(670 The Score) Mere moments after being eliminated Thursday afternoon, the White Sox were both lamenting a season-ending loss that they felt could’ve gone a different way and also looking forward to a bright future.
"This is definitely the start of something for us,” shortstop Tim Anderson said. "I just think this will make us more hungry to get back here. I could not be happier about the way we fought. It's a tough one to swallow, but this could be the start of something great."
The White Sox lost 6-4 to the Athletics in an intense and decisive Game 3 of their wild-card series in Oakland on Thursday. It was the first playoff series for most of the roster, and the White Sox’s inexperience showed at times, as they squandered an early 3-0 lead and their bullpen didn’t get the job done in the pressure-packed moments.
After the White Sox went 35-25 in the regular season and suffered a heartbreaking ending, Anderson believes they’ll come back tougher in 2021.
"The game is all about these moments,” Anderson said. “You never want to turn away from these moments. Hopefully, we will have this same conversation next year with a different ending. I want to be playing in October. This is when it gets exciting. I will just keep working, and we will see what happens next season.”
While there’s sure to be some roster turnover this offseason, the White Sox have secured a core of talented players for the long term and believe their championship window has just opened.
"There is always a process,” catcher James McCann said. “A lot of guys got their first postseason experience, and they will be able to draw from that in the future. We still expected to win even with the youth.”
McCann, designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion and left-hander Gio Gonzalez are set to become free agents in November. McCann’s return might be classified as unlikely given that the White Sox have a significant financial commitment to fellow catcher Yasmani Grandal for the next three years, but how it all plays out remains to be seen.
With most of the White Sox’s position players locked up long term, adding another starting pitcher would seem to be the priority this winter.
"The whole group including the guys that joined us later in the season were so impactful in helping us move forward in growth,” manager Rick Renteria said. “I am extremely proud of these guys. We obviously wanted to go further than this, but they had in mind that this team would be talked about. They believed they would be in contention. Even today they battled to the last out.”
Anderson echoed that sentiment.
"We can't change the results of what just happened,” Anderson said. “We need to look forward and continue to get better. We need to have the same mindset we had this season. I don't think too many people thought we would get this far. We need to keep improving, and I think we will be even hungrier next year.”
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.