3 days Ago By Paul Sullivan
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Earning back the trust of Chicago White Sox fans won’t be easy after last year’s record-setting 121-loss season . The evidence is everywhere.
SoxFest was downsized to a South Side theater, and the Sox still couldn’t fill that small venue. Fans booed when director of player personnel Gene Watson told them the front office would one day be recognized as “the best” in baseball, knowing it was way too soon to boast. Chicago Sports Network, the new TV network Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf co-owns, remains without a deal with Comcast , potentially depriving tens of thousands of Sox fans from even watching the games come opening day.
Recent signings of low-paid veterans like Michael A. Taylor and Joey Gallo won’t move the needle, and the possibility of Luis Robert being dealt hovers over spring training at Camelback Ranch, just as it did for Dylan Cease last spring before he was traded to the San Diego Padres . Do the players feel they have to show Sox fans they’re worth watching, assuming they can find them? “I think so,” pitcher Davis Martin said.
“You have to earn their trust and play the game we want to play. I think (manager Will Venable) has a great attitude toward it and a great game plan, and a lot of guys are falling in behind him and following suit. “I’m a sports fan.
I have my favorite teams. I’m a Philadelphia Eagles fan, so I’m on top of the world. I understand that when the Eagles are bad, it hurts.
You want them to be good. That’s your team. You have a lot of pride in them.
Just like the elation everyone shares when they won the Super Bowl, last year a lot of (Sox fans) shared pain. “We want to be on the other side of that. We understand how much it means to the Chicago fans, and we want to be the ones who turn it around.
” I told Martin I once covered the 1997 Cubs, who lost their first 14 games, setting a National League record and becoming a laughingstock all season. The next year they stunned baseball by taking the NL wild-card spot, recapturing fans who had jumped off the bandwagon two weeks into the ’97 season. Martin, who was born in ’97, found a more recent analogy.
“Look at the Rangers,” he said of the 2023 World Series champions. “Three years ago they were one of the worst teams in the league and then turned it around. You gotta believe.
” White Sox manager Will Venable talks with the media during spring training at Camelback Ranch on Feb. 15, 2025, in Glendale, Ariz. (Armando L.
Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) OK, no one expects the Sox to pull off any miracles. A .500 record would probably be reason enough for a parade down 35th Street.
Even 99 losses would be a 22-game improvement, a significant upgrade over ’24. But stuff happens. I also covered the 2000 Sox team that went 75-86 in 1999 and came into spring training just hoping to be respectable.
Sagging interest in the ’99 Sox led to their lowest attendance since 1989, and general manager Ron Schueler didn’t even bother to attend the winter meetings, knowing the team would not spend on free agents or acquire any big-ticket items in the still early stages of a rebuild. Manager Jerry Manuel threw down the gauntlet at the start of 2000 spring training in Tucson, removing any excuses and challenging the young players to go out and prove themselves. “We can’t continue now to say ‘the kids can play,'” Manuel said, referring to the team’s marketing slogan.
“They’ve been here for three years. Some are in their second full year. We have to establish that this is a good team.
“This team can either elevate or fall below mediocrity, especially the young pitchers whom people have talked about. If that happens to manifest itself, then we should be good for a long time.” Breaking down position battles for the Chicago White Sox ahead of Monday’s first full-squad workout That 2000 team went 95-67 and won the American League Central with Frank Thomas and a young core that included Paul Konerko, Magglio Ordóñez, Mike Sirotka and Ray Durham.
Rookies Jon Garland and Mark Buehrle came up during the season and also chipped in. While progress wasn’t linear, the Sox wound up as world champions five years later. Every journey begins with the same first step — players gaining confidence in themselves and then performing up to their own expectations.
If the talent is there, and the right leadership is in place, it can often lead to something special. Manuel, who spoke softly but delivered his message without any ambiguity, was the perfect manager for that particular team. Whether Venable is the right choice for this team is a question that will be answered over time, but there’s little doubt he has the full attention of his players, unlike the overmatched Pedro Grifol.
So what will it take to convince Sox fans? Chicago White Sox infielder Chase Meidroth runs drills with other players during spring training at Camelback Ranch on Feb. 15, 2025, in Glendale, Ariz. (Armando L.
Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) “We’ve just got to win games,” infielder Chase Meidroth said. “It starts day by day, trying to get better. I’m trying to improve myself, and everyone’s trying to take that next step and get better as a team.
That starts today.” Meidroth, who is not on the 40-man roster but should compete for a spot at second, was one of the four prospects acquired from the Boston Red Sox in the Garrett Crochet deal, along with catcher Kyle Teel, outfielder Braden Montgomery and pitcher Wikelman Gonzalez. A right-handed contact hitter with a modest power but a reputation for not chasing pitches outside the zone, Meidroth hit .
293 at Triple-A Worcester last year with a .437 OBP, coaxing 105 walks in 122 games. When I asked Meidroth about his approach, he said it varies.
“I try to keep it as simple as I can,” he replied. “I have a lot of different approaches with different pitchers. I like the approach-and-refine aspect of the game, so I rely a lot on that when I’m hitting and just trust myself.
” The need for players who can get on base is glaring. The White Sox finished last in the majors in 2024 with a .278 OBP and were second to last with a 6.
7% walks ratio. Both deficiencies factored into their major-league low 507 runs scored. The second-worst run-scoring team, Tampa Bay, scored 604 runs — 97 more than the Sox.
That’s how bad it was. The biggest name acquired in the Crochet deal was Teel, the third-ranked catching prospect by MLB Pipeline. He joins Edgar Quero, a switch-hitting catcher who finished with an .
829 OPS at Triple-A Charlotte, giving the White Sox as much depth at the position as they’ve had in recent memory. Related Articles Chicago White Sox | Bobby Jenks, the former Chicago White Sox All-Star closer, is undergoing treatment for stomach cancer Chicago White Sox | Breaking down position battles for the Chicago White Sox ahead of Monday’s first full-squad workout Chicago White Sox | Photos: An inside look at 2025 Chicago White Sox spring training Chicago White Sox | Martín Pérez has a history with Will Venable, who plans to lean on the Chicago White Sox veteran for leadership Chicago White Sox | Could Jonathan Cannon start for the Chicago White Sox on opening day? ‘I still have a lot to learn.’ Korey Lee, who struggled offensively in ’24 but gained respect in the clubhouse by speaking out against Grifol when the manager called them “f—ing flat” after a loss to Baltimore, figures to enter the season as the starting catcher.
But he’ll have to fend off the challengers sooner or later, depending on how Teel and Quero perform this spring in Cactus League games. “It’s great,” Lee said. “Competition makes you better, for myself, for (Teel), for Edgar, for Matt (Thaiss), for everybody.
We’re all in it together. It’s not one position. It’s a team.
That’s the best way you can approach it.” Almost every position player outside of Robert, Andrew Vaughn or Andrew Benintendi is vulnerable. No one outside those three should be guaranteed a starting job this spring.
And if Venable can find a way to get the most out of this collection of young talent, it could be an interesting year. “You never know what’s going to happen in this game,” Lee said. “You can wake up one day, and some things can change.
” It doesn’t happen overnight. Like Manuel said at the outset of spring training 25 years ago, this Sox team can either elevate or fall below mediocrity again. We’ll soon find out if these kids can play.
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