The plan starts with a clear thesis: the Sox should stop thinking small.
In this blueprint, Miguel Vargas is the easy call. He gets tendered, and the push doesn’t stop there - the idea is to work on extending him, too. He’s described as the player who makes the team go, the one who matters most in the whole operation.
There’s also optimism around Brenton Doyle and Huascar Brazobán. Doyle gets tendered with the hope that he starts walking more and becomes a more reliable bat to pair with his defense and pinch-hit value. Brazobán stays in the mix as a bullpen arm with flashes of being first-rate.
Not everyone gets the same treatment. Joey Bart is non-tendered, along with Jordan Leasure and Chris Murphy.
On the free-agent side, the first move is straightforward: bring back Erick Fedde for another year at 1.5 M. Newcomb is viewed in a similar light, only pricier - a two-year, 10 M deal is the suggestion, possibly with a mutual option and buyout for a third year.
Then comes the bigger swing.
Kaima Taira is the proposed rotation addition at 3 years, $65 M, with the note that he could be worth 4/80 if necessary. He’s framed as a right-hander who gets outs, one who could settle in as a top-half starter and maybe more.
Teruaki Sato is the other major target, at 5 years, $120M. The concern is real, especially with comparisons to Murakami’s profile, but the belief here is that Sato’s NPB track record and Murakami’s relative success make the gamble worthwhile.
The point isn’t just talent acquisition. The idea is to make the Sox a destination for Japanese players, and not as a gimmick.
The argument is that Taira and Sato would be legitimate MLB upgrades who could also expand revenue and interest, while building on the goodwill that has already formed between Murakami and the Sox/Chicago. The hope is to turn that into something bigger.
Casey Mize gets slotted in as a one-year, $7M signing. He’s not part of the Japan angle, but he fits as a young enough, back-end starter who can eat innings, rebuild value, and hit free agency again later.
There aren’t any specific trades mapped out, but the door is open for salary-dump talks involving Andrew Benintendi or Luis Castillo if the return is a lottery ticket and the added pieces aren’t too expensive.
If Benintendi and Castillo remain, the plan gets a little messier. Castillo would be asked to salvage something as either a bullpen arm, a swingman, or a very back-end starter, with the hope that some adjustment can help and that he can let his hair grow back out for any Sampson Effects.
Benintendi, meanwhile, is viewed as having no real spot on the roster. The suggestion is to offer him a buyout and a future organizational role - coach, front office, something along those lines.
If that doesn’t work, the idea is to thank him and DFA him so he can keep playing somewhere else.
The catching situation is left open, but with a preference. Bart and Rogers are not re-signed in the initial version, though the door stays open to bring back either one for around $2M. Quero is seen as a possible backup option, and Bart is the preferred choice if it comes down to it.
That leaves a projected opening roster built around Murakami, Meidroth, C Monty, Vargas, Teel, Peters, and a corner mix that includes Sato, B Monty, Doyle, and Antonacci. The bench would feature Quero, Bart, or Rogers, along with Acuna and Baldwin. The rotation would run Burke, Taira, Martin, Mize, and Fedde.
The final note is pure shrug-and-send-it confidence: the plan probably goes a little over budget, but not by enough to matter. And the math? That’s not getting done.
In Other News...
Colson Montgomery Gave The White Sox Hope And One Huge Concern
Colson Montgomerys 2026 season gave the White Sox plenty to build on at shortstop. He played in 153 games, led American League shortstops with 31 home runs and 87 RBIs, and finished with a 2.8 WAR, the kind of everyday production Chicago has been waiting for from the position. Even with the offensive value, his defensive metrics stayed strong enough to suggest theres a real long-term piece here, not just a power surge.
The concern, though, is how narrow the path to that production appears to be. Montgomerys contact quality dipped from his 2025 debut, his chase rate climbed, and the swing-and-miss issues were impossible to ignore over the course of the year. The White Sox can live with some strikeouts from a power-hitting shortstop, but if the swing decisions and fastball handling do not improve, the ceiling comes with a fairly obvious catch. [Read more 🡒]
Caleb Bonemer Is Giving White Sox Fans A Prospect To Watch
Caleb Bonemer has been one of the more eye-catching White Sox prospects in the Arizona Fall League, where his tools have shown up in a way that gives the organization something tangible to point to this fall. He has been standing out with his blend of raw power and speed, the sort of athletic package that tends to get noticed quickly when prospects are trying to make their case in a showcase setting.
Bonemer also turned in a big game for Glendale, adding extra-base hits in a convincing win over Mesa and reinforcing why he has become a name to keep circling on the White Sox prospect map. Within the organization, some in player development are even looking at his frame and athleticism and seeing a familiar kind of upside, which only adds to the intrigue as he continues to build momentum in front of evaluators. [Read more 🡒]
Caleb Bonemer Is Giving White Sox Fans Something To Watch Closely
Several White Sox prospects have spent the fall in the Arizona Fall League, giving the organization another look at how its young players stack up against advanced competition. Caleb Bonemer has been one of the names worth following there, joining Colby Shelton, Anthony DePino, Pierce George and Mathias LaCombe on a Glendale Desert Dogs roster that has not found much traction in the standings.
The Desert Dogs have the leagues worst record and are unlikely to push into the playoffs, which has shifted the focus even more toward individual development than results. For Chicago, that makes Bonemers showing especially notable, since he has handled the assignment well while the rest of the group has produced a mixed bag, with some players getting more out of the experience than others. [Read more 🡒]