One more thing to add.
One White Sox player played with pride and passion – Sam Antonacci. He is the sole hero on this team in the playoffs that has nothing to be ashamed of. Maybe he is the leader going forward that the Sox lack.
You do have to remember that this team outplayed expectations by about 20 games. The talent is....ok. You noted the issues at 1B and SS. Meidroth and Antonacci are glue guys that are at their best as a supplement to a really good offense.
The only player that anyone can really say is an All Star caliber player is Vargas. He's only making $805K and is arbitration eligible in 2027. That price tag is going to skyrocket, which is going to effect the rest of the roster setup. His contract comes up in 2030 and it's easily going to be $100M+. You're probably looking at $25M+ per year. Will they ante up? They'll have to see what the price tag is on him.
With MM, he's currently making $17M. He didn't help himself in the second half, but there will be no shortage of teams that will pay significantly for 35+ HRs. Kyle Schwarber has made a career out of those numbers and that'll be th comp. He's making $30M per year...5 years/150M. Are the Sox ready to go there? All of the powerhouses will be involved.
Do they find guys like Grichuk? What did he do this year to his value? He's a bat that will also be coveted in a platoon situation.
Both sides of town have the pitching issues. When you need significant help in the rotation, that's going to cost a ton. If you have to buy it, the money has to come from somewhere. The Sox had two months of bullpen games to stay afloat. It destroyed the pen late, but they didn't have a choice. It's a major, major problem.
Along with playing 20 over expectations, it has to be recognized that the stars completely aligned for them this year. The AL Central was awful. The AL, as a whole, was awful. The power spenders in the AL will not stand pat. In the absence of Seattle, Toronto, Texas, etc not being worth a lick....it's unreasonable to expect that this will be the case going forward. The same can be said about Cleveland. The Sox, as the #6 seed, got to play a division winner that was exactly .500. When will a #6 seed ever see that again? Then, they got to play the #2 seed was Cleveland, which also benefitted from what the AL was this year. Most seasons, the Sox, Cleveland and Houston don't even make the playoffs. Those three teams, despite what they are, avoided the Yankees, Boston and Tampa. If the Sox ended up in Boston or NY in round one, season over. Again, you couldn't ask for a more perfect set of circumstances.
The good news is that Getz knows all of the above to be facts, which is why he didn't do anything stupid at the trade deadline. For the most part, he understood their good fortune and didn't succumb to fan pressure.
It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out. I wouldn't be down on them after they delivered a completely unexpected season. Do they take a step back next year? Probably. It won't be because they got worse rather their peers will bounce back. They took advantage of what unfolded in their favor and they shouldn't apologize for that.
