Hope in baseball isn’t free—it is bought, and its price tag is steep. For the past four years, the Athletic has been running a Hope-O-Meter survey. And there they ask a simple question to baseball fans: Are you optimistic about your favorite MLB team this season? And every year, the answer rocks between confidence and absolute despair in fans. This year, it’s no different. However, in the 2025 season, the results highlight a POV that is hard to ignore. The teams that stack big time on their roster, stack high on their fans’ belief too.

The survey just paints the picture in black and white. Topping the list of fans in the Hope-O-Meter is none other than the Los Angeles Dodgers. The team is so big in spending that they have officially dethroned the New York Yankees, becoming the new Evil Empire with the big pockets in baseball. Their payroll for 2025 is $321 million. And their hope ranking stands at 99.7%—the highest among all teams. And their fanbase is glowing with confidence. Compare that to the White Sox, and it’s the opposite side of the spectrum.

Well, the opposite end isn’t exactly the best place to be at. The Chicago White Sox are sitting, not very pretty, in the 30th position at Hope-O-Meter. And also doing not so great with their spending—a total of just $56.6 million! Now that’s literally just a fraction of the Dodgers budget. And the optimism ranking is just at a bleak 8.7%. These numbers themselves tell the entire story—the less a team spends, the less hope fans have. Plus, it’s not just a one-year fluke. Last season, the Chicago White Sox had a 4.7% hope rating, too.

And fans are simply tired of their team making no changes. These are some of the comments Athletic posted from fans: “The bar is set so low it’s in Hell’s root cellar. This team plans to tunnel underneath it.” And perhaps the most painfully relatable comment of them, “Rooting for the White Sox is like missing a tooth. Your tongue knows it’ll hurt, but it keeps going back to it again and again.” Meanwhile, Dodgers fans are out there debating the best parade route for their next win. “All that’s missing is the championship parade date.”

Another Dodger fan added, “On several occasions, I have forgotten they added Blake Snell. That’s how blessed we are right now.” They are not optimistic, they believe their team is going to win. And it’s all because the team chose to take the leap and spend huge. There was a time when everyone thought investing $700 million on the LA Dodgers part was foolishness, but look how far they have come.

Not only did they win a championship, but they also earned back the eye-watering amount they spent on Shohei Ohtani in just a year! That is right. And their investment has paid off, not just monetarily, but clearly in fan belief, too. But for Chicago fans, letting go of hope isn’t the best route ahead as the team is in a rebuild. And today, while the payroll doesn’t show much, they are a better team today than they were in the past.

Chicago White Sox fans need to trust the rebuild process

General Manager Chris Getz was clear—they were not relying on free agency this season. And well, he meant it. Honestly, a massive spending spree to rev up the team that lost 121 games last season wouldn’t fix much. FanGraphs Dan Szymborski, ran a simulation that gave the team Ohtani, Judge, and Skubal. And the result was that they still finished last in the AL Central. The Sox are behind the times, but now with new leadership and a farm system, they want to make a difference. And for Sox fans, the new system is what they should be excited about.

For the first time in a long time, the Chicago White Sox have a top-tier prospect pipeline. On March 16, they will showcase all that young talent in a Spring Breakout game against the Rockies. Chicago was named the sixth-best farm system in the entire league. The Sox are even ahead of the Rays, the place known for nurturing elite talent.

Many of the prospects are set to take the field, like Kyle Teel, Chase Meidroth, Colson Montgomery, Braden Montgomery, and Edgar Quero. Downers Grove native, George Wolkow will also be there. And some of them have already started turning heads. Teel, for example, had a slow February, but now he is heating up, going 4 for 9 with two homers and six RBI in March. Even Braden Montgomery has been solid; his stats are 400/.625/.400 over his first seven preseason games.

It’s been long since the Chicago White Sox had something to hold onto, something that gave them hope. As the results in Athletic already show. But Getz has made some tough calls, and while fans are frustrated, the rebuild is far from over. This seems like a step in the right direction.

Don’t you think? Let us know!