'Reimagined' SoxFest: We'll take a pass

Michael Kopech, Dylan Cease, Don Cooper and Steve Stone at SoxFest 2020.

We haven't had a legitimate SoxFest since 2020, and we won't have one in 2025 either.

Instead the White Sox will be hosting "SoxFest Live" on Jan. 24-25 at the Ramova Theater in Bridgeport. According to the team's website, the "reimagined" event "promises a unique blend of entertainment, interactive experiences with players and White Sox greats, and celebration of seasons’ past and those ahead."

I'm not sure what the hell that means. I can tell you the program is from 5 to 9 p.m. each day, and while they haven't specifically said so, it seems like it's the same show each night. It's $56, plus fees, for a single-day general admission, or $225, plus fees, for a single-day MVP Experience. 

The fact that they aren't offering two-day passes is telling. If you go one night, why go the next?

We'll be taking a pass on this, even though we've been frequent SoxFest attendees in the past. 

It used to be a three-day experience with a two-night stay in a downtown hotel. Now? It's four hours in a renovated theater that (generously) holds 1,500 people.

There have been no announcements about who will be there. Current players? Former players? Who knows? It's as if they want you to spend the money now, and then they'll tell you later what the experience will be. It makes no sense.

This is just another in a long line of cheapened White Sox experiences. They want you to support a team that has nothing but Triple-A players on it, but they'll charge you major league prices. The game day experience has been stagnant for years. They are out of fresh ideas, but hey, it's better at the ballpark!

They launched a new regional sports network that looks low-budget, and they don't have a deal with the largest cable provider in the Chicago area. So, we're all hanging antennas in the window to watch the games. Hope it doesn't storm.

And now this watered-down version of SoxFest is introduced. It's the latest absurdity.

White Sox baseball: Settle for our crap, or else. If you don't like it, too bad.

Happy Thanksgiving from The Baseball KId

 

Garrett Crochet wins AL Comeback Player of the Year

Here's a story we probably wouldn't have had on our Bingo card back in March: White Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet has been named 2024 American League Comeback Player of the Year.

Crochet didn't pitch at all in 2022 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He didn't return until late in 2023, making only 13 relief appearances. And if we're being honest, he wasn't impressive. He walked 13 batters in 12.2 innings pitched.

The idea of Crochet ever becoming a quality starting pitcher seemed far-fetched, but the Sox decided to give him a shot in spring training 2024. As a matter of fact, they made him their Opening Day starter, and the "experiment" worked far better than anyone could have imagined.

Despite the Sox being an absolutely terrible team, Crochet had a breakout season. His first half, in particular, was dominant. He made the All-Star team after striking out 150 batters in 107.1 innings over his first 20 starts.

The second half, well, Crochet was on a strict innings limit in his first full season back from surgery. He made all 32 of his starts, but after the All-Star break, he never pitched deep enough into a game to qualify for a win.

Final season totals: 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA in 146 innings pitched. He struck out 209 and walked only 33 batters. That strikeout-to-walk ratio never could have been foreseen given the way Crochet looked in his brief return in 2023.

There was a period of time during the season in which the only time the Sox were worth watching was the day Crochet pitched. His performance was a glimmer of hope in a sea of deep, dark misery.

Unfortunately, this is probably the last time we'll celebrate anything Crochet has done. He is likely to be traded for futures sometime this offseason, as the Sox try to dig out from the abyss of a 41-121 season.

The next time you read a blog about Crochet here, it will probably be because he was dealt to the Dodgers, Red Sox, Phillies, Orioles, Cubs or Mets.

It's too bad, really. I guess we'll wait and see what happens when the trade winds blow.

White Sox November roster moves so far

The Moncada bobblehead is a candidate for the dustbin of history.

Let's catch up on some of the roster moves the White Sox have made since the season ended:

Declined the $25 million contract option on Yoan Moncada. The oft-injured third baseman played in only 12 games for the Sox in 2024, during which he totaled zero home runs and zero RBIs. Moncada played eight seasons on the South Side, and only two of them were good (2019 and 2021). He never made an All-Star appearance. He never won a Gold Glove. The Sox never won a playoff series during his tenure. So, no, he didn't live up to the hype that comes with being the No. 1 prospect in baseball. Moncada's departure means there is nobody left on the team from the Chris Sale trade. Call it vindication for those of us who hated that trade from the start.

Declined the $7.5 million contract option on Max Stassi. Did you even know this 33-year-old catcher was even on the team this season? No? Me neither. Stassi missed the whole season with a hip injury. He had surgery in June. Chances are he's played his last game in the majors.

Relievers Jimmy Lambert and Matt Foster decline outright assignments, elect free agency. More ties were cut with the walking wounded here. Lambert, 29, didn't pitch in 2024 with a rotator cuff injury. He had season-ending surgery in August. Foster, 29, started the year on the injured list after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2023. He returned in August and made six appearances, but a back injury shut him down. He underwent back surgery Sept. 25. These are two more guys you might not see in the majors again.

Claimed pitcher Penn Murfee off waivers from Houston. It's the first dumpster dive of the offseason! Murfee, 30, had Tommy John surgery in July 2023 and missed the entire 2024 season. He pitched in a combined 80 games over two years with the Seattle Mariners -- 64 appearances in 2022 and 16 games before the elbow injury in 2023. He's 5-2 with a 2.70 ERA in his career, so if he can regain his health, well, I guess he becomes a leverage option on what figures to be a subpar 2025 Sox team.

Nicky Lopez and Sammy Peralta decline outright assignments, elect free agency. Lopez, who will turn 30 before the start of the 2025 season, was a Gold Glove finalist at second base. However, he ultimately doesn't have the bat to hold down a starting position, as evidenced by his .241/.312/.294 slash line with the 2024 Sox. If you can't *slug* .300, then you shouldn't be an everyday player. Given that Lopez would be due more than $5 million in arbitration, it doesn't make sense to retain him as a bench option, either. You can find utility players for a lot less money. Heck, if Lopez can't find work elsewhere, he might come back to the Sox for far less money. Peralta, 26, posted a 4.80 ERA over nine relief appearances in 2024. He is a forgettable left-handed reliever. The Sox have other internal options who were ahead of him.

Will Venable to be named White Sox manager

Say this for White Sox general manager Chris Getz: He said he was going to hire a manager from outside the organization. He said he was going to hire someone who was in uniform for another team.

Getz did exactly that. 

Will Venable, who is currently the associate manager of the Texas Rangers, is expected to be named the 44th manager in Sox history in the coming days.

Venable, 42, played nine seasons in the majors from 2008-16. All but the last of those years were spent with the San Diego Padres. 

After his playing days ended, Venable joined the Cubs in 2017, where he served as a special assistant to Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer. Later, he coached first base during his three years on the North Side. From 2020-22, Venable served as the Boston Red Sox bench coach. He joined the Rangers in 2023, where he won a World Series as a member of Bruce Bochy's coaching staff.

It remains to be seen whether Venable is the right man to fix the White Sox mess, but at least it appears that the process was legitimate. Getz was allowed to conduct an outside search and name his guy.

The Sox resisted the temptation to make the internal hire (Grady Sizemore), and they did not hire someone who is "Tony La Russa's guy." (Phil Nevin)

Perhaps I'm guilty of setting the bar a little low here, but the Sox have cleared the low bar I've set for them.

Venable comes to the Sox with no previous managerial experience, which of course has prompted some comparisons to Pedro Grifol, who was an unqualified disaster as Sox manager.

Let's be fair to Venable: He comes to the Sox with stronger credentials than Grifol did. He's a former player, which should give him more credibility in the locker room, and he's worked for some organizations that have had more success than, say, the Kansas City Royals, where Grifol toiled for years in relative obscurity.

Also notable: Even if Venable does everything right, he could still fail in Chicago. The Sox have bad ownership and an inexperienced GM. That's like stepping into the batter's box with two strikes already on you. And, of course, the roster is at rock bottom.

If you're a Sox fan right now, the mindset has to be, "Give the man a chance and hope for the best." What else can you do?

Chris Getz quote ... cringeworthy

White Sox general manager Chris Getz had his usual start-of-a-homestand press conference before Monday's game against the Cleveland Guardians.

Check out his lead quote from this article on ESPN.com:

"I think if you would have told me we were going to end up flirting with the record I would have been a little surprised," Getz said on Monday afternoon. "Now if you would have told me prior to the year that we would have ended up with over 100 losses, 105, 110, I wouldn't have been as surprised. But this is the cards that we've been dealt at this point. You try to make the best of it, and I think it's an opportunity to embrace the situation that we're in."

Where to start with this? There are three key points.

First, the Sox are not "flirting with the record." After Monday's 5-3 loss to Cleveland, their record is 33-112. They are on pace for 125 losses. The all-time record is 120 losses. The Sox are poised to blow right by this record and obliterate it. "Flirting" my ass.

Second, Getz speaks of "the cards we've been dealt." Chris, my man, you're the dealer. You're the general manager. You're responsible for the makeup of the roster.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, anti-tanking rules prevent the Sox from drafting any higher than 10th in the 2025 MLB draft. So, why would you be OK going into a season with a roster that could lose 105 or 110 games without it being a surprise? 

This is losing without a purpose. There is no development occurring at the big league level. There is no promise of a top draft choice as a result of all this losing. This isn't failing while getting better. It's just failure, and it's a waste of fans' time.

Thank goodness I haven't spent a single cent at Guaranteed Rate Field this season.

Happy Labor Day from The Baseball Kid