KC Royals: Power ranking AL Central teams ahead of spring training

5. Chicago White Sox

The White Sox have had a very Royals-esque offseason, adding the cheapest solutions to the 26-man roster and adding former Royals players Martín Maldonado and Nicky Lopez to the roster. New general manager Chris Getz possibly trading away ace Dylan Cease was the team's biggest offseason story, but Chicago will likely retain Cease until the MLB trade deadline nears.

They did add Erick Fedde, Michael Soroka, and Chris Flexen to the starting rotation. But Fedde and Flexen are hardly inspiring options, as FanGraph's Dan Szymborski said they "feel like pitchers acquired mainly so that games will actually end."

Chicago still has legitimate All-Star contenders in Cease and outfielder Luis Robert Jr., but they cannot carry this team to 65 wins this season. There is still time for Chicago to add more talent to the roster, but they do not seem to be in a hurry. The White Sox added plenty of new blood to the coaching staff, including former Royals catcher Drew Butera as catching coach.

Pedro Grifol will have his hands full in his second year as Chicago's manager. He did finish with a 61-101 record in his debut managerial season, and the front office's tone doesn't call for immediate improvement. Chicago will finish 2024 with another 100-loss season, with more fingers pointing to Grifol as the problem rather than Getz.