While Major League Baseball eliminated the tie-breaking 163rd game to settle the matter between teams with identical regular-season records, the 2025 MLB postseason effectively kicks off with a three-game tiebreaker between the Guardians and Tigers. Whoever wins the best-of-three series will have the better record after 164 or 165 games and is free to proceed into the postseason against teams with better records, which feels logically cohesive.
Granted, it does nothing to alleviate the same problem with the Blue Jays and Yankees since that division-winner earned a first-round bye, but for those who aren't particularly enamored with the expanded six-team postseason fields, you take small victories wherever you can get them.
Cleveland and Detroit kick off the wild card series at noon, and the other first-round participants have been rolling out their rosters over the course of the morning. The teams with byes won't have to make such decisions for several days, but nevertheless, here's our first stab at charting which former White Sox could be making postseason appearances on your choice of viewing device.
In order of seeding:
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Toronto Blue Jays
Chris Bassitt is the only former White Sox on the roster, and he was on the last on the Sox 11 damn years ago. He (18.1 bWAR) and Marcus Semien (49.4) were the two starter-level players drafted by the White Sox in 2011, and both were dealt to the A's in the Jeff Samardzija deal.
Seattle Mariners
No former White Sox on the roster here. The closest you get is Danny Farquhar, who is Seattle's assistant pitching coach and pitching strategist. Not to be confused with their pitching coach, or their director of pitching strategy.
Cleveland Guardians
None. Sandy Alomar Jr. has been such a fixture on Cleveland coaching staffs that nobody else gets to claim him. Instead, let's briefly take note of the Guardians adding Chase DeLauter to their postseason roster before his first MLB game, because it's not Cleveland baseball if they aren't making up their outfield as they go along, no matter the stakes.
New York Yankees
After a miserable start to his six-year, $162 million tenure with the Yankees, nobody in New York is complaining about the contract Carlos Rodón signed. He finished the regular season 18-9 with a 3.09 ERA over 195⅓ innings while leading the American League with 33 starts, the only reason he's not pitching in Game 2 is that Max Fried has been just as good. The fact that Tim Hill is a fixture in this bullpen continues to confound me, especially since the White Sox made him look like the White Sox version of Hill in their three looks at him this season (2.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K).
Failing to make the cut was Austin Slater, who managed to return from the hamstring strain he suffered shortly after the deadline trade, but struggled to rediscover his form off the Yankees bench (3-for-25, zero walks, 16 strikeouts).
Boston Red Sox
The most White Sox postseason team is only at half-power in this regard, as Lucas Giolito is dealing with an elbow issue that takes him out of the series against New York. Liam Hendriks was never a threat to make the postseason roster given that he last pitched for Boston in May. I only mention him because he underwent ulnar nerve transposition surgery on Monday, so keep that in mind for those scouring free agents for the White Sox bullpen in the Offseason Plan Project.
That said, Garrett Crochet will be as prominent as any Red Sox, as he'll start against Fried in Game 1, giving him a chance to further establish his Boston bonafides. Meanwhile, Romy Gonzalez hit .305/.343/.483 and was worth 2 WAR in just 96 games as a utility infielder who mashes left-handed pitching, so he should be involved against Fried and Rodón.
Detroit Tigers
Since Jason Benetti won't get the opportunity to call any postseason games on TV, that leaves Tommy Kahnle, who throws his changeup 86 percent of the time.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Milwaukee Brewers
Andrew Vaughn finished the Milwaukee portion of his regular season hitting .308/.375/.493 with nine homers and 14 doubles over 64 games. He slumped in August, but rebounded after Pat Murphy began mixing in more of Jake Bauers at first base. Combine it with his abysmal two-plus months on the White Sox, and you get a logical continuation of what he'd established coming into the season.
- 2024: .256/.297/.402, 98 OPS+
- 2025: .254/.307/.411, 99 OPS+
Elsewhere, José Quintana suffered a calf injury that cost him the last two weeks of the season, but it sounds like he'll be a part of the NLDS plans. Those who remember Tobias Myers' disastrous seven starts with Charlotte in 2022 will be delighted if they see him come out of the Milwaukee bullpen.
Philadelphia Phillies
Tanner Banks has become a structural necessity in the Philadelphia bullpen, ranging from opening to closing over 69 games and 67⅓ innings, giving him the second-highest Win Probability Added total of Phillies relievers. David Robertson, now 42, has carved out a pretty sweet niche of waiting to see what team wants him in August, then signing a contract without needing to give an agent a cut, but he's been vulnerable in September, with a 6.30 ERA backed by a 6.54 FIP.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Michael Kopech finished the year on the injured list with knee inflammation, but it's possible that he could return for the NLDS. He just hasn't pitched since Sept. 18, and was limited to just 14 shaky appearances in 2025 due to a shoulder impingement and a first recurrence of problems with the right knee that's troubled him since his White Sox days. If Kopech's not around, that leaves Alex Call as the lone old friend. He's carved out a Slater-like existence for himself as a right-handed fourth outfielder, which makes him by far the most valuable selection of the 2016 White Sox draft class. He just never played a game for him, as they dealt him to Cleveland for Yonder Alonso in 2018.
[James will always remember Call as a canary in the coal mine of White Sox player development resources in the previous rebuild. He kept a journal of handwritten notes on his at-bats, and openly expressed his envy of major leaguers who could look up their batted ball data on Baseball Savant; information to which he had no access].
Chicago Cubs
Thanks to the injuries in Boston, the most White Sox team this October is on the other side of town. Brad Keller has turned into a bullpen weapon that neither the White Sox nor Red Sox could develop the year before. He finished the year with a 2.07 ERA, 75 strikeouts and just four homers allowed over 69⅔ innings. Michael Soroka was supposed to provide rotation depth at the deadline, but a shoulder issue in early August relegated him to bullpen work upon his return in September, and he may or may not be a leverage option. The same goes for Aaron Civale, who provided effective long relief after the White Sox cut bait. Reese McGuire adequately backed up Carson Kelly all season.
San Diego Padres
Dylan Cease will start Game 2 of the wild card series against the Cubs. It'll be his fourth postseason start, but he's still in search of his first good one. The line through his first three is gruesome (6.2 IP, 12 H, 11 R, 11 ER, 2 HR, 6 BB, 8 K). Gavin Sheets finished the year hitting .262/.317/.429, setting career highs in plate appearances (145), batting average (.252), homers (19), doubles (28), RBIs (71). He still played too much outfield, but at least he only appeared in the less demanding corner.
The Padres also delivered the biggest twist by rostering Martín Maldonado. He hasn't played in a major league game since the end of July, and the Padres released him in early August, but they re-signed him at the end of that month, and he traveled with the team to Wrigley as insurance against Elias Diaz's uncertain status.
Cincinnati Reds
None. It's an anticlimactic way to end this post, just like it's unexciting to round out a postseason field with a team that went 83-79.
