The White Sox are off today after playing 17 straight games, and their affiliates are all dormant as well. That means things have stabilized long enough to empty out our P.O. Sox mailbag.
The following questions have been sent to us by Sox Machine supporters at the 10 WAR tiers and higher, and the following answers have been provided by a couple of guys. If you'd like to get in on the action, consider subscribing or upgrading your membership, and make sure enabled the newsletters in your account settings.
As always, thank you for your support.
With the improvements in the offense this year and respectable starting pitching at times, it has been frustrating seeing all the bullpen meltdowns. Do you see improvement on that front for 2026? Where could bullpen arms come from? Do you think they will count on the existing guys to improve or do you think they will they go out and try to sign a bunch of new guys?
David A.
James: There are always a lot of new guys. There are only two members of the current bullpen who were in the organization this time last year. The question is what sort of caliber of new guys they’re shopping for, and whether they’re advancing beyond the waiver claim/minor league deal tier they’ve been shopping on. Pursuing relief help in the trade market largely feels a year too early. Granted, they did flip a promising DSL arm in Yhoiker Fajardo for Cam Booser last year, as well as swap Aaron Combs for Tyler Gilbert, but those were pretty low level and have also been enough of a mixed bag to give some pause. A return to being a team that hands out a pair of big league deals to somewhat proven medium leverage relievers seems like it should be within their capabilities, though.
Jim: I'm trying to think of any arms that could be projected to rise from within the ranks, given that we didn't know that Grant Taylor would be such a prominent part of the 2025 bullpen last winter. Peyton Pallette is probably the most bankable of the current minor league bullpen arms, but he's been performing at the same level for a while, and it hasn't yet motivated the Sox to add him to the major league bullpen, and the same thing is true with Zach Franklin to a lesser extent. I'm assuming they don't yet abandon the course for Noah Schultz or Hagen Smith, and it doesn't seem like Christian Oppor presents the same injury concerns that made the Sox conservative about Taylor. Maybe Sean Burke goes to the bullpen when all of the starting depth returns from Tommy John surgeries?
It’s been great to see Colson Montgomery look like a legit star in the early going, and his not-brother Braden is doing quite well in Birmingham, but Noah Schultz has struggled with injuries and effectiveness all year and Hagen Smith seems like he’s taken a step backwards. Given the general lack of star power on the roster, how many of these guys can they afford to not click as at least above average players before this rebuild sinks or do you think somebody like Caleb Bonemer or Tanner McDougal can step up to fill that void? Or do you think some of their recent draftees like Billy Carlson or Jaden Fauske can ascend quickly enough to help while some of the current core is still relevant?
Trooper Galactus
James: Hey friend, these are a lot of questions. How is it going? Would you like to sit down? What were you saying? Are things going to work out for the ol’ White Sox in the end? Will all the boys have enough when it’s all said and done? Well, I don’t think we get to know ahead of time, or even in this life.
I would gladly talk to you about the wondrous talents of Tanner McDougal until blue in the face, but to cut to the chase, the White Sox obviously lack for safely projectable stars at the moment. They should keep trying to get more, even if they find themselves unexpectedly making the case that they’d rather keep chasing the dream with Luis Robert Jr. than flip him for future role players.
Now, plenty of the names you mentioned could overperform and become stars. Schultz has the traits for it and just needs to perform. Smith has been close at points. Braden Montgomery has a shade too much swing-and-miss to get there quite yet. If Carlson is a 70-glove at short, he can be an average hitter and still churn out 3-4 WAR seasons. But stars usually overperform these early career quibbles. Tim Anderson’s approach and defense were viewed as too raw for him to have the star potential of Yoán Moncada, Eloy Jiménez and Luis Robert, but he overperformed.
For me, the larger issue with the last rebuild, more so than the conversion rate on prospects, is that it was more or less one big deluge of talent adding into the system from late 2016 to mid-2017, with fruitless drafts and vanishing international returns backing it up. The White Sox need to become a reliable engine of talent development, but also procurement. They need to be producing big leaguers from every draft, their international program needs to produce trade capital so not all of their contention additions are based on hoping this group is good at free agency. If the defining question for White Sox success is whether or not they can pull everything together before Kyle Teel hits free agency, I think they’re already cooked. That's just not enough margin for error.
Jim: The thing about the Second Rebuild that's easier to see now, but was even apparent in real time for those jaded enough, was the strain of desperation under the extensions they struck with Yoán Moncada, Eloy Jiménez and Luis Robert Jr. They needed to control the costs of those players because they might never get a chance to control the likes of their talents again. Given this history, I don't necessarily mind that Chris Getz is more open-ended about the timeline of his own project, just because it'll probably make him less precious about individual players clicking by a specific season, and make it easier to swap out players to address shortcomings elsewhere. You just have to make sure he's not like a sketchy contractor, dodging all questions about a deadline because he knows he's not likely to finish the job in a satisfactory fashion.
Considering the ownership situation in Minnesota and their debt, is it possible the White Sox are not the worst team in the central next year?
Does Braden Montgomery get a shot to be the opening say RF in 2026?
Sean C.
James: The PPI is designed to, and really incentivizes teams out of holding down a ML-ready stud prospect for the bare minimum time at the start of the season to recoup an extra year. It has less impact on rushing guys past a level. When you do that, you have to project a bumpy transition alongside it. Montgomery will be in big league camp again and obviously has a chance to impress, but I think a 90th percentile outcome for him is putting himself in line to debut in the first half, rather than opening day.
The White Sox are outperforming the Twins in the second half, and the latter is far more likely to continue tearing down with their top of the rotation. That said, the White Sox 2026 rotation is hard to pin down at the moment and making proclamations in the wake of their best week of baseball in years is bound to produce overreactions. I’m not trying to disturb anyone’s genuine baseball high after these years of suffering. We can make plans about where we want to go, but aren't yet in position to get behind the wheel of a car.
Jim: Both the White Sox and Twins ownerships have new partners who are supposed to provide capital infusions, and I'm curious if either team will use it for more than paying down debt. The White Sox said Justin Ishbia's contributions will be used to “pay down existing depth and support ongoing team operations,” and I’m assuming “ongoing” means “not new,” but I'm open to being pleasantly surprised.
Is the flip in offensive production since the all star break is sustainable? If it is, how aggressive should Getz be on the pitching front this offseason?
rock_beats_papr
Jim: I'm not sure the level of offense is sustainable in the sense of being a median outcome, but as we discussed on the podcast, the fact that the White Sox have found promising left-handed hitters – and ones who don't give away all their offensive value with godawful defense – raises the floor on a given day. The White Sox have had the platoon advantage in 57.2 percent of their plate appearances this year, which is the first time they've been above 50 percent since 2021. Putting forth a lineup that can consistently roll out hitters on their stronger side is the kind of thing that can create a three-run night out of one-run ingredients. That and a great/lucky bullpen year are two elements that can help a team overperform its expected record, so barring the capital infusions used for fun stuff, those areas are probably the best bang for the limited buck.
James: I’m trying to look at their second half performance in terms of they’re playing ~.500 ball and should aspire to do that next season, rather than reasoning that because they’re scoring 5.3 runs per game since the break, they should shoot to score 850 next season. There is probably a step still in between a nearly 100-loss season and divisional contention, and the real decision of how aggressive the Sox get in the winter is made by the guy above Getz.
Part of the Sox front office liking Will Venable and appreciating the game prep of his administration is some private admission that they would really like to reward his solutions-oriented brain with a roster that offers real solutions. I would imagine they’re still mostly in the 1-2 year, sign-and-flip market for free agent pitching unless they think Dylan Cease is about to turn into Zack Wheeler or something. The catching situation is often looked like as cause for an eventual trade, but Lenyn Sosa, Miguel Vargas, Curtis Mead and Bryan Ramos all being out of options next spring might be cause to flip one for some post-hype pitching help.
Namely….Mr. Katz
Please bring in a pitching coach that preaches no walks. I realize he’s got the good ol’ boy network in his corner (Bannister), but do you think they would ever bring in a new pitching coach?
Glenn C.
James: The nerds have truly won in a world where Bannister and Katz are the good ol’ boys. They’ve worked closely together for a while now, and having a major league pitching coach and the senior advisor to pitching on the same page provides a lot of momentum for a return. Katz is working for his third manager and his second GM, so approval of his work extends comfortably beyond one powerful person in his corner.
To your point, the White Sox walk a lot of people. They’ve been first or second in walk rate for each of the past three seasons–right as the roster’s talent level bottomed out–and had the eighth-highest mark in 2022. As a pitching staff, they still have the worst stuff in the AL per Stuff+, which drives their fastball-avoidant pitching approach. They believe they’re opting for extra runners over damage in a hitter-friendly park.
The 20th-best ERA with the 29th-best Stuff+ would generally suggest the gambit has worked more than it hasn’t. But the Sox have sent two of their opening weekend starters to Triple-A due to stagnation and next year’s rotation is in flux as a result, and lasting this long means Katz has a manager and a GM who have yet to hand-pick a pitching coach. The new front office doesn’t read like one that would keep the same guy around for almost 20 years, but they also don't believe in change for change’s sake and already passed on a clearer opportunity to clean house post-2024 if they had a mind to.
Jim: One of my biggest concerns entering the season was that the entire layer of pitching depth that was eradicated by Tommy John surgeries would cause a total collapse of the staff, and that didn't happen. That's evidence of a certain resourcefulness. At the same time, as James mentioned, the rotation isn't close to settled, either, so it feels like there are a lot of jobs left half-finished. I feel like the debate about the efficacy of the current pitching infrastructure can be boiled down to one question: “Is it a good thing or a bad thing that Adrian Houser and Shane Smith are their two most valuable pitchers?”
What do you think is the 2026 plan for the Teel/Quero catching situation? Continuation of catching/DH rotation? Teel picking up an outfielder or first base glove for 1-2 games a week? Quero as a trade chip (which I would not like to see)? Benintendi needs to be a DH at least 90% of the time if he is still around and hopefully B Monty entrenches himself in RF at some point next year but corner OF should be an upgrade focus assuming LRJ is back.
cmansoxfan
James: Teel played some outfield in college and had that small episode of taking first base reps in Charlotte right before he was called up (Korey Lee has since done similar in Chicago), so adding things to his plate has been considered. But they’re both unfinished products defensively, which has been the overriding reason for not adding to their developmental plate. They’re also both out-hitting their competition for DH opportunities (Teel especially), and shifting one of them into a more complicated role to accommodate Benintendi would be bad business. If Mike Tauchman is back next season, it would ideally be the healthier version that doesn’t require DH reps, and Braden Montgomery wouldn’t require such an avenue either. The glut of out-of-options infielders could have a say on how clean the track toward DH opportunities are for Quero and Teel, but there’s still not a better use of it than those two.
Have any of the national writers changed their long term opinion on Montgomery based on his initial play and power? Keith Law for one was very down on him. Has he updated his view on him or has it remained the same?
Mike P.
Jim: To start, Keith's most recent revisiting of Montgomery came in a chat on Aug. 28, and even accounting for the idea that the chat format lends itself to quick-fire answers, it's one that White Sox fans are probably champing at the bit to throw back in his face months and years from now:
Eric: I realize we still are in relatively small sample size territory, but what are your impressions of Colson Montgomery so far?
Keith Law: Since the ASB – which gets rid of the series at Denver – he has a .262 OBP and a 29% K rate. It’s going to be an ugly return to earth.
James: For some reason, my Slack messages to Keith aren't getting through anymore. But as someone who contributed to an outlet that knocked Montgomery down off top-100 prospect status earlier this season, I’d say he hasn’t dismissed the questions about his profile so much as made the answers more extreme.
I’d be inclined to bump him back up to 50 FV (which is essentially top-100 status) because his displays of power have been so ridiculous. So many postgame questions I have for him are centered around his torpedo bats--his answers are great and very illustrative too--because his contact rate has slowly crept up into acceptable levels (over 70 percent) since he and the Sox have been working to optimize his barrel location, and "barrel accuracy" was a frequent term used by scouts I polled in April who were bearish on his hit tool. If tech has offered an avenue to mitigate Montgomery's greatest weakness, even a .230 hitter with 40 homer juice is pretty monstrous value if his plus defensive metrics at short hold up.
That said, if skepticism is rooted in how much he’s striking out and will strike out in the future, how healthy he’s been and will be while playing shortstop at 6'5", or just belief that he’s too big to stay at his position long term, this heater probably hasn’t been quite long enough to erase all those seeds of doubt. National writers aren’t dedicating as much of their September to White Sox baseball.
Jim: And thank God they aren't, because that's our business model. But I am looking forward to getting Keith on the podcast next year, because I feel like it could be a two-parter, with one episode entirely dedicated to parsing Colson's stock.
The thing about Montgomery's season is that he's proven everybody right and wrong at the same time. The form he carried into the season truly wasn't viable, yet his natural talents have also prevailed, yet he's also dealt with a side/oblique thing, and on and on and on. I feel like his flaws are pronounced enough that comprehensive mea culpas won't be easily handed out, which means that White Soxs fan probably shouldn't look to a third-party prospect evaluator for confirmation of whether they are permitted to be excited about Montgomery. The answer to that question lies in your own heart.
