CHICAGO -- Nobody likes to lose.
It could be Game 7 of the World Series or Game 9 of the 2025 regular season, and the maxim remains the same: Competitors don¡¯t ever want to come up short.
That concept includes the 2025 White Sox during this latest rebuild. They sit at 2-7 overall, carrying three straight series losses and a five-game losing streak going into Cleveland Tuesday.
Their previous 121-loss campaign was single-season record-breaking and clearly tough for the players, who were working diligently to get things right daily. It was just as miserable for an ardent fan base, which fully understands the concept of building from the ground up.
Don¡¯t discount the front office¡¯s disdain for losing, even with the belief that the plan set in place by general manager Chris Getz will turn things around.
¡°The greatest high you can have in this game is winning,¡± White Sox assistant general manager Josh Barfield told MLB.com during a conversation in the visitors¡¯ dugout prior to Saturday¡¯s game at Comerica Park. ¡°So, when you don¡¯t get to experience that very often, it can be challenging.
¡°But at the same time, we learn more about the organization where we are. We had some guys who took advantage of the opportunities now and put themselves in that plan for the long term. There are positives that came out of it even though it was pretty grueling to endure.¡±
Barfield came from an Arizona organization that reached the World Series in 2023. There are similar stories of past success dotted throughout Chicago¡¯s front office, including Getz, who was part of Kansas City¡¯s World Series championship in ¡®15.
It¡¯s not easy to go from contending for titles to hoping to avoid a third straight 100-loss season, but the necessary work and time are assumed. There¡¯s a balance to be found.
¡°Yeah, we are competitive, and everybody in this organization, you want to win and you want to win bad. It hurts. Last year hurt going through that,¡± Barfield said. ¡°So, there is the inner competitor that wants to go out there and dominate every night.
¡°You also know that we¡¯ve all been through these processes with other organizations. It takes a little time, so you¡¯ve got to be patient. The worst thing we can do is get in our own way by trying to force something. I like the direction so far, the way the guys are playing, the way things are going.¡±
Part of the White Sox current focus falls upon a sixth-rated Minor League system built out with six players in the Top 100 prospects list, according to MLB Pipeline¡¯s latest rankings. Hagen Smith, No. 32 on that list and Chicago's No. 3 prospect, made his Double-A Birmingham debut on Saturday and struck out 10, including the last six he faced, over four hitless innings, despite walking four and hitting one.
Again, it goes back to that balance issue. The White Sox want to return to a competitive state as quickly as possible, but they can¡¯t rush these young players. It¡¯s the micro vs. the macro.
¡°From a micro sense, we want to win every day,¡± Barfield said. ¡°You are looking at what competitive advantages you can do or tweak to give yourself a chance to win day to day. Knowing the long-term plan here is going to be built around a lot of those guys down in the Minor Leagues who aren¡¯t too far away, there¡¯s always the temptation, right, to try and force it.
¡°These guys will let us know when they are ready, and they are doing a lot of good things. All these guys have individual player plans and goals that they are given coming into the year, and you want to see how they are attacking those. Are they moving close toward those goals, or do we need to rethink the plans with these guys?¡±
When Barfield visits Birmingham in a couple of weeks, he¡¯ll get a first-hand look at some of these top prospects. He¡¯ll study how they handle adversity, how they make adjustments and go through the little things the White Sox are emphasizing over the season¡¯s learning curve -- potentially making a difference between big league wins and losses.
More losses than wins figure to come in 2025 for the White Sox, and possibly the same in ¡®26. It¡¯s not ideal. It¡¯s never wanted. But it¡¯s part of the greater plan.
¡°We knew there was work to do, but it was the understanding and the plan for addressing those things,¡± manager Will Venable said. ¡°That¡¯s a daily challenge for us to go out and work and be better ¡ and we¡¯ve been doing that work.¡±