If you’re reading this, this is not a dream.
You woke up today, Opening Day of the 2021 MLB season and your Chicago White Sox have a real shot at being that team to hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy in October.
Your starting pitching rotation looks scary good. Giolito & Keuchel & Lynn, OH MY.
Your offense is as potent as a fresh batch of California Kush.
And your manager, well, minus the bullsh*t… he’s great.
It’s true, the boys are now men and against all odds, they’ve found a way to make baseball on the South Side of Chicago, great again. But as we get ready to leave the gate on a fresh 162 game marathon, allow me to take a brief look back at how we arrived here. The journey was bumpy. There was pain. There was joy. But such is life in between those chalky lines. If you’ve stayed aboard this roller coaster, this is the part where you get a shirt that says “I survived the South Side rebuild!”
From December 6, 2016 til infinity…a timeline of notable White Sox additions
- June 10, 2016, the White Sox purchased the contract of SS Tim Anderson
- December 6, 2016, the day the White Sox pushed the rebuild button. Out went Chris Sale to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech (Victor Diaz and Luis Alexander), starting their journey out of baseball hell.
-The very next day on December 7, 2016, Adam Eaton was shipped to Washington for Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning.
- March 21, 2017, the White Sox and SS Time Anderson agree on a 6 year deal
- May 27, 2017, White Sox agree to terms with Cuban OF prospect Louis Robert
- July 13, 2017, White Sox trade José Quintana to the Cubs for Eloy Jiménez, Dylan Cease, Matt Rose, and Bryant Flete
- June 4, 2018, White Sox draft IF Nick Madrigal
- March 22, 2019, agreed to terms with OF Eloy Jimenez on a six-year contract
- June 22, 2019, White Sox draft Garrett Crochet
- November 21, 2019, White Sox agree to 4 year deal with C Yasmani Grandal
- December 30, 2019, White Sox and SP Dallas Kuechel agree to 3year deal
- December 8, 2020, White Sox trade for SP Lance Lynn
- January 11, 2021, White Sox closer Liam Hendricks
- October 29, 2021, White Sox name Tony La Russa as manager
The Big Picture
Can the White Sox offense overcome the loss of Eloy Jimenez? Are they really the best team in the American League? Can they go toe-to-toe with the likes of the Dodgers and Padres? All questions that we will get answers to this season. But the game…is still the game and as much as things have changed on the South Side, one thing remains the same, when you’re in the position that the White Sox are in…just win baby!