PREAMBLE
I think the White Sox COULD turn the corner next year, but it remains unlikely. There are still lots of open positions on the roster, lots of unproven rookies hoping to earn playing time, and lots of second-year players who must avoid sophomore slumps. So my primary goal here is to take another step forward in 2026, rather than reach for a division title that's likely unattainable without major spending.
COACHING STAFF
- Hitting coach: Some guy
- Pitching coach: Some guy
I don't feel knowledgeable enough about the possible candidates or even the actual job descriptions to pick anyone in particular. My main feeling is that coaching is an ever-more complex job, so you need alignment up-and-down the staff. It seems like that's potentially one of the goals in moving on from Katz and Thames, so I'm optimistic they'll find good hires.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Mike Tauchman: Tender
- Steven Wilson: Tender
- Derek Hill: Non-tender
This seems like a decent enough price for Tauchman's abilities and veteran ledearship. Wilson is pretty underwhelming, but we've seen worse!
CLUB OPTIONS
- Luis Robert Jr.: Buy out for $2 million
- Martín Perez: Buy out for $1.5 million
I don't particularly want Robert back in any case, but especially at $20 million. I remain confused by the White Sox public stance on this. At the very least, I think they could get him back in the $12-15m range.
FREE AGENTS
#1: Zac Gallen, (3 yrs, $100 million plus two opt-outs): The Sox need innings next season and Gallen seems like he'll come cheapest of the guys who are actually plus starters. He's coming off a down season, which means he might fall into pillow contract territory. This would be the most that Jerry Reinsdorf has ever guaranteed a free agent.
#2: Kenley Jansen (1 yr, $12 million): Can a bad baseball team operate without a proven closer? Definitely. Would it still be nice if the Sox bullpen didn't blow 40 games next year? You betcha.
#3: Erick Fedde (1 yr, $8 million): Fedde's been bad since he left, so why wouldn't he want to come back? Adding Gallen ahead of Smith/Martin/Burke and Fedde behind them would make me feel pretty good about the rotation entering next year, all things considered.
#4: Starling Marte (1 yr, $5 million): Marte will occupy the Michael A. Taylor memorial roster spot in honor of the fact that the White Sox have no outfield depth.
#5: Franmil Reyes (1 yr, $3 million): In the second half of the season, we learned that the White Sox are much better when they hit home runs. So it might be useful to have more guys who do that. Reyes has two 30 HR seasons on his baseball card and hit 61dingers across the last two seasons for the Nippon Ham Fighters. You don't want him playing everyday, but as a DH/OF/1B against lefties, I think the Sox could do worse.
TRADES
#1: Trade Sam Antonacci to the Athletics for JJ Bleday. Since I'm not bringing back La Pantera, the Sox need a CF. Bleday, who was drafted one pick after Andrew Vaughn, has had stretches of looking like a pretty good ballplayer, including most of 2023. However, he lost his starting gig on the A's and is about to hit arbitration, so they'll probably be open to moving him.
SUMMARY
Here's my roster, coming in around $90 million by back-of-the-napkin math.
C: Kyle Teel
1B: Lenyn Sosa
2B: Chase Meidroth
SS: Colson Montgomery|
3B: Miguel Vargas
LF: Starling Marte
CF: JJ Bleday
RF: Mike Tauchman
DH: Andrew Benintendi|
C: Edgar Quero
IF: Curtis Mead
IF/OF: Brooks Baldwin
OF: Franmil Reyes
SP: Zac Gallen
SP: Shane Smith
SP: Davis Martin
SP: Erick Fedde
SP: Sean Burke/Jonathan Cannon
RP: Kenley Jansen
RP: Grant Taylor
RP: Jordan Leasure
RP: Brandon Eisert
RP: Steven Wilson
RP: Wikelman Gonzalez
RP: Cam Booser
RP: Mike Vasil
This team definitely won't profile as a playoff-favorite. But I also don't think it will lose 100 games. Competitiveness will be important this year as the front office figures out what some of these players can do. It's also a flexible team, whether that flexibility means cutting veterans who stink or flipping the good ones in July. Hopefully, Braden Montgomery, Noah Schultz, and Hagen Smith will be up by the end of the season -- at which point we might really have something cooking.
