspect of the organization. It's been a painful reminder of unkept promises and missed opportunities. We now are firmly entrenched in Rebuild 3.0, and the optimism and hope that existed last go around is nowhere in sight. 

A Hard Reset

Chris Getz completed his first offseason as General Manager and he was focused on changing many things within the organization. Much was made of his now infamous quote early in the offseason where Getz said "I don't like our team." He showed that by churning and burning much of the roster.  

There was a clear focus on improving the defense and this was accomplished by bringing in veterans Paul DeJong, Martin Maldonado, Max Stassi, and Nicky Lopez. Getz also acquired a couple of true outfielders in Dominic Fletcher and Zach DeLoach in a pair of bold trades that were outside the box for this organization.  

While the emphasis on defense and athleticism was apparent, there also seems to be a focus on improving a broken organizational culture. This has been a hot topic in recent days on social media and it's baseball's version of the chicken and egg theory. Does a strong organizational culture lead to quality play on the field or does talent performing well create a great culture? This has been the latest source of social media unrest within the team's fan base.

I find it fascinating that successful teams like the Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Philadelphia Phillies don't seem to talk a lot about their clubhouse culture because they're too busy getting on base, hitting home runs, striking guys out, and making plays defensively to be consumed by culture. I'm not going to totally dismiss the importance of organizational culture. After all, I felt something was off with this team going back to Spring Training of 2022 and those problems continued to manifest a year ago and ultimately saw the implosion that was the 2023 season.

However, talent often overrides these issues. Every team at every level of the sport has cliques and players that don't particularly get along with each other. However, when you have high amounts of talent, those clubhouse fractures don't get out of control causing a season to be derailed as we have witnessed in consecutive years.

Getz is trying to put his imprint on this team in his first winter, but he didn't bring in much talent that will be part of the long-term solution on the Southside. Much of the winter was dedicated to the Dylan Cease trade watch and when the deal was finally consummated with the Padres less than two weeks ago, the return was in some ways a bit of a head scratcher. This wasn't the haul that many fans hoped for over the course of the last few months, so now we have to hope that while the return isn't being lauded the way the deals of Rebuild 2.0 were, maybe they guessed right.

Lack of Fire Power

As I mentioned above, this team isn't going to be good in 2024. Last year's squad went an abysmal 61-101, their worst season since 1970 and I sadly fear that this season's team will be even worse. I know many of the sports betting sites that we have to see and hear about every single day, much to my annoyance, have this team pegged for about 66 wins and I frankly don't see it.

The 2023 White Sox were one of the worst offenses in the sport. They ranked 30th in OBP, 30th in BB%, 26th in SLG%, 26th in BA. There have been no notable additions to the roster to improve these dreadful measures. Essentially, they have to hope that Luis Robert Jr. stays healthy and gives them production in line with last year. They have to hope and pray that Yoan Moncada and Eloy Jimenez can stay healthy and produce enough to warrant other teams to want them in the second half of the season.  

No fan of this team that has been paying attention should have expectations that Andrew Vaughn or Andrew Benintendi will suddenly be offensive forces for this club. None of the veteran acquisitions Getz made this winter look to move the needle in a positive way offensively. Top prospect, Colson Montgomery, should be up at some point in 2024 but if fans learned anything over the last few years, they shouldn't expect him to come up and make an immediate impact with the bat. 

Which Arms Step Up?

On the pitching side of the equation, this team is without its two top starters from a year ago, Dylan Cease and Mike Clevinger, along with the team's best reliever Gregory Santos. So, you subtract those three arms from a team that ranked 26th in ERA, 26th in FIP, 29th in BB/9, and 26th in HR/9 and I'm not really sure how this team is going to be better on the mound. Sure, the improved team defense should prevent them from having to secure more than three outs in an inning as frequently as they did a year ago, but there is next to no certainty with this team's pitching staff.

Everyone knows I'm the lead #BannisterBot amongst Sox fans, but to expect him to come in and immediately have this organization's pitching problems alleviated is unrealistic. I'm intrigued by the likes of Erick Fedde, Mike Soroka, and Nick Nastrini but it wouldn't shock me at all if these hurlers are inconsistent at best and struggle at worst during the first half. At the end of the day, there is nobody on this team's pitching staff you can point to and reasonably feel confident in terms of performance as we head into the season. 

Here Comes the Pain

It's a very bleak picture I'm painting for the 2024 White Sox, I know. There just hasn't been any talent infusion to this roster that can lead me to believe this team will win more games than they did a year ago. In fact, quite the opposite has happened in my opinion, as I think there is even less talent here than a year ago. As I type this my gut is telling me this White Sox team will go 58-104, which would be the third worst season in franchise history.  

There's going to be a lot of long, painful nights ahead of us over the next six months. I don't want it to be this way, I really don't. However, I'm struggling to find silver linings for this team right now. I want nothing more than for there to be some pleasant surprises and developmental successes this season. That's all we really have to cling to at this point. Knowing the sooner this season ends the better off we will all be is a tough pill to swallow as someone who, for better or worse, loves this team. But we have to get through the pain that is going to be 2024, in order to get to the other side.