Jerry Reinsdorf, what on Earth have you done? How can a Major League Baseball team be metaphorically “out of it” well before the month of May even begins? Getting out of the gates 6-22 this season, the Chicago White Sox have been “done” since before the weather even warmed up.
At 27-77, they’re 50 games under .500, for the first time since franchise history since 1970, when they finished 56-106. That is considered the worst season in club history, but move on over, ’70 Pale Hose, because now you have company.
The current Sox are on pace to finish 42-120. That is one L worse than the division rival Detroit Tigers, who set the “standard” as the worst team ever to play 162 games, back in 2003. They went 43-119, just avoiding the dubious distinction of matching the 1962 New York Mets in the L department. The ’62 Mets went 40-120.
So much for the White Sox’ “competitive window” of recent years. Given this currently very dismal status quo, a sell-off is inevitable, and some key pieces could move by the trade deadline next week.
It resulted in just two playoff appearances and zero postseason series wins.
The worst team in baseball, with the worst overall run differential, they are light years away from being relevant again, as they have issues all up and down the roster.
Blaming Tony La Russa was just so easy and simple.
Yeah, and how’d that work out for him? pic.twitter.com/cfrh3UOm3t
— Dave Melton (@DMelt57) April 30, 2023
But who is the main scapegoat now?
While yes, hiring La Russa was a bone-headed, clueless move, which everyone said at the time, the current situation is even worse.
Pedro Grifol has had his struggles, but ahead of his getting this gig, how many people even knew who Pedro Grifol was?
I have no real answers, but I do this- everyone and everything must go, most importantly, Jerry Reinsdorf.
There are only two teams that have never spent a $100 million on a single player. Actually, the White Sox have never even topped $80M, as Andrew Benintendi’s $75m deal that he signed in December 2022, is the richest in Sox history.
Only the A’s are worse, as Eric Chavez’s $66m contract is the most cash that they have ever splashed.
Of course that came way back in 2004, and when you adjust the Chavez contract for inflation, and translate it into today’s money, it’s over $110 million. Not saying that spending solves everything (look no further than the New York Mess, whoops, I meant to say Mets), but it is a factor where correlation can imply causation.
Make no mistake about it, the issues and problems are everywhere, in this very poorly run organization.
And it all starts at the top, and works its way down.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Twitter.