A day before the start of the season, a sense of renewal was in the air at Rate Field.
As in: Good God, are we really going to do this all over again?
In fairness, not everyone is so cynical.
But the White Sox come in having lost 100-plus games in back-to-back seasons, a franchise first. A third straight 100-loss season might be an inevitability, though one hopes they’ll at least try desperately to avoid it. Some of you might recall last year’s moribund Sox lost a modern-record 121 times, making 2025 like a sick, twisted game of inverted Blackjack: In the win column, they’ll have to improve by over 21 or they’ll bust.
And betting on this Sox team to be markedly better almost certainly is a fool’s errand. On Opening Day a year ago, a team projected to win 61½ games still had Yoan Moncada and Eloy Jimenez in the lineup and rising ace Garrett Crochet on the mound. Those three are gone, and there aren’t nearly as many credible big-leaguers in the team photo this time around, when the over/under on Sox wins is an absurdly low 53½ — the lowest set by sportsbooks in over 35 seasons, according to ESPN.
The Luis Robert trade rumors haven’t even begun to swirl in earnest.
The first “SELL THE TEAM” banner has yet to be unfurled.
The coming months on the South Side might not be a barrel of fun, is the point. But they’re still coming, like it or loathe it, ready or not.
“I think we’re going to see a lot of positives come out, and it’s not just focused on wins and losses,” general manager Chris Getz predicted before the team’s pre-Opening Day workout. “Obviously, that’s very important, but we also understand where we are as an organization.”
Some teams probably would be better off never leaving spring training, and the Sox undoubtedly could’ve used more time in the Arizona desert if only because it’s a fine place to hide. Things weren’t altogether unpleasant there, though they won only 11 times in 31 Cactus League games and drew an average of only 4,567 fans to Camelback Ranch, barely one-third the number that came to see the mighty Dodgers play at the same ballpark.
Still, there was something about all those captive days of drills, development and bonding — under the watch of new manager Will Venable, a likable, believable, good-vibes guy — that held the dread of reality at bay.
It’s all out in the open starting Thursday at the Rate, where last year’s Sox bettered only the Rays, the Marlins and the A’s in average home attendance, which is kind of like outlasting only the pacifist, the reeling drunk and the Campfire Milkshake in a WrestleMania-style Battle Royal.
“We feel the [fan] support,” Getz said. “We also understand the frustrations. They want to come to a game and expect us to win each and every night. It’s not going to be the case, but our intent to win and every night can be shown just with the effort, the attention to detail. And this roster, we’ll certainly shape it in a fashion where we feel very confident in the future.”
If only Sox fans could come out and watch the key pieces of this all-out rebuild play, there might actually be something to sink their teeth into. But catcher Kyle Teel and infielder Chase Meidroth, the top prospects landed in December’s Crochet trade, were sent to Triple-A Charlotte to begin the season. They’re joined there by shortstop Colson Montgomery, who, according to Venable, “looks like a big-leaguer, walks like a big-leaguer and talks like a big-leaguer.” Guess fans will just have to take the skipper’s word for it.
With pitcher Drew Thorpe beginning the long Tommy John process, it might as well be like last spring’s trade of former Sox powerhouse starter Dylan Cease never happened. Meanwhile, no one’s getting too excited over likely Opening Day third baseman Miguel Vargas, who came to the Sox at last year’s deadline as part of the Michael Kopech trade. In 42 games with the Sox, Vargas hit .104. On the other hand, his career average of .175 in 171 games is so much better.
Against the Angels in the opener, the Sox will send right-hander Sean Burke, their 2021 third-round draft pick — with all of three big-league starts under his belt — to the bump. An infield of, left to right, Vargas, Jacob Amaya, Lenyn Sosa and Andrew Vaughn might be behind him. Talk about a who’s-who of, “Who?”
“Opening Day, it’s fresh, it’s new and it’s exciting,” Venable said. “And it’s the one time that you are really uninhibited in your focus on how special this opportunity is.”
We’re really going to do this all over again.
Like it or loathe it, ready or not.