PREAMBLE
2026 was a revelation for this White Sox team and this coaching staff. I'm going to lean into what worked to fight regression and put us back in the playoffs.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Miguel Vargas: Tender
- Brenton Doyle: Tender
- Joey Bart: Non-tender
- Huascar Brazobán: Tender
- Jordan Leasure: Non-tender
- Chris Murphy: Non-tender
These are pretty straightforward decisions.
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- None
I thank Newcomb, Fedde, and Grichuk for their service, but am moving on. Very effective players in 2026, but I'm looking for upgrades.
FREE AGENTS
No. 1: Seiya Suzuki, OF (4 years, $105 million). I'm stealing this contract value from mlbtraderumors. Grichuk and Benintendi were a terrific platoon DH with some part time outfield work. Sometimes that leads to riding the good vibes from a signing like Grichuk for another year. I'm going another direction by leaning into what worked, but adding a player that has been more productive and more consistent. Suzuki provides a really solid right handed bat and very good outfield defense. He is an upgrade over Grichuk on the roster and provides greater certainty in the OF if Peters, Antonacchi, Montgomery, and Doyle don't perform or improve.
No. 2: Adrian Morejon LHP (5 years, $80 million). Sean Newcomb was mostly awesome in 2026. I'm going another direction by leaning into what worked, but adding a player that has been more productive and more consistent. Reliever performance is very inconsistent from year to year. I want a bullpen that's built from elite relievers, high end prospects, and "filler" for who is performing well right now(IE spring and summer Bryan Hudson vs 2025 Bryan Hudson). Morejon is an elite reliever. He throws multiple innings and pitches high leverage situations. He strikes out nearly 1/3 of the batters he faces and his ERA has been 2.83, 2.04, and 2.82 the last 3 years.
TRADES
No. 1: Trade Anthony Kay to San Diego for Freddy Fermin. Fermin is an awesome fit behind Kyle Teel at catcher. He is a gold glove finalist and is well regarded for game calling and work with pitchers. Salas is the future for San Diego and they need to remake their rotation. Kay probably fits better in their park. I originally wanted to trade Bush, Cannon, and Zavala and keep Kay in the bullpen, but he didn't seem very excited about that during the postseason.
SUMMARY
Suzuki and Fermin add depth to this roster that protect against regression in the outfield or at catcher. I expect Suzuki to play plenty of RF and LF. Venable can manage the lineup like he did this year, but with more productive players. I'm not making a big move with Colson as he's still a helpful player that provides value and depth until Roch comes up. The bullpen is deep, flexible, and high end. Multiple pitchers can go multiple innings from any point in the game.
The biggest question is the rotation. I believe it is best to wait and see what happens. We need to see what we have with guys like Schultz, Sandlin, and a personal favorite of mine, Drew Thorpe. I don't want to sign a number 2-4 type starter if one or several of those guys develops into one. I am also still hopeful that Castillo can be good for us. He has been very productive for a long time and he isn't that old. Do Smith and Taylor develop into starters? All things I'd like to give some time to understand. Also, with the likely lockout, how many games and innings are actually needed from our starters? If we don't have enough I would make a consolidation trade during the season for a pitcher.
Opening Day Lineup:
L Antonacci LF
R Vargas 3B
L Teel C
R Suzuki DH
L MUNE 1B
R Meidroth 2B
L Montgomery SS
S Montgomery RF
L Peters CF
Bench:
R Doyle OF
R Fermin C
L Benintendi DH
R Acuna INF
Rotation:
RHP Sean Burke
RHP Davis Martin
LHP Noah Schultz
RHP Luis Castillo
RHP Drew Thorpe
RHP David Sandlin
Bullpen:
RHP Taylor
LHP Morejon
LHP Smith
RHP Hicks
LHP Hudson
RHP Vasil
LHP Woods
