White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf takes responsibility for season: "There are no excuses"
CHICAGO (CBS) — The White Sox finished their season with a 9-5 win over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday. Putting a positive note on the end of a historically bad season.
The team ends the 2024 season with a 41-121 record, replacing a 62-year-old single-season record previously held by the New York Mets in 1962 by one game.
On Sunday, Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf addressed fans in a letter to take responsibility for the team's struggles this season in a letter, calling it "a failure" and "embarrassing." However, he expressed gratitude to fans for remaining loyal and said they're doing everything they can for a better 2025 season.
Read the full letter below:
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
