AL Notes: Reinsdorf, Blue Jays, Rays, Diaz
White Sox won five of their last six games but couldn't avoid history, as the 41-121 club had the most losses of any team in the modern era. In an open letter to fans today, White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf described the season in such terms as "a failure," "embarrassing," "completely unacceptable," and others, while noting that "as the leader of this organization, that is my ultimate responsibility. There are no excuses."
In terms of what is next, Reinsdorf said the team is "embracing new ideas and outside perspectives" to get things on track. "This will include further development of players on our current roster, development within our system, evaluating the trade and free agent markets to improve our ballclub and new leadership for our analytics department, allowing us to elevate and improve every process within our organization with a focus for competing for championships....When named general manager in 2023, Chris Getz and his staff immediately began conducting a top-to-bottom evaluation of our existing operations. Chris is rebuilding the foundation of our baseball operations department, with key personnel changes already happening in player development, international scouting, professional scouting and analytics. Some of these changes will be apparent quickly while others will need time to produce the results we all want to see at the major-league level."
More from around the American League...
John Schneider listed catching, bullpen, and power hitting as the Blue Jays' biggest offseason needs, the manager told The Athletic's Kaitlyn McGrath and other reporters today. "I think you need a little bit more than just a [catcher] thatâ€TMs going to play once or twice a week," Schneider said, implying that Toronto will be looking for a timeshare partner for Alejandro Kirk rather than a backup. Finding help behind the plate could be tricky in a typically thin free agent catching market , though Kirk's offensive improvement in the second half of the season provides some hope that Kirk can get back to his All-Star form from 2022. Basically any improvement is needed for a bullpen that was one of the worst in baseball, but Schneider specified that "I think that you need unique looks and unique stuff â€" stuff that complements one another, guys that can do different things." How the Jays address these needs and several other roster holes will be a challenge for a team that is already projected to be over the luxury tax threshold, and is still largely reliant on such core players as Kirk, Bo Bichette George Springer , and others to be much better than they were in 2024. are another AL East team with an underachieving lineup, and Yandy Diaz unsurprisingly feels that "one or two more bats" are needed this winter, the infielder told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times . Diaz's own production dropped from the highs of his 2022-23 seasons, as a slow start diminished his numbers even if Diaz returned to his usual form over time. In fact, Diaz's most productive month (.879 OPS) came in September, even though he said he was dealing with patellar tendinitis in his left knee. Diaz isn't worried that the injury will require any surgical treatment, and said "I need to work on my strength, my knee and exercises, and get ready for Spring Training, and hopefully everythingâ€TMs going to be OK."In other news from Topkin , the team intends to retain its coaching staff for next season. Of course, outside factors could complicate these plans, as rival clubs routinely interviews Rays coaches for other jobs, such as managerial or bench coach vacancies.
