Following a disappointing fourth place finish in the AL Central and a second straight year without playoff baseball, Luis Robert Jr. of the Chicago White Sox is pointing the finger. And he's starting with himself.

Robert Jr., fresh off winning his first ever Silver Slugger award, laid it out in pretty simple terms for his teammates. “Each one of us has to make it a goal to be better next year,” was the directive, courtesy of the Chicago Sun-Times' Daryl Van Schouwen.

And Robert Jr. made it clear that his award win doesn't exclude him from that call to action. “I put myself as an example. I want to get better. I want to do better. I want to improve. That should be the goal we share for next year.”

Rough stretch for Sox

It's been a tough slide from contention to irrelevance for the White Sox in just a few seasons. The team won the AL Central in 2021 with a 93-69 record, losing to the eventual AL-champion Houston Astros in the ALDS.

Chicago followed that up with a disappointing 2022, winning 12 fewer games and missing out on postseason play.

Things got worse in 2023. The Sox dropped to fourth in the Central and lost over 100 games. Robert Jr., who posted a 5.0 WAR season, was one of the few bright spots on the team.

Optimistic White Sox fans will point to the front office overhaul that owner Jerry Reinsdorf undertook this past August as a reason for hope. Longtime executives Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn were both relieved of their duties amid the disappointing season.

Will new general manager Chris Getz be able to get the team back over .500? Perhaps if White Sox players heed the words of Robert Jr. and follow his example, he will.