Column: Garrett Crochet returns this weekend. So why won’t Chicago White Sox pay to keep young starters?

Former Chicago White Sox first baseman/outfielder Gavin Sheets wasnt prepared for a pop quiz when he came to work last weekend at Wrigley Field.

Sheets new team, the San Diego Padres, had won its first seven games, so I asked whether he remembered when the 2024 Sox won their seventh game.

Probably May, he said.

It was May 4, to be exact, a 6-5, 10-inning win in St.

Louis that began the legend of the Rain Man.

Sox reliever John Brebbia begged the umpires to allow him to continue pitching in a downpour with one out to go and a one-run lead in the 10th, but his plea was denied.

After a three-hour-plus rain delay, Tanner Banks came on to get the final out.

The Sox would win only 41 games in their record-setting season , so its not hard to remember many of them.

And years from now, when they make a movie about the worst team in baseball history, the Rain Man game will be prominently featured.

The 24 Sox were officially laid to rest in October, but the 25 version is stirring up bad memories.

In Wednesdays 3-2 loss in Cleveland the Soxs seventh straight defeat , a skid that reached eight in Thursdays series finale Mike Tauchman walked into the final out in the ninth after injuring a hamstring rounding third as the tying run.

The 1962 New York Mets, whom the 24 Sox replaced in the record books, were immortalized in Jimmy Breslins book, Cant Anybody Here Play This Game? The 24 Sox arent as romanticized by the media or the team, but their names will be forever linked to that one not-so-shining moment in time.

We already saw 24 Sox refugees Yoan Moncada and Nicky Lopez return to the South Side in the opening series with the Los Angeles Angels, during which Sox fans lustily booed Moncada.

This weekend well see the return of pitcher Garrett Crochet, the White Soxs lone All-Star representative last year, in a three-game series with the Boston Red Sox.

Sheets was a big part of the 24 White Sox and one of the few players available to talk after every loss, making him a valuable asset in the eyes of the media.

The son of former major-leaguer Larry Sheets said he did it because he had some tenure and felt it was his duty to relay to Sox fans that he hated it as much as they did after losses.

I knew what they were going through because we were going through the same thing, and I think they deserve a winning team every year, Sheets said.

The way they showed up in 21 and 22 was incredible.

Just relaying to them that it was frustrating and we were all in it together.

That didnt help Sheets after the season ended.

General manager Chris Getz nontendered the left-handed hitter instead of offering arbitration, in which Sheets was projected to get about $2.6 million.

Getz wound up signing three veteran outfielders in Tauchman, Michael A.

Taylor and Austin Slater for less than $2 million apiece.

Padres manager Mike Shildt takes the ball from Dylan Cease during a pitching change against the Guardians on April 2, 2025, in San Diego.

(Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) Pitcher Dylan Cease, another Padre whom the Sox traded during spring training in 2024, told Sheets that San Diego would be a great fit.

I just told him it would be impossible not to enjoy your time here, Cease said.

He raved about this place, Sheets said.

That was huge.

He said this was a place I needed to come to.

Sheets wound up signing a minor-league deal with the Padres, then made the team in spring training.

Hes hitting .303 in a platoon role with a .769 OPS.

The change of scenery seems to agree with him.

Ditto Crochet, who posted a 1.45 ERA in his first three starts for the Red Sox.

Hell no doubt get the video highlight treatment this weekend on the Rate Field scoreboard, just as Tim Anderson received when the White Sox saluted him on opening day.

White Sox fans appreciated Crochets performance during a brief but brilliant stint in Chicago, especially in a season as dismal as last years, so look for a standing ovation if Crochet starts against his former team Sunday as expected.

Crochet recently signed a six-year, $170 million deal with the Red Sox that should keep him in Boston through 2031, the kind of long-term security that eluded him in Chicago.

When youre a promising, young starter for the White Sox, the feeling you probably will be dealt before reaching free agency is unfortunately commonplace.

Yeah, its kind of known, Cease said.

Chris Sale, Carlos Rodon and Lucas Giolito were among the starting pitchers who got lucrative deals after leaving the Sox.

So why does it have to be that way? I dont know, Cease said.

At the end of the day its not my decision, so you just have to accept it.

I still feel like you have to be professional and do your job.

I guess its just an organizational philosophy type of thing.

Theyve had a lot of really good talent.

The Sox dont spend money on free-agent position players either.

Andrew Benintendis five-year, $75 million deal in 2022 remains the biggest contract in team history.

But their failure to keep young pitchers when its time to pay up remains the most puzzling part of that philosophy.

It seems like there are some teams willing to do almost anything and some teams that dont want to do (as much), Cease said.

I dont know all the financials, which teams are run well and which ones arent.

But for me, personally, I have nothing against teams that go all-in all the time.

I dont think there is any negative to that.

At least other teams keep their star players.

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Chicago baseball report: White Sox get walked off twice but the Cubs surge through a tough April schedule Painful ending for the Chicago White Sox, who drop 7th straight in 3-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians Andrew Benintendi lands on 10-day IL with a left adductor strain, leaving a void in Chicago White Sox lineup Chicago White Sox give up a walk-off walk to the Cleveland Guardians, plus 3 takeaways from the 1-0 loss It should be noted Sale did receive a five-year, $32.7 million extension with two option years during spring training in 2013, when $32.7 million was still a nice chunk of change, baseball-wise.

He was a bargain for the franchise during his prime.

And when Sale signed the deal, then-GM Rick Hahn said he was thrilled to have one of the best young starters in the league in a White Sox uniform for potentially the next seven years.

Sale wound up spending only four more years in Chicago before being dealt to the Red Sox to kick off the previous rebuild.

He signed a five-year, $145 million extension in 2019 and was injured for much of that time.

Thats a risk every team makes with high-end starters.

Crochet now is following in Sales footsteps, while the White Sox are hoping the four prospects Getz got in return, including catcher Kyle Teel, can eventually make a bigger impact than Moncada and Michael Kopech did after coming over in the Sale trade.

Cease, who was rocked by the Athletics in his last start but should be in line for a significant contract in November provided he stays healthy, doesnt spend much time thinking about the current state of the White Sox.

Its a rebuild, he said.

Yes, confirmed.

Its a good opportunity if youre a young player and want to make a name for yourself, he continued.

Obviously its not the most fun idea, going into an unknown where your chances of success arent super high.

But it is what it is.

The Padres travel to the South Side on Sept.

19-21, when Cease no doubt will get his own highlight video if hes still with San Diego.

Where will the White Sox rebuild be by then? Wake us up when September comes..

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