PREAMBLE
Despite a third 100-plus loss season, things are starting to move in the right direction for this young White Sox team, in this plan I will give some of my ideas on what I would do if I was in the position of GM Chris Getz
COACHING STAFF
- Hitting coach: Donnie Ecker (former Rangers bench coach/offensive coordinator)
- Pitching coach: J.P Martinez (Giants pitching coach)
I’m not really sure who the Sox will pick for hitting and pitching, but these are two names I could see as possibilities.
Donnie Ecker was on the Rangers World Series staff alongside Will Venable, and with some digging I’ve done on social media, knows of Ryan Fuller and is most likely familiar with him.
As for Giants pitching coach J.P Martinez, he’s had previous ties to Brian Bannister from that time, and is familiar with the Bannister method of developing pitchers, so I think that move would make sense.
Another possible name I can think of for the Sox staff is Robinson Chirinos. I can see Chirinos join the Sox staff in some role, he played with Will Venable. Catching coach would make a ton of sense for him.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Mike Tauchman: Tender
- Steven Wilson: Tender
- Derek Hill: Non-tender
I would absolutely tender Mike Tauchman for another season to play RF, he’s a strong clubhouse presence, essentially on your team leaders, when healthy he’s a consistent player who gives you constant effort plays defensively and even with the bat, and is a cheap and reliable stopgap option to whenever Braden Montgomery is ready to debut. Even more so off the fact he’s a Chicagoland native, and has made it clear Chicago is his home.
As for Steven Wilson, he’s proven to be one of the more reliable arms out the pen, and depending on what type of year he can provide in 2026, could maybe be a decent flip-able trade piece if need be.
CLUB OPTIONS
- Luis Robert Jr.: Exercise $20 million option
- Martín Perez: Exercise $10 million option
A lot of Sox fans will not like this one, but I’m tendering Luis Robert Jr. For all of the injury woes you worry about with Luis, Sox fans have to think about this, if you were to non-tender him, that money that is opened up on the books, personally I don’t trust that the Sox will still be able to land the better free agent CF options (Bellinger, Grisham) even with that payroll flexibility. Luis still adds value to the team, whether it is his power potential when healthy, or him being the clear cut best base stealer on the club and the best outfield defender (93 percentile defense with a +7 OAA). And I think if you were to take Robert Jr out the picture, the Sox just don’t have a sustainable player in the organization that can lock down CF long term.
So my plan would be for Luis to be the 2026 opening day CF, see what his first half could bring, and in the event he rebuilds his trade value at the deadline, then maybe see if you can get the trade you’d want for him, versus outright letting him go.
As for Martin Perez, despite only starting 10 games last season he showed flashes and when healthy he can eat a lot of innings for the Sox. He’s a strong clubhouse presence, and just goes out on the mound and battles, I think that’s important to have around and it’s a benefit to the defense so sure $10M is kinda steep for him, but I think it’s a one yr option that works in the Sox favor. I pondered this one a lot, but I’d bring him back.
FREE AGENTS
No. 1: Austin Hays (2 year, $12 million)
Austin Hays will not be a top OF name in free agency, I think Hays would bring another complementary bat to the lineup, and Ryan Fuller knows him very well.
The former All-Star hit 15/64 this past season with a .453 SLG, .768 OPS.
He also is a decent defender (+1 OAA) and could slide into LF and move Andrew Benintendi to DH, which I think suits Benintendi more at this stage of his career.
No. 2: Zack Littell (2 year, $20 million)
Zack Littell offers the type of pitching repertoire that Brian Bannister likes, he also has experience with Bannister from his SF days, and also if J.P Martinez becomes the pitching coach, Martinez knows Littell from their time in the Twins organization.
Littell boasted a 3.82 ERA/1.11 WHIP, a 3.2 bWAR and 10-8 record in 2025, and a 4.2 walk rate (98th percentile) that would be a benefit to a Sox pitching staff that gave up the 2nd most walks in baseball.
No. 3: Devin Williams (1 year $9 million)
Williams has proven closer experience in the past (86 career saves)
At one point he was considered one of if not the best closer in all of baseball and sure he is coming off a rough year, but I think pairing him with people who can fix his approach I think would revitalize him.
Also if possible, he could be a trade piece down the line.
No. 4: Hoby Milner (1 year $2.5 million)
Milner is a veteran lefty with a funky arm angle, who not only has experience with Sox bench coach Walker McKinven, he was also teammates with Devin Williams mentioned above. White Sox bullpen coach Matt Wise also spent time with him in Anaheim.
Milner in 2025 pitched to a 3.84 ERA/1.27 WHIP, which would be a improvement for lefty relievers on the Sox who pitched to a 4.69 ERA, 5th worst in baseball among team lefty reliever groups.
No. 5: Rob Refsnyder (1 year $2 million)
Refsnyder will be 35 at the start of next season, but I think he brings a few decent intangibles to have in a bench/platoon role.
Hit 9/30 on .269/.354/.484/.838 with a 1.2 bWAR in 2025, he also bolsters a career 10.7 walk rate, which fits the type of bats the Sox like.
Since 2022, Refsnyder has slashed .276/.364/.440/.804. So I think he could be a very reliable platoon/bench bat.
TRADES
No. 1: Jonathan Cannon to the Diamondbacks for Pavin Smith
I only have one trade that maybe would be something to ponder.
In my personal opinion, Jonathan Cannon could use a change of scenery, and for the value he could have at the moment, it could at least net the Sox back a decent platoon bat in Pavin Smith.
Smith ended the season on the 60 day IL with a quad injury, but the last two seasons Smith has slashed .262/.357/.475/.832.
He also bolsters a career 11.0 walk rate, so he’s another high OBP, high walk rate, good SLG potential and also can play 1B defensively, so he can play there whenever Sosa is not at 1B. Sox assistant GM Josh Barfield knows of him very well too, and imo he’d be a bat upgrade over Curtis Mead.
I don’t have any other trades besides this one I can think of. I would absolutely not move Edgar Quero, and I would wait to rebuild Luis Robert’s trade value before possibly moving him.
SUMMARY
So my 2026 White Sox opening day roster would be
C: Kyle Teel
1B: Lenyn Sosa
2B: Chase Meidroth
3B: Miguel Vargas
SS: Colson Montgomery
LF: Austin Hays
CF: Luis Robert Jr
RF: Mike Tauchman
DH: Andrew Benintendi
Bench
Edgar Quero
Pavin Smith
Brooks Baldwin
Rob Refsnyder
Starters
1: Shane Smith
2: Davis Martin
3: Martin Perez
4: Zack Littell
5: Sean Burke
Bullpen
CL: Devin Williams
Setup: Jordan Leasure
Setup: Steven Wilson
Relief: Grant Taylor
Relief: Hoby Milner
Relief: Mike Vasil
Relief: Wikelman Gonzalez
Long Relief: Tyler Gilbert
FA spending total: $45M
Add the options for Robert/Perez: $75.5M spent
Sox current payroll allocations: $47M
Projected total payroll allocations: $69.3M (this without my FA additions)
Closing statements:
While the names I’ve put in this plan are not the most glossy names, these are pieces that I think would be solid contributors to making the 2026 White Sox a better ball club, and maybe with a little bit of luck, this Sox team can take off even further.
This White Sox team lost 102 games I know, but they have a lot of things working in the right direction, the Sox front office just needs to do right by Will Venable and this team and make the necessary additions.
So, I hope this plan is published, I thank Sox Machine for allowing me to share my thoughts and Go White Sox.
