They weren’t far off being an AAA team in the first place. Replacement level is basically around 42-120 or so. If MLB invited you to start a new team in 2025 and you could pick any players you wanted from other teams or available in lesser leagues, but could not pick anyone they had on the MLB roster or any of their top five or six best prospects, you could absolutely construct a team that could do at least as well, and probably a little better, than the 2024 White Sox.
I wouldn’t bet anything I couldn’t afford to lose, though, that the Sox won’t improve a little now. I know they dumped some of their better players, but
It’s just not normal for a team to be this horrible, and teams always get drawn back to .500. It would not be a huge shock to me at all to see them reel off a ten game stretch of 7-3 and blow their shot at history, and
I’ve seen a LOT of teams dump at the trade deadline and then actually improve a little. Sometimes a fresh set of bodies from AAA is just what the doctor ordered. Motivated kids want to perform a win and something that’s just what happens. Not that 48-114 would be anything to brag about but it’d blow their shot at breaking the loss record.
The White Sox have only won 27 games. There are NINETEEN teams who have won at least twice as many games as that and a few that aren’t far off.
In the vast, vast majority of MLB seasons, no team, not even the very best team in baseball, has won more than twice as many games as any other team, even the very worst. I was born in 1971; it wasn’t until I was 27 years old, in 1998, that there was any season in which any team won twice as many games as any other team.
Well, I was 9 years old in 1962, when the expansion Mets won 40 games.
With the addition of the Mets and the Houston Colt .45s that season, there were now 20 MLB teams. Of those 20, 13 won at least twice as many as the Mets.
I think a lot of it is fallout from the Astros really making an effort to tank at the beginning of the 2010s, and reaping the rewards of drafting well with high draft slots. A lot more teams have followed suit, including the Orioles.
The White Sox don’t seem to be doing this on purpose, which makes it even more of a spectator event.
I’m calling out Reinsdorf! Hey, you want to abandon Chicago, one of the “Big Three” in terms of market?! Go ahead, move to Nashville or Memphis or Boise or some other dump. See where that gets you. We’ll get a new team with a much better owner.
I’ve seen this idea mentioned before. If the Sox were to leave Chicago, I’m very skeptical that MLB would be eager to move a second team back into the city (either through expansion or relocation); they’d be far more likely to place a team in an untapped market.
Chicago isn’t going to get a second team again just because they historically have had two teams. Historically, Philadelphia, Boston, and St. Louis were also two-team cities for decades, as well.
That said, if some billionaire materializes who loves Chicago (and maybe loves the Sox, too), and is willing to foot the bill for a new stadium, it certainly could happen.
As has been noted previously, what little strength the Sox have is in pitching; their batting continues to be atrocious. They’re at the bottom of MLB in batting average (.217), on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and runs scored. They currently have only one batter on the active roster – Luis Robert Jr.-- who has a bWAR score of over 0.1, and even he’s at a less-than-stellar 1.0 bWAR.
Made my day there. ‘Billionaire willing to foot the bill…’
Back to maligning the Sox; I was surprised that other teams were interested in some of their personnel at the trade deadline. Perhaps with a change of dismal and some actual coaching, the other GMs though reclamation was possible.
Just checked the prices for the Cubs/White Sox series at Comiskey next weekend. You’d think this was a World Series game, not a meaningless game between two teams going nowhere
SRO seats are still available for this afternoon’s dynamic matchup between the White Sox and the Twins, only $12 each! Or you can sit way up in the outer reaches of the stadium for only $19. (the cheapest seats available for today’s game between the Gastonia Honey Hunters and the Lexington Legends, my “home” team, are going for $49).
Chicago will have Chris Flexen on the mound, hoping to improve on his 2-10 record and 5.13 ERA. Should be a taut pitchers’ duel.
Indeed. Anything is possible, and ultimately, MLB will chase the money, but if the Sox were to move out of Chicago, fans who would be hoping for a new team to come to the city will be looking for a unicorn.
Yeah, it’s not happening. For one thing, the Cubs would put up a huge fuss. Chicago is a big market but it’s not like NYC or LA.
I don’t want them to leave, but Jerry Reinsdorf is not to be trusted. That said, they historically have always threatened to move to somewhere else in the Chicago metro area, like Aurora. There’s a slo a plan to move right downtown, to a place n the South Loop.
Relocation is always a greater fool situation; the city most willing to cough up the most money for a new stadium is definitionally the dumbest-run city.
The White Sox’s offense finally woke up today, against the Twins, for 7 runs on 12 hits. Alas, the Twins scored 13 runs, and the losing streak is now at 20.