The Chicago White Sox lost their 115th game of the year on Friday night. With 14 contests remaining on the schedule, they’re now all but assured of shattering Major League Baseball’s modern single-season record for losses, an indignity that currently belongs to the 120-loss expansion New York Mets. You might think that the White Sox would be hellbent on improving their roster this offseason, through free agency and other means, in an effort to atone for such a poor showing.
That does not appear to be the case. Rather, White Sox general manager Chris Getz suggested on Friday that the team will have to rely on internal gains for next season.
“We’re not gonna be working heavy in free agency,” Getz said during a third-inning appearance on the NBC Sports Chicago broadcast. “We’ve got guys on the field right now who need to improve their game. A lot of young players who just need to make adjustments to be more productive.”
Perhaps Getz’s comments shouldn’t register as a surprise: the White Sox are in the midst of a deep rebuild, limiting their appeal to veteran players. Money tends to win out, but it’s reasonable to think that any priority free agent would require the White Sox to pay more in comparison to teams with more realistic playoff aspirations.
Beyond that, Getz himself has a lot of sweat equity in the current young players on the roster, many of whom he’s either acquired or helped develop in past roles with the organization. He needs those young players to deliver in more ways than one.
Still, Getz’s message isn’t what you want to hear if you’re a White Sox fan — not when you factor in how Chicago is likely to trade at least left-hander Garrett Crochet this offseason, further weakening an impossibly poor roster, and especially not days after owner Jerry Reinsdorf released a statement saying, in part, “no one is happy.“
The White Sox will attempt to fend off the Oakland Athletics on Saturday night to avoid suffering their 116th loss.
