PREAMBLE
Oh boy what a year 2026 was. Another season of great improvement and continuing to see youthful talent flood up to the Big League Club. The Sox need to stay hungry and make some key additions to the roster in order to avoid the regression that we often see with young teams making the playoffs a "year early" and it needs to happen on both sides of the ball.
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 an easy no-brainer at that salary number.
Doyle is still a very useful player as a defensive specialist and as an option for the short side of a platoon with Peters in CF.
Brazoban at such a low salary and with minor league options remaining makes sense to retain as a bullpen option, who is easy to move off of if he disappoints to start the season.
The other three players are all expendable in my opinion at their price points. I could see Leasure returning to the organization on a minor league contract as a way to retain his services post-rehab while clearing a 40 man spot.
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- Erick Fedde
1yr/5M for Fedde. Slight discount based on Spotrac's Market Value, but he seems to really enjoy pitching on the South Side so I think it will be enough to keep him around another year.
FREE AGENTS
No. 1: Seiya Suzuki (3 years, $80 million. 25/27.5/27.5 with a Club Option on the 3rd year w/ $12.5M buyout)
No. 2: Sonny Gray (2 years, $40 million. Club Option on the 2nd year w/ $10M buyout)
No. 3: Brock Burke (2 years, $8 million.)
No. 4: AJ Puk (1 year, $1.5 million.)
No. 5: Elias Diaz (1 year, $1 million.)
TRADES
No. 1: Trade Luis Castillo, Colby Shelton, Peyton Pallette, and $10M to Athletics for Clark Elliott (Minor League Outfielder). A's get someone to eat innings, a rising INF prospect, a bullpen arm with MLB experience, and $10M so we can save some money to use elsewhere on the roster.
No. 2: Trade Andrew Benintendi, Jonathan Cannon, Shane Murphy, and $7.5M to Rockies for Ryan Ritter (UTIL with options). Rockies get a veteran bat, two Pitching Prospects who could be with their Big League Club at times this year, and $7.5M so we can save money to use elsewhere on the roster.
No. 3: Trade Bryan Hudson, Jaden Fauske, Christian Oppor, and Ryan Burrowes to Yankees for Ryan Weathers (LHH SP). Yankees have an abundance of SP, and are in need of replacing some of their LHH Bullpen Arms, plus they get a promising young OF prospect, a change of scenery Pitching prospect, and another prospect tagged on. White Sox get more help for their rotation with multiple seasons of control, being a LHH SP is a bonus.
SUMMARY
If I did my math correctly the roster I have built manages to almost fit the budget ($130.1M, oh no $0.1M over how will Jerry ever forgive me?). It makes some strategic improvement in areas of need while also maintaining flexibility for both Pitching depth, and players like Bonemer and/or Cholowsky to join the squad when they are ready to contribute at the major league level in some capacity. There would have to be some platooning, and strategic swapping around of the DH spot, but roster flexibility is never a bad thing.
Rotation
SP1 S. Burke - RH
SP2 Sonny Gray - RH
SP3 Ryan Weathers - LH
SP4 Martin - RH
SP5 Thorpe/Schultz/Sandlin - RH/LH/RH
Bullpen
LRP Kay - LH
LHRP H. Smith
LHRP Brock Burke
LHRP AJ Puk
RHHP Erick Fedde
RHHP Brazoban
RHHP Hicks
Closer Taylor
Starters
C Teel
1B Murakami
2B Meidroth
3B Vargas
SS C. Montgomery
LF Seiya Suzuki
CF Peters
RF B. Montgomery
DH Antonacci
Bench
C Elias Diaz
INF Acuna
OF Doyle
UTIL Baldwin/Murray
Key points that were priorities for me to address.
Starting Rotation: Acquiring some proven commodities allows for depth to build. A true competition for the 5th Rotation spot with the "losers" continuing to build innings in AAA or begin shifting to bullpen roles. Schultz and Sandlin are still on the starter track for me at this point but could become weapons in the bullpen. Thorpe I think is a more Starter or Bust profile.
Bullpen: I'm not sure I have even sold myself yet on an even split of 4 LHP and 4 RHP but I think the gamble on Puk, and his health, is worth it. Kay and Fedde can split that Swing Man/Long Relief Role, and we have much more depth of RHP bullpen arms in the minors so going heavy on MLB caliber LHP makes some sense at least to start the year.
Lineup: Suzuki provides RH thump and lineup protection for high strikeout Lefties. A 3-4-5 of Vargas, Mune, Suzuki would be wonderful. Likely followed by C. Montgomery at 6 and that is a lot of power for opposing pitchers to navigate through.
Defense: Suzuki was a positive defender this past season in RF and in my plan he would see a heavy mixture of both corners. Allowing Antonacci to still get reps in LF but not require him out there everyday, and provide insurance for RF if B. Montgomery needs off days or some additional development time.
Backup Catcher: Elias Diaz would come in as a low cost veteran who is at least an average defender and hits RH. Quero, Romo, and Turner can continue to rotate Catcher and DH in AAA until they have earned a shot at the backup gig behind Teel.
UTIL Competition: Allows for Baldwin and Murray to compete for this spot coming off injuries, but also leaves room for Bonemer/Cholowsky to come up and replace them and/or Acuna if they force the hand of the White Sox this season.
