The White Sox have been eliminated from playoff contention. It is Aug. 17

The Chicago White Sox will not be playing in the 2024 MLB playoffs. That’s not exactly news to anyone with more than a passing interest in baseball, but now we know for sure.

The White Sox were eliminated from postseason contention on Saturday with a 6-1 loss to the Houston Astros, lowering their record to an MLB-worst 30-94. That puts them a mind-boggling 38.5 games behind the third wild-card spot, with 38 games to go.

The next-lowest team in the AL standings is the Oakland Athletics at 53-70, a full 23.5 games ahead of Chicago.

If a team getting eliminated from the playoffs on Aug. 17 sounds early, that’s because it is. It’s the earliest a team has been eliminated from playoff contention since the start of MLB’s divisional era in 1969. The previous record holder was the 2018 Baltimore Orioles, who were eliminated on Aug. 20 and finished with a record of 47-115.

That Baltimore team was playing in the time of two wild-card teams, however. MLB added the third wild-card team in 2022, which should have theoretically made it harder to get eliminated this early. In 2023, the first team to be eliminated was the A’s on Aug. 23, and even that felt outlandish. In 2022, it was the Washington Nationals on Sept. 6.

Unfortunately, that isn’t the only history the White Sox have made this season, and even more could be on the way. The team has already tied the American League record for consecutive losses with 21, and needs to win 11 more games to avoid tying the 1962 New York Mets for the most losses in MLB history.

Again, no one really needed objective proof that the White Sox are a horrifically bad team. They’ve been making that clear night in and night out for 4 1/2 months now, and are even worse now than they were a month ago after selling big at the trade deadline.

But at least they’ll be cheaper to watch in person next year.