PREAMBLE
The 2026 White Sox were a surprise, but that doesn't mean they need to be a fluke. There were tangible signs of a longer-term competitive roster, and as past "windows" have shown, there's no justification for throwing away any shot to truly compete. The division is wide open, let's go take it.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Miguel Vargas: Tender
- Brenton Doyle: Tender
- Joey Bart: Non-tender
- Huascar Brazobán: Tender
- Jordan Leasure: Non-tender
- Chris Murphy: Non-tender
Vargas is obvious. Doyle is a bit steep but plays great defense and is a right-handed bat. Brazoban is worth a shot to see if he gets back to Mets form for that price. I'm not against Bart as a back-up but for payroll reasons, I'm looking for a cheaper option.
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- Erick Fedde
- Jake Rogers
Fedde (1yr/4M) - Fedde pitched better out of the pen and the Sox can use all the arms they can get at this point. For relatively cheap, I'll keep him around as a swingman.
Rogers (1yr/1M) - This could be any backup catcher, as long as they hit right-handed. If they feel comfortable with Rogers as a guy who's been around, why not him.
I'd love to keep Newcomb, but I think he'll get a bigger contract. Grichuk was a great presence and played great for what he was, but no reason to pay him just to hope he can replicate that again.
FREE AGENTS
Sonny Gray - 2yr/45M w/ 15M player option - Gray probably doesn't offer as much upside as some other free agent options that I'd prefer, but has a safer floor due to the innings he should be able to provide without as much health risk. I'm not sure how much longer he'll want to pitch, but a reasonable player option for what would be his age 39 season hopefully gets this deal done.
TRADES
Andrew Benintendi, Rikuu Nishida and Tanner McDougal to Diamondbacks for Ketel Marte - Marte's relationship with Arizona has been strange, and maybe both parties would prefer a change of scenery. Marte's salary is actually less than Beni's for 2026 (13.75M v. 16.5M) but Marte has three more guaranteed years at 20/22/22M plus a player option for 2031 at 11.5M that Arizona can get out from under in this deal. Marte can DH and rotate in at 2B, but he'll also provide flexibility if Colson Montgomery doesn't bounce back from how he ended the season, as Meidroth could move to SS and Marte slides in at 2B.
Tristan Peters to Angels for Reid Detmers and Samy Natera Jr. - I think the Sox should have acquired Detmers at last year's deadline, so I'm doing it now instead. Peters is a fantastic story but I'd rather capitalize on any value he has now rather than risk that it was a one-year wonder. I'd add other pieces if needed to make this happen, as Detmers is cost-controlled and under contract through 2029.
SUMMARY
Caleb Bonemer was fantastic in the AZ Fall League, and I think he's ready to go. I'm calling him up and hoping he runs with an everyday role in the outfield. If not, hopefully Brenton Doyle can hold down the fort in the meantime.
C - Kyle Teel
1B - Munetaka Murakami
2B - Chase Meidroth
SS - Colson Montgomery
3B - Miguel Vargas
LF - Sam Antonacci
CF - Caleb Bonemer
RF - Braden Montgomery
DH - Ketel Marte
Bench - Jake Rogers
Bench - Luisangel Acuna
Bench - Brooks Baldwin
Bench - Brenton Doyle
SP - Sean Burke
SP - Sonny Gray
SP - Reid Detmers
SP - Davis Martin
SP - Noah Schultz
RP - Grant Taylor
RP - Hagen Smith
RP - Jordan Hicks
RP - Anthony Kay
RP - Erick Fedde
RP - Samy Natera Jr.
RP - Mike Vasil
RP - Huascar Brazoban
By my math (don't hold me to it), even with eating Castillo's 22.75M salary and DFA'ing him, the payroll comes in right at 130.1M. Ideally Getz could convince Jerry to open up his wallet for a stronger bench piece to replace Acuna and/or Baldwin, but I think this roster has much better pitching depth with the added starters, plus some contingency plans for injuries or ineffectiveness (Fedde and Kay as spot starters/openers and Sandlin, Smith, Thorpe in AAA).
