The American former baseball catcher, A.J. Pierzynski, makes a surprising revelation by hinting at not being invited to a major celebration at the Chicago White Sox. He has been a major part of the White Sox in the 2005 World Series. Trying to win consistently was the first and foremost thing he considered as a reliable catcher, and in his first year with the team, the White Sox won the World Series title. However, they have struggled quite a lot for the past few seasons, failing to manage their rebuilding process properly. Thus, they would like to turn things back quickly with a few changes to the offseason this winter. 

A.J. Pierzynski’s 2021 season was his best in his long 19-year MLB career, where he slashed .278/.326/.501, 27 home runs, and a good 120 OPS+. However, he performed when it mattered the most for the Chicago White Sox, helping them to win the World Series Championship title. Despite the amount of effort that Pierzynski put in and the contribution made to the team, he gives a hint of not being invited to participate in the 20th Anniversary Celebration at Soxfest. A.J. Pierzynski shared a post on his X handle where he said, “Or I didn’t get invited,” which gives a hint that everything is not good between him and the White Sox.

A.J. Pierzynski pointed out the lack of player development and excuses made within the team, and that certainly didn’t go well with the club, as they did not invite him. However, the White Sox’s performance has been dismal too, as they made the worst start with 2-14 and then a 2-0 loss against the Royals on Monday. It is the sixth time they have been out in just 16 games, and that reflects their lack of player development. Pierzynski also mentioned Colson Montgomery, who hit a Triple-A home run recently, Noah Schultz, and Andrew Vaughn, who has struggled lately too. But that’s not all!

Pierzynski questioned the White Sox’s president Chris Getz’s approach to selections, as every team tries for a 20th-round pick and then develops that player; the White Sox are unable to do so. Even after getting past the 10th round, there’s uncertainty over selection at the 13th round, and that’s why he seems visibly frustrated with the excuses made by GM Rick Hahn and Executive VC Kenny Williams.

It’s worth mentioning that the scouting directors get switched again and again, which makes the drafts not done right. Pierzynski, despite trying to point out the areas that needed improvements, was never called for the scouting job, claiming that he was unfit as per the criteria—the White Sox were looking to get someone uniform and not within the organization. So what lies ahead in the offseason for the White Sox?

Chicago White Sox’s offseason hints at an improvement in 2025

It’s quite hard to imagine the way the Chicago White Sox are performing right now. After a record-setting 41-121 season, the projections in the upcoming seasons don’t look great as well. Although it seems unlikely that they would replicate a similar display, a few changes to the offseason are shining lights in this darkness. Chris Getz is hopeful of making a comeback, given that they signed Grady Sizemore as the interim manager, replacing Pedro Grifol, and that worked. The morale was down in the team due to the mounting losses, and Sizemore has managed to negate it to a greater extent.

They also hired Will Venable in October, who has a lot of experience, having worked with some World Series-winning managers like Bruce Bochy, Alex Cora, and Joe Maddon. He embraced the challenge of managing the 121-loss team. However, the White Sox still have a lot of problems, like losing out Paul DeJong and Nicky Lopez, while Luis Robert Jr. hasn’t been in the best of form. His strikeout has been reduced from .542 to .379 in just a year without any proper lineup protection.

However, things could improve as they have young starters now headed by the 24-year-old pitcher, Drew Thorpe. He has shown good promises in his nine starts before missing out on the games due to an elbow injury, although he is expected to return this spring training. In addition to Jonathan Cannon and Sean Burke, who can contribute significantly to the team, the White Sox have signed Bryse Wilson for a one-year contract worth $1.05 million, which offers a good 2025 outlook for the Chicago White Sox. 

Now, it’s too early to tell whether the Chicago White Sox will be able to make progress or not. But the main issue is with the ball club that’s present at the top of the organization, which makes it difficult to make huge improvements soon. What do you think? Let us know in the comment below.