White Sox reportedly revealed plans to cut payroll in 2025 which caused hearttouching news on fans recently
Whether or not the 2024 White Sox ultimately set a new record for the most losses in a single season, there is no denying their performance this year has been a massive disappointment. The South Siders finished with a dismal 61-101 in 2023, yet somehow, they’re on pace to lose an additional 23 games in 2024. So, it shouldn’t come as any shock that the White Sox are planning to reduce their payroll next season, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Nightengale suggests the budget cuts are due to “sustaining substantial losses in revenue” this year.
While it’s impossible to guess how much the White Sox’s revenue might have actually declined in 2024, there’s no doubt attendance has gone down at Guaranteed Rate Field. According to ESPN, the White Sox have dropped from 24th to 27th in average attendance, going from 21,405 to 17,910 spectators per game. That’s the fourth-largest drop-off this season, and the only teams who have seen their average attendance fall by a larger amount – the Mets, Cardinals, and Blue Jays – are all outpacing the White Sox in average attendance by at least 11,000 fans per game.
General manager Chris Getz has plenty of challenges ahead of him with this White Sox team, but cutting payroll won’t be one of them. The highest-paid player on the team, Yoan Moncada, is making $24.8M this season. Next year, the White Sox will only have to pay him a $5M buyout. More impending free agents include Mike Clevinger ($3M salary in 2024), Michael Soroka ($3M), and Chris Flexen ($1.75M). The team could also non-tender Nicky Lopez, who is making $4.3M this year in his second season of arbitration eligibility, and Andrew Vaughn, who is making $3.25M in his first. They certainly won’t non-tender Garrett Crochet, who is due for a sizeable raise in his second offseason of arbitration, but Getz could look to trade Crochet this winter. He would be one of the most coveted players on the offseason trade block.
Also off the books will be the tens of millions of dollars in salary the White Sox paid/are paying to players no longer in the organization, including Eloy Jiménez, Erick Fedde, Martín Maldonado, Leury García, John Brebbia, Michael Kopech, Tommy Pham, Paul DeJong, Tim Hill, and Touki Toussaint, as well as the $6M they spent on buyouts for Clevinger, Jake Diekman, and Tim Anderson. All told, RosterResource estimates the White Sox payroll is approximately $148.8M this year. And as things stand, they only have $35.3M in payroll commitments for 2025. Thus, barring an unprecedented offseason spending spree, the White Sox payroll will be much lower next season.
Any significant spending from the White Sox this offseason already seemed unlikely before Nightengale’s report. Earlier this month, Getz discussed his club’s terrible season, saying “You try to make the best of it, and I think it’s an opportunity to embrace the situation that we’re in.” While those comments are vague, Getz implies he is moving toward a long, multi-season rebuild. In other words, he won’t be looking to make a splash on the free agent market this winter. Indeed, Getz said as much in a recent appearance on the NBC Sports Chicago TV broadcast, remarking: “We’re not gonna be working heavy in free agency.”
