Pregame notes: Closing time

Even when it's the worst season ever, it will feel weird when there's no White Sox baseball on Monday.

"After today when I wake up tomorrow it will feel weird just not being here with the team," said interim manager Grady Sizemore. "It would be so easy with a season like this to have a lot of negativity and a lot of back and forth and bickering and fighting. There hasn’t been any of that. It’s been such a close group. They’ve stayed together as a family. That’s what has made it fun for everybody. Even though we haven’t got the wins and losses, we are having fun working together."

The real victories, other than all the ones AL Central teams piled up by playing the White Sox so much, are the friends we made along the way. There are some remaining incentives, though.

If the White Sox win, they will have a better winning percentage than the 1962 Mets, a fact which actually would not invalidate all the righteous criticism they have weathered in recent weeks. The Sox have already clinched a better winning percentage than the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics. Say what you will about the experience of not having a standout hitter all season, at least the 2024 Sox are not saddled with the guilt of wasting the last truly elite Amos Strunk offensive campaign.

It's only because he was rolling so much that Jonathan Cannon was cleared to throw six scoreless innings on 78 pitches in his previous outing, so his leash is expected to be even shorter on Sunday. Cannon's 157 innings pitched this season between Triple-A and the majors are already 36 more than he shouldered last season.

"That he's been kind of just a stable arm in that rotation throughout the whole year and to finish strong here has been good to watch," Sizemore said. "I really think between him and [Garrett] Crochet and Davis [Martin] and you're seeing what [Sean] Burke has, you're seeing all these starters really grow a lot and learn a lot in the short time they've been here. Happy for him. He's been a horse for us and I'm excited for him and his future."

Luis Robert Jr. is back in the lineup for the finale after missing the past two days with rib discomfort. Sizemore viewed Andrew Benintendi's big game on Saturday as a good closing note. Zach DeLoach, Miguel Vargas and Bryan Ramos all being in the lineup dovetail with Sizemore's emphasis on young players, which is what he cited again for why there's no send-off for Yoán Moncada.

As it turns out, Moncada's White Sox playing career really did end by the first base bag in Cleveland this April.

"Him coming in so late, and having two other guys in the same position, we were already struggling to get guys at-bats in the last 15 or 20 games," Sizemore said. "I had to prioritize the guys I know are going to be here next year, guys I know we all want to see and evaluate as much as we can. And I think taking at-bats away from them would not be fair to the team, and to the organization."

The tarp was on the field in Detroit an hour before first pitch and yours truly has an 8:10pm ET flight home. Something's got to give. Keep that as your exciting thing to track this afternoon in case the Sox get boatraced.

There was a mid-game statement on the season from White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf. If you were expecting some big news--and you shouldn't have--it doesn't have any.

Chicago White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf issued the following letter to fans this afternoon:

 To White Sox Fans,

By all measures, our on-field performance this season was a failure. As the leader of this organization, that is my ultimate responsibility. There are no excuses.

I want to thank you for continuing to support the team throughout what was an embarrassing season. You all deserved better. This season’s performance was completely unacceptable and the varying reactions and emotions from our fanbase are completely understandable. 

While embracing new ideas and outside perspectives, we will do everything we can to fix this for 2025 and the future. This will include further development of players on our current roster, development within our system, evaluating the trade and free agent markets to improve our ballclub and new leadership for our analytics department, allowing us to elevate and improve every process within our organization with a focus for competing for championships. In fact, change has already been happening in our baseball operations group throughout this past year. When named general manager in 2023, Chris Getz and his staff immediately began conducting a top-to-bottom evaluation of our existing operations. Chris is rebuilding the foundation of our baseball operations department, with key personnel changes already happening in player development, international scouting, professional scouting and analytics. Some of these changes will be apparent quickly while others will need time to produce the results we all want to see at the major-league level.

Our organization’s most important decision in the coming months is to evaluate and identify a new manager and leadership voice for this organization. Chris is well underway with this search. He has identified the key attributes and preferences for our next manager and has already begun an exhaustive search with a wide range of candidates to lead the White Sox in the clubhouse and dugout.

Even in the worst of seasons, where at times it felt like nothing was going right, there were bright spots that provided reasons for optimism about our future. The overall health of our organization is improving. Our minor league rankings show this growth. The Class AA Birmingham Barons won the Southern League title, while Class A Kannapolis reached the finals of the Carolina League, and our organization has built an impressive future pool of very talented prospects.

Whether said out loud or written in a statement, words are easy. I understand we need to show our progress through action, and I commit to you that everyone associated with the White Sox is focused on returning this organization to the level of success we all expect and desire.

Above everything else, I am a fan, a fan of baseball, of Chicago and of the White Sox. Every loss this season -- every blown save, every defensive miscue, every shutout, every sweep -- hurt. It was a long, painful season for us all. We recognize, on a daily basis, that it is our responsibility to earn your trust, attention, time and support. We vow to take that approach daily as we put the work in this offseason to be better.

We owe it to each and every one of you.

Jerry Reinsdorf

First pitch: White Sox at Tigers

TV: NBCSCH

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