White Sox optimistic for future amid tough '24

This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- You are Chris Getz, sitting at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz., in late March and surveying your first team as the White Sox general manager.

It clearly was not a contender, even if the American League Central played out in less-than-stellar fashion as it had the previous three seasons. But as for a team sitting with 112 losses on Sept. 10 and approaching the single-season record of 120 losses set by the Mets in 1962, well, it wasn’t that either.

“If you would have told me we were going to end up flirting with the record, I would have been a little surprised,” said Getz prior to Monday’s 5-3 loss to the Guardians, during which rookie Joey Cantillo had a perfect game for 6 2/3 innings. “Now if you would have told me prior to the year that we would have ended up with over 100 losses, 105, 110, I wouldn't have been as surprised.

“This is the cards we've been dealt at this point. You try to make the best of it, and it's an opportunity to embrace the situation that we're in.”

Getz referenced growing up in Detroit and watching the 2003 Tigers finish with a 43-119 record, only to reach the World Series three years later on the heels of a 71-91 mark in ‘05. Assistant general manager Josh Barfield tells a similar tale, as the director of player development for a '21 Arizona squad with a 52-110 ledger but looking on as that same Diamondbacks organization raced to the World Series in ’23.

Search no further than the 2024 Kansas City Royals, who went 56-106 in ’23 but are poised to reach the postseason this year.

“I’m a competitor just like the players on the field, and when you don’t win games, it eats at you,” Getz said. “You come up short way more often than we would have liked, but you look at the development of these players and the opportunities they’re getting, you have to find your wins when you’re in a rebuild like we are right now.

“I view it as kind of the frustrating part of the story. But I also know that the future's looking bright, and it's going to make it just that much sweeter once we get there.”

This White Sox rebuild is pitching heavy, thanks to recent Drafts, trades at the 2023 Deadline and the Dylan Cease deal on March 13. Pitching often drives championship squads, so that trait isn’t a bad place to start.

? With Crochet in tow and Smith on the way, Getz assesses Sox future

Position players aren’t quite as upwardly mobile among MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospects list for the White Sox. Shortstop Colson Montgomery (Chicago's No. 2 prospect, No. 27 overall) has batted .217 in 117 games with Triple-A Charlotte in 2024, but he has hit 17 home runs and is on a seven-game hitting streak.

Catcher Edgar Quero (the White Sox No. 4 prospect, No. 61 overall) could be with the Major League squad in 2025, having recorded an .845 OPS at Double-A Birmingham and Charlotte. Third baseman Bryan Ramos (No. 12 prospect) launched his first big league home run in Monday’s loss, while outfielder George Wolkow (No. 7 prospect) is extremely talented (.770 OPS at Single-A Kannapolis) but a little further away from the Majors at just 18 years old.

“Now we’ll be able to blend that with the pitching,” Getz said. “It makes everyone that’s worked in the organization optimistic, and hopefully our fans can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Being optimistic regarding any sort of future “light” doesn’t erase the present darkness and fans’ understandable doubt. So it was interesting to hear Getz choose his favorite and least favorite memory from this wrong kind of historic season.

“I'd say my favorite memory is making the decision to have Garrett Crochet be a starter this year, and then naming him the Opening Day starter,” Getz said. “In terms of the memories that perhaps I want to forget, I can't say that there's one that really stands out.

“There's a lot to learn from for our players and our staff. All you can really do right now is apply those learnings to the future.”