The
2014 Chicago White Sox ended with a 73–89 record, a 10-game improvement over
2013.
General Manager Rick Hahn gave the season a "fail" grade, citing the lack of a championship. The White Sox front office set up an "aggressive" offseason plan, focusing on improving a bullpen that blew 21
saves and had the 3rd-worst
earned run average in baseball. Despite losing 188 games the previous two seasons,
Robin Ventura is set to remain as manager for the 2015 season.
Roster changes The White Sox offseason started at the end of October when
Moises Sierra was claimed by the
Kansas City Royals off waivers. Shortly following this, the Sox declined
Felipe Paulino's option for 2015, after going 0–2 in just four starts. Reliever
Matt Lindstrom also elected free agency at the end of the month after an ankle injury kept him off the mound for most of 2014. On November 3, the White Sox claimed outfielder
J. B. Shuck off waivers from the
Cleveland Indians. Two weeks later, the team began its quest to improve the bullpen by signing free agent reliever
Zach Duke to a three year/$15 million contract. The rest of November included mostly minor league moves, until the White Sox signed free agent first baseman
Adam LaRoche to a two year/$25 million contract on November 25. The corresponding roster move was to designate pitcher
Scott Carroll for assignment, who would later become a free agent. The 2014
Winter Meetings ran from December 7–11 in
San Diego. The White Sox' first move of the Winter Meetings was to claim catcher
Rob Brantly of waivers from
Miami. Late that night, there were rumors that the White Sox were close to singing
David Robertson from the
New York Yankees as well as trading for
Jeff Samardzija from the
Oakland Athletics. On December 9, the club officially announced a four-year, $46 million contract with Robertson and acquired pitchers Jeff Samardzija and
Michael Ynoa from Oakland for infielders
Marcus Semien and
Rangel Ravelo, catcher
Josh Phegley and pitcher
Chris Bassitt. They finished off the Winter Meetings by trading pitcher
Andre Rienzo to Miami for pitcher
Dan Jennings. On December 16, the White Sox announced the signing of outfielder
Melky Cabrera to a three-year, $42 million contract. The White Sox cited the increase in ticket sales following the Robertson and Samardzija signings as motivation for signing Cabrera. On January 5, 2015, the club signed infielder
Emilio Bonifacio to a one-year, $4 million contract. The last major move of the off-season was a surprise, as the White Sox signed infielder
Gordon Beckham, whom they had traded to the
Los Angeles Angels just a few months prior, to a one-year, $2 million contract and designated outfielder
Dayán Viciedo for assignment.
Events and news . On October 30, the
Baseball Hall of Fame announced the 10 candidates for election via the
Golden Era Committee. Among the candidates were White Sox legends
Minnie Miñoso and
Billy Pierce;
Dick Allen, who won the
1972 American League
Most Valuable Player award; and
Jim Kaat, who played two and a half seasons with the White Sox. On December 8, the Hall of Fame announced that none of the candidates earned the required 12 voters, with Allen earning 11 votes, Kaat earning 10, Minoso earning 8, and Pierce receiving less than 3. White Sox chairman
Jerry Reinsdorf was "disappointed" in the results, particularly the rejection of 90-year-old Minoso, saying "I don't know what player out of the era of the 1950s and early '60s would be more deserving than Minnie." On December 7, the media reported that the White Sox had denied the
Toronto Blue Jays permission to interview Executive Vice President
Ken Williams for their opening at club President. Reinsdorf was reportedly upset that the Blue Jays asked for permission during the Winter Meetings. When he talked to Williams about it, Williams said that Toronto had already contacted him, which is considered tampering under
Major League Baseball rules. The White Sox opted not to pursue recourse. On February 19, the club released their 2015 broadcast schedule, with 106 games on
Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 35 games on
WGN-TV, and 20 games on
WPWR-TV. This is a change from previous seasons, where a small amount of
WGN produced games were broadcast on
WCIU-TV instead of WPWR. It had previously been announced that games on
WGN-TV would no longer be simulcast nationally on
WGN America, ending Major League Baseball's
superstation era. Spanish radio broadcasts switched from
WEBG (formerly WNUA) back to
1200 WRTO-AM. On March 1, White Sox legend Minnie Miñoso died early in the morning due to a heart-related issue. Hundreds of Sox fans attended the funeral of "Mr. White Sox" on March 7. ==Regular season==