While the White Sox have yet to unveil their Opening Day roster, the overall shape of the season is less contingent on the exact selection of players they send to Milwaukee on Thursday, and more reliant on how the cast coalesces through changes over the course of the season.
FanGraphs' positional power rankings are one way to take a first stab at accounting for how known strengths and weaknesses may shake out overall, and what potential assets and liabilities aren't yet recognized by algorithms. In either case, it's hard to see the White Sox forcing revisions to their 1 percent playoff odds. Whether you're judging the White Sox as a whole, as positional units or on a player-to-player basis, just about everybody is striving for life in the middle third.
Catcher: 26th
2025: 26th | Finished: 14th
This should be the last year that White Sox catchers lie in the bottom five, with the idea that Kyle Teel and/or Edgar Quero will use this season to firmly establish their major league value. If they can't replicate a similar overachievement in 2026, it'll rate as a disappointment.
Also, FanGraphs published its catcher rankings a week before the White Sox surprised everybody with the Reese McGuire signing. He barely factors into Milwaukee's projections because William Contreras and Gary Sánchez hog all the playing time, but he'd probably provide some value if he were to receive the 134 plate appearances assigned to Korey Lee, as Davy Andrews writes, "Should he make the club, he can provide good defense; he’s one of the game’s best framers on pitches at the top of the zone."
First base: 18th
2025: 27th | Finished: 23rd
This ranking feels like it splits the difference on Munetaka Murakami's most bullish projections and his bust potential. It has him down for a .232/.342/.449 line, which I think most people would take. The Andrew Vaughn-led Brewers rank 26th at first base, so that's a head-to-head battle worth revisiting at the end of the year.
Second base: 20th
2025: 29th | Finished: 20th
Assuming Chase Meidroth gets the nod, he'll be the 14th different second baseman the White Sox have deployed over their last 14 Opening Days. There's a chance that 2027 would make it 15 over 15, because even a good Meidroth season doesn't rule out a complementary player like Sam Antonacci advancing on his playing time.
Third base: 19th
2025: 19th | Finished: 29th
Miguel Vargas may never show all that well in a positional power ranking exercise because hopes for his defense don't extend far beyond prayers for adequacy, but it's a big year for his bat, as he becomes eligible for arbitration after the season.
Shortstop: 21st
2025: 30th | Finished: 18th
Colson Montgomery provided the best argument for how quickly a position outlook can change. Jacob Amaya was the White Sox's Opening Day starter last year, amid an uninspiring field that was buying time for a prospect whose stock was flagging, but Montgomery ended up pulling the position into the league's middle third by bashing 21 homers and providing credible defense after the All-Star break. Now it's a matter of holding the ground that was gained, which may or may not come easy to Montgomery given all of the extremes involved in his shortstop profile.
Left field: 30th
2025: 26th | Finished: 27th
Oh yeah, the White Sox have to provide outfielders, too. This is where it gets grisly, starting with a left field outlook that's resigned to Andrew Benintendi being a big minus defensively, and nothing in the way of proven support behind him. An answer, or just a respite, to his persistent Achilles issues would be a welcome development.
Center field: 29th
2025: 11th | Finished: 22nd
The line above these words supports the notion of trading Luis Robert Jr. for whatever the White Sox could get this past winter, because the Sox had already been twice fooled by tantalizing projections. Robert's forecast has been downgraded -- the Mets' center field picture ranks 17th with him leading the way -- but it's still superior to what the White Sox are putting forth in his stead.
That said, Luisangel Acuña made his best possible first impression by hitting .409/.458/.545 in his first spring with the Sox. He would have won any center field competition going away, and it's important that he continues to show well, because Brooks Baldwin was projected to provide slightly more value there, and he's currently unable to throw without pain.
Right field: 28th
2025: 23rd | Finished: 17th
The Mike Tauchman-Austin Slater pairing punched above its weight last year, and now the White Sox are going to try it again. The projections just aren't as sound this time around, as Austin Hays' production has varied wildly around his kidney infection, and with Jarred Kelenic unable to crack the Opening Day roster, he doesn't have an ideal platoon partner. The hope is that he won't need one.
Designated hitter: 28th
2025: 26th | Finished: 25th
The White Sox's DH spot is less an afterthought, and more of a way station for position players who may or may not be extraneous. The standards will rise once they name their favorite catcher for the long haul, and once they attain any sort of stability for the outfield.
Bullpen: 13th
2025: 30th | Finished: 12th
Here's the best argument against fWAR for pitchers, or at least relievers. In theory, the unit got a boost from the quantity of Mike Vasil and the quality of Grant Taylor's stuff, and the other relievers were swapped out before they could drag down the cumulative value. In practice, the unit had the most meltdowns and the league's worst Win Probability Added score, so FanGraphs’ metrics argued against its projections to particularly ill-effect here. The upside is that if you could trust last year's projection, maybe you can trust this year's.
Starting pitching: 29th
2025: 29th | Finished: 26th
This could be the least consequential projection of the bunch, if only because the ideal White Sox season results in something approaching a hockey line change for the rotation. The goal is for Drew Thorpe, Tanner McDougal, Hagen Smith, Noah Schultz and David Sandlin to look worthy of major league starts, and they're not a big part of the picture yet.
But it can't entirely be dismissed, because if the rotation comes out of the gate looking like the second-worst unit in baseball, then it'll once again feel like forever waiting for the White Sox to get to the good part.
