The 2024 Chicago White Sox have a possibility to be one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball history.
Entering Friday night’s game against the Philadelphia Philles, they are 3-15. In the roughly 150-year history of the big leagues, teams have started worse. The White Sox, however, could be awful for a prolonged period since they lack resources for a speedy turnaround.
Coming off a 101-loss season in 2023 and following the transfer of star Dylan Cease in spring training, Chicago wasn’t expected to make a playoff push in 2024. Yet the White Sox have managed to underperform their already-meager preseason predictions.
Through 18 games this season, the White Sox have been shut out six times. They are scoring 2.1 runs per game while allowing 5.1 and as a team, Chicago is hitting .196. That’s barely above the Minnesota Twins, who are 6-11 and hitting .193.
Injuries to outfielders Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez and third baseman Yoan Moancada — Chicago’s top players – have hurt, but the White Sox were losing when they were well, too.
There is a sort of failure that has been fashionable in MLB over the past two decades. The 2011-13 Cubs and Astros averaged 96 and 108 losses, respectively, over those three seasons before winning the World Series in 2016 (Cubs) and 2017 (Astros).
Before winning big, Houston and Chicago stripped those teams to the nubs and made wise decisions at the top of the draft. Then the Cubs and Astros loaded their minor league systems with talent and when the kids were ready, they brought them up to the big leagues.
After their progress to the majors, youths Carlos Correa, George Springer and Alex Bregman flourished for the Astros, while youngsters Javier Baez, Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber created a formidable core for the Cubs.
This is not the direction the White Sox are going.
Per Spotrac, Chicago has the 18th-highest payroll. Per MLB.com they have only the 20th-ranked farm system.
After winning the AL Central in 2021 with a young, reasonably cost-controlled core, the White Sox found out their 93 victories and an ALDS loss to the Astros were a high-water point.
Even worse, the method to earning top picks in the MLB Draft that allowed the Astros and Cubs to advance to title contention is no longer available for the White Sox.
Chicago will choose fifth overall come the MLB draft in July. But no matter how awful this season goes, the highest they can draft in 2025 will be 10th owing to a new rule that precludes large-market clubs (non-revenue-sharing recipients) from drafting in the lottery in consecutive years.
Chicago has the spending muscle to buy its way out or the draft capital to rapidly launch a youth-led resurgence.
This is a season of misery for the White Sox – one that has been years in the making – and it may be years before they can see the other end of this problem.
