Whether or not or not the 2024 White Sox in the end set a brand new document for probably the most losses in a single season, there isn’t any denying their efficiency this yr has been an enormous disappointment. The South Siders completed with a dismal 61-101 in 2023, but by some means, they’re on tempo to lose a further 23 video games in 2024. So, it shouldn’t come as any shock that the White Sox are planning to scale back their payroll subsequent season, in line with Bob Nightengale of USA Right this moment. Nightengale suggests the funds cuts are attributable to “sustaining substantial losses in income” this yr.
Whereas it’s unimaginable to guess how a lot the White Sox’s income might need really declined in 2024, there’s little question attendance has gone down at Assured Charge Area. In response to ESPN, the White Sox have dropped from twenty fourth to twenty seventh in common attendance, going from 21,405 to 17,910 spectators per sport. That’s the fourth-largest drop-off this season, and the one groups who’ve seen their common attendance fall by a bigger quantity – the Mets, Cardinals, and Blue Jays – are all outpacing the White Sox in common attendance by not less than 11,000 followers per sport.
Normal supervisor Chris Getz has loads of challenges forward of him with this White Sox workforce, however chopping payroll received’t be certainly one of them. The very best-paid participant on the workforce, Yoan Moncada, is making $24.8MM this season. Subsequent yr, the White Sox will solely need to pay him a $5MM buyout. Extra impending free brokers embrace Mike Clevinger ($3MM wage in 2024), Michael Soroka ($3MM), and Chris Flexen ($1.75MM). The workforce may additionally non-tender Nicky Lopez, who’s making $4.3MM this yr in his second season of arbitration eligibility, and Andrew Vaughn, who’s making $3.25MM in his first. They actually received’t non-tender Garrett Crochet, who’s due for a sizeable increase in his second offseason of arbitration, however Getz may look to commerce Crochet this winter. He could be one of the crucial coveted gamers on the offseason commerce block.
Additionally off the books would be the tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} in wage the White Sox paid/are paying to gamers not within the group, together with Eloy Jiménez, Erick Fedde, Martín Maldonado, Leury García, John Brebbia, Michael Kopech, Tommy Pham, Paul DeJong, Tim Hill, and Touki Toussaint, in addition to the $6MM they spent on buyouts for Clevinger, Jake Diekman, and Tim Anderson. All informed, RosterResource estimates the White Sox payroll is roughly $148.8MM this yr. And as issues stand, they solely have $35.3MM in payroll commitments for 2025. Thus, barring an unprecedented offseason spending spree, the White Sox payroll can be a lot decrease subsequent season.
Any vital spending from the White Sox this offseason already appeared unlikely earlier than Nightengale’s report. Earlier this month, Getz mentioned his membership’s horrible season, saying “You attempt to make the very best of it, and I feel it’s a possibility to embrace the scenario that we’re in.” Whereas these feedback are obscure, Getz implies he’s shifting towards an extended, multi-season rebuild. In different phrases, he received’t be seeking to make a splash on the free agent market this winter. Certainly, Getz stated as a lot in a latest look on the NBC Sports activities Chicago TV broadcast, remarking: “We’re not gonna be working heavy in free company.”
It’s hardly shocking, however that doesn’t make it any much less disappointing for White Sox followers. The previous few years have been onerous to look at, and it doesn’t appear like the workforce goes to get meaningfully higher any time quickly.