The Chicago White Sox are in the midst of what is expected to be the worst season in Major League history. After Friday's 2-0 loss to the Oakland Athletics, The White Sox's record is now 33-115, just five losses away from the record set by the New York Mets in 1962, 120.
In the top of the third inning during Friday's loss, White Sox general manager Chris Getz joined the NBC Sports Chicago broadcast and gave a grim outlook about the team's offseason plans.
“We're not going to be working heavy in free agency,” Getz said. “We've got guys out on the field right now that need to improve their game. A lot of these guys are young players and need to make the adjustments to be more productive.”
While Getz' comments may be jarring to White Sox fans at first glance, they are not surprising. This is a historically bad team. Not only would it be a poor business decision to invest a significant amount of money in a fundamentally flawed roster, but it will also be incredibly difficult to attract quality free agents. It is difficult to imagine that any of the top free agents would be willing to sign a long-term deal with the White Sox following a season like this, uncertainty about who the manager will be and the overall organizational issues that have plagued the team over the last few seasons.
Chicago White Sox Offseason Outlook
Getz' comments confirmed what many already believed, but the White Sox are not expected to make any significant additions to their team this offseason. Instead, they are going to plan on improving and developing the talent they have within the organization.
The most promising piece the White Sox have is 25-year-old ace Garrett Crochet. Crochet, who has two more seasons of team control, was the subject of countless trade rumors during the deadline, but did not end up getting moved after he made it public that he would not pitch in the postseason for any team that trades for him unless he signed an extension. Likely the biggest player decision the White Sox will have to make this offseason will be whether or not to try and work out an extension with Crochet or trade him.
However, just because the White Sox are planning on being very active in free agency does not mean that this is not a critical offseason on the South Side. The White Sox are currently being managed by interim manager Grady Sizemore after Pedro Grifol was fired in August. Who Getz and the White Sox decide to go with this offseason as their manager going forward is the first, and potentially most important step in righting the ship and getting back to becoming a winning organization.