A team that followed up a 61-101 campaign in 2023 with a Major League Baseball-record 121 losses in 2024 likely wants to do anything besides reminisce on the futility of their last two years in existence.
The best way to find a silver lining Sox fans can embrace is to turn the page away from the misery of yesteryear and embark on a tour of blissful ignorance, fueled by the promise of youthful optimism.
The White Sox enter the 2025 regular season with the eighth-youngest roster (28 years, 10 months and 21 days) and the third-lowest payroll in baseball ($59.1 million), meaning their movement back toward contention will be centered on the development of prospects in MLB’s No. 4 farm system, according to Baseball America.
Left-handed starting pitchers Noah Schultz (No. 10 overall) and Hagen Smith (No. 40 overall), shortstop Colson Montgomery (No. 39 overall), catcher Kyle Teel (No. 52 overall) and outfielder Braden Montgomery (No. 66 overall) offer nearly a half-dozen high-end prospects to keep an eye on, and that’s just from the views of Baseball America.
Catcher Edgar Quero also slots in at No. 65 on mlb.com’s Top 100 prospect list and will likely hear his name called up to the big league club sometime in 2025.
The South Siders finished Cactus League play tied for the worst spring training record in the major leagues (*sigh*) at 11-19. At least their .367 winning percentage would put them on pace to win 18 more games than last year, right?
While a 59-103 season sounds less than delightful, there are some silver linings to take away from the White Sox’s spring training play.
After a lackluster, injury-riddled 2024, Luis Robert Jr. looked more like the five-tool outfield star he was in 2023 while at Camelback Ranch. He slashed .300/.386/.580 in 18 games, going 15-50 with 2 doubles, a team-high 4 home runs and 8 RBI.
Third baseman Miguel Vargas and catcher Korey Lee, presumptive starters in the South Siders’ lineup, had resurgent springs after struggles at the plate a year ago. Vargas posted a slash line of .341/.423/.523, while Lee registered a .375/.394/.531 slash line of his own.
Davis Martin looked better than he did last year after coming back to make 10 starts following a 14-month recovery process from Tommy John surgery. He went 1-0 with 1.00 ERA across three starts and 9.0 innings pitched. Martín Pérez, the Sox’s most expensive free agent this offseason, went 2-1 with a 2.25 ERA and a 3.75-1 K-BB ratio in five starts on the mound.
Point is, there were bright spots on this roster in Arizona, even if the product mirrored the one that hit the diamond at Rate Field last summer on paper.
The biggest domino to fall for the White Sox this season will be how long Robert Jr. stays put on the South Side.
The Sox are not one, two, three, or even six moves away from being a contender again. Given their emphasis on a cost-effective youth movement, Robert Jr. fits the narrative of being trade bait in the first half of 2025.
When does that trade happen and what will the return for Robert Jr. be? That’s up to him and his individual performance and where the White Sox sit in the standings come June and July.
Barring an astronomical turnaround that sees South Siders in playoff contention post-all-star break, the return on Robert Jr.—especially with two more years of team control on a cheap contract—could net the White Sox 2-3 quality prospects if he puts together numbers in the ballpark of his 2023 season.
Whether or not the South Siders avoid the 100-loss plateau for the first time since 2022 will likely hinge on how many drops of success Will Venable is able to wring from this roster.
A year ago, Pedro Grifol fielded questions from the same perch in the third base dugout as Venable this time around, but his management led to a team that seemingly found any way imagineable to lose a ballgame before he was canned with little more than a quarter of the season remaining.
Can Venable galvanize a positive relationship with his roster, while developing the managerial feel that helps the White Sox steal a game here and there? Can he make the right pitching decisions that close the door on tight games, as opposed to making the same decisions that opened the floodgates to blown saves galore in 2024?
It all remains to be seen, but if he finds a way to captain the White Sox ship in chaotic waters, it may be the difference between finishing 58-104 or 68-94.
Based on the latest roster moves and the likelihood that Andrew Benintendi is ready for Opening Day, here’s the best lineup and pitching rotation projection for the Sox I can put together.
Reminder, I don’t have a crystal ball so, take what I say with a grain of salt.
If you’re interested in seeing their 26-man roster for Opening Day, mlb.com’s Scott Merkin posted players who made the cut on X Wednesday evening.
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