In my lifetime, I have a few different standards for ineptitude. The 2002-2003 Tigers is in there, probably the 2000s Devil Rays and Pirates, most recently the 2023 Athletics. Teams can be bad. Teams can rebuild specifically to be good in the future, but in order to do that they have to be bad. And so it's understandable when a team has to tank, but usually they're...somewhat passable at times. Usually they have some strong moments or have a rare game where things come together.
The 2024 White Sox are a different animal entirely. I can say I remember the period in the mid-2010s when the White Sox weren't great, but even then they had people like Alexei Ramirez, Adam Dunn, Chris Sale and Jose Quintana. This team wishes they had that degree of success. This team's best player, Garrett Crochet, is the baseball equivalent of a ticking timebomb. He's throwing really well, he's capable of great starts, but because he's never thrown a full season he could get injured at any second, and seeing as he's the last good player on this damned team, that really shouldn't happen. His ERA's down to 3.61, he's 6-10, he's got 188 Ks, he's slowed down exponentially, for a reason.
So the brunt of the work has been passed to fellow veteran Chris Flexen. With Seattle and Colorado, Flexen was a serviceable, if limited, starting option. All he's been tasked to do in Chicago is eat innings and keep things moving. Unfortunately, his last 20 appearances have resulted in White Sox losses, even if the loss hasn't always specifically been Flexen's. It just means that either he's failed to get through games without blowing up, or he's done alright enough for himself and the bullpen's blown it. He only has 2 wins this season, and a 5.36 ERA. And yet...it seems, by default, Flexen has the third-highest WAR of any active player on the White Sox. Luis Robert is on this team, and he's not doing statistically as well as Chris Flexen and his 14 losses. How is that even possible??
The White Sox are beyond a punchline at this point. Since Grady Sizemore's come onboard, the Sox are 3-19. Last night, in Baltimore, they were already losing 0-4, and then on a routine flyout by Eloy Jimenez, who seems to have gotten out easy, three infielders misplayed the ball, resulting in even more runs and bleeding. As Orioles broadcaster Kevin Brown put it, 'the White Sox have just gone full White Sox', which means this team's ineptitude now owes itself to specific vernacular. For years, the '62 Mets have been the go-to punchline for a terrible team, and now it just might be the 2024 White Sox. I have no idea what can even be salvaged from this team, or what can be built upon for 2025.
That's the frightening part. Next year's team might not be much better, because the whole rebuilding thing that was supposed to result in prospects coming into their own...hasn't been working out. Ky Bush didn't work in the majors. Oscar Colas still doesn't work in the majors. Prelander Berroa, a former Mariners can't miss prospect, is absolutely missing. So there's no progress on the actual rebuilding part of this plan. All they're doing is tanking, because that's all they know how to do right now.
The current White Sox experience is extremely depressing. It may not get any more exciting anytime soon. But hopefully it won't continue to be as bad as it is right now, because...yeesh.
Coming Tonight: An infielder for a Chicago team that's doing much better.
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