Fans are sick of hearing about how much talent the Chicago White Sox have on the roster. We know now that a spectacular failure to live up to potential is far more excruciating than the absence of potential at all. And at some point, the more people tell you how talented the players on this team are, the harder it is to believe it.
This isn't the case for Dan Plesac, though. The current MLB Network analyst still believes in what the White Sox have at 35th and Shields, and he joined NBC Sports Chicago's Chuck Garfien on the latest "White Sox Talk Podcast" to explain why the White Sox should have the rest of the league on notice.
"What do I think about 2024? I don't know. But I do know this. There's too much talent still left on that team for them to be a non-contender in the easiest division in baseball," Plesac said. "I don't think they have to do a major overhaul because it's not the AL or the NL East. They're not chasing the Braves or the Phillies or the Mets or the Yankees or the Blue Jays or the Orioles. It's a division, right now, with two teams that have money and basically can try to win — that would be the White Sox and the Minnesota Twins."
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This is another sentiment White Sox fans are sick of hearing. They never wanted to be the kings of the American League Central. They wanted to be the kings of Major League Baseball — a team that could and would compete with the Braves and the Phillies and the Mets and the Yankees and the Blue Jays and the Orioles.
Plesac, a life-long White Sox fan himself, knows this. So before you roll your eyes at another pundit giving the same old spiel, you should know that Plesac has a point worth believing. One that's tangibly unfolding before our eyes as we watch the Texas Rangers take on the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 World Series.
"It can be done," Plesac said. "The Arizona Diamondbacks are living proof. So are the Rangers. Two years ago, these teams lost over 100 games.
"You know what you have to do in the Central? Win 85 games. Win 85 games, and you're in it."
He was clear that the White Sox will need to spend money in order to achieve what those two teams in the World Series managed to pull off this season. This doesn't mean they have to completely break the bank, though. They just have to improve enough to make the postseason.
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"If these two teams playing right now are living proof, just get in," he said.
Plesac then made the point that while Yoán Moncada may never be the player the White Sox need him to be, there are certain guys, like Dylan Cease, who will undoubtedly be better in 2024.
"That's a sleeping giant," Plesac said of the 2024 White Sox. "And I know it's so easy to take shots at a team and an organization when things are down.
"... The Diamondbacks were a morgue two years ago. So it can happen."
You can listen to latest episode of the "White Sox Talk Podcast" here.