The term “train wreck” gets thrown around often in the world of sports. It often represents more than simply a team languishing at the bottom of the standings. It more accurately describes a team that has little to suggest improvement and the only logical path forward being to tear the whole thing down until nothing remains.

The last time I brought a team like this to attention, it was the 2023-24 San Jose Sharks after they had given up ten goals in back-to-back games and lost their first twelve games of the year. While the team managed to avoid further embarrassment, the article still held up rather nicely. GM Mike Grier did well to remove coach David Quinn from his position, but followed it up with a questionable trade deadline that saw Tomas Hertl and a couple of sweeteners go off to Vegas. They did land Macklin Celebrini with the top pick in the draft, however, and the talent in San Jose’s farm system suggests they can rejoin the ranks of the NHL’s elite with proper development.

It’s one thing to write a team off at the beginning of the year when they had zero expectations to begin with; meanwhile, Chicago White Sox players and fans have to be waiting impatiently for their nightmare to finally end.

On August 4th, the 27-86 White Sox were swept for the 18th time this season by the Minnesota Twins after a 13-7 defeat. It was the 20th consecutive defeat the Sox have suffered, one away from tying the 1988 Baltimore Orioles for the longest losing streak in American League history and three away from the modern record belonging to the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies. The all-time record belongs to the 1889 Louisville Colonels at 26 straight losses and, quite frankly, would it even be a surprise to see the White Sox chase THAT record down? After all, ever since the Sox’s last victory against these same Twins on July 10, Joe Biden stepped down from his re-election bid, the Olympic torch in Paris was lit, and the Chicago Bears won a game. It has truly become that egregious.

It is one thing to go on a miserable losing streak such as this, but this is merely the tip of the iceberg for the South Side baseball club. Should the White Sox continue at their current pace, they would finish the season with a record of 38-124. They would be the worst team in this century with that mark over the 2003 Detroit Tigers by five games. They would be four games worse than the expansion 1962 New York Mets for the worst modern record in MLB history. The only team with a worse winning percentage (.237 for this White Sox team) would be the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics’ mark of .235. This is a level of futility that the baseball world has not seen since World War One.

Normally, there would be a silver lining that existed in a scenario like this. Somewhere, if you look hard enough, the White Sox should be good at something, right? Unfortunately, even with due diligence, there’s nothing here to suggest any improvement is coming. The offense is outright putrid, scoring 327 runs and averaging only 3.05 runs per game; the next-lowest marks belong to the Miami Marlins at 390 and 3.61, respectively. The only team they’ve hit more home runs than is the Washington Nationals. They have the lowest batting average at .216, on-base percentage at .276, and slugging percentage at .341.

Pitching and fielding have done the White Sox no favors, either. The only team worse than the Sox’s 4.81 ERA is the Colorado Rockies, and they play half of their games in the most hitter-friendly park in the entire MLB. The bullpen not only has the lowest number of saves with 17, but they lead the league with 27 blown saves (yes, that matches the number of wins) and are the only group to have a save percentage lower than half. The Toronto Blue Jays are the only team to have been hit with more home runs than the White Sox, not to mention they have walked more batters than any other team. On defense, the White Sox are one of only two teams to allow more than five runs per game (the Rockies are the other), and they rank fourth in total errors with 68. It should be no surprise, then, that the White Sox roster has a total of -20 WAR (wins above replacement), highlighted by a -20.9 mark for their lineup. Replacement-level players could come together to scrounge up a team and perform a full twenty wins better than the Sox.

It will only get worse, unfortunately. At the trade deadline, the White Sox were obvious sellers, resulting in a thin roster becoming even more so. Three of the top five batting averages (Tommy Pham, Eloy Jimenez, Paul DeJong) in the lineup are gone. DeJong also led the team in home runs with 18. Wins and ERA leader Erick Fedde is gone as well, along with arguably their top two bullpen arms in Michael Kopech and Tanner Banks. Their two leading trade chips in Garrett Crochet and Luis Robert are still around, but it likely will not be long until they are shut down to protect them from further damage. Crochet, in particular, has requested a new contract, and it will likely take a king’s ransom for him to want to stay anywhere near this disaster. Maybe they can use some of the money saved from the Jimenez deal (speaking of which, when was the last time anyone has seen analysts from a team-owned sports network happy that a player has been traded away?)

It has long reached the point for moves to be made. Owner Jerry Reinsdorf has been confirmed to hold private meetings with manager Pedro Grifol and general manager Chris Getz to discuss the issues surrounding the team. The general consensus for those meetings, however, was that Grifol’s future with the White Sox is uncertain to this point, and an in-season firing is not out of the question unless the wins begin to come back. For Reinsdorf to consider this drastic change with a year remaining on Grifol’s contract is proof enough of how lost this season has been for the White Sox, and the disaster could see first-year GM Getz also come under fire.

The sad part is both hirings were questionable ideas when they were even made. Grifol had been selected to be the new manager after a couple of years as Mike Matheny’s bench coach for the Kansas City Royals. In Grifol’s final year with the organization, the Royals finished 65-97, good for last place in the American League Central division. Matheny would not return to the organization and he would be replaced by Tampa Bay Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro, a move that has paid off with the Royals looking much better in his second year at the helm. Grifol, meanwhile, currently holds the worst winning percentage of any White Sox manager at .320, all while being on the receiving end of jokes from former White Sox and World Series-winning manager Ozzie Guillen. Meanwhile, when the organization was enduring a rough season last year and removed GM Rick Hahn, the White Sox elected to make an in-house hire with Getz. While Getz would have been fine as an interim selection, going with him full-time suggests that Reinsdorf and the White Sox braintrust don’t believe that anything is wrong. It creates a vicious cycle of aiming to be merely competitive and making ill-fated decisions for the purpose of selling tickets and increasing the bottom line instead of seeking success on the diamond (see: Colorado Rockies and the Kris Bryant signing). While baseball is a difficult sport to stay at the top of for a prolonged amount of time without financial or analytical advantages, fans will not approve of a team whose long-term strategy is profits over product.

The schedule does not necessarily ease up, either. The Oakland A’s are next up for the White Sox and, while the A’s have not particularly had a strong season, they are a full 19.5 games ahead in the standings. It is possible that the series in Oakland results in a sweep and leaves the White Sox at the doorstep of eternal mockery. As an extra twist of the knife, the series after is against the crosstown rival Chicago Cubs, who would love a free chance to keep their postseason hopes alive and establish their dominance in the Windy City. The New York Yankees and Houston Astros are next and will want to cement their spots in the playoffs as well, so they will also be motivated to perform against the Sox. Sure, losing 30 games in a row sounds impossible, but the fact it even has to be considered a possibility is insanity.

It is rare to see this level of ghastliness come in the sports world, particularly due to general parity and the difficulty of being this consistently vile. It has become a reality for the White Sox, however, and the final two months of their season will be dedicated to avoiding the historical lows they sit perilously close to breaking. At least they are bound to get a top prospect in next year’s draft to help push the team in the right direction…right?