The White Sox took a calculated swing at the short-term starting pitching market last winter, and for once the gamble mostly held up.
Chris Getz went into the offseason with the sense that Chicago was still at least a year away from a real push in the AL Central, so the plan was to patch the rotation with smaller, temporary bets while the organization sorted out what it would need from its homegrown arms down the line. That approach could have gone sideways fast. Instead, Anthony Kay and Erick Fedde gave the Sox enough innings and enough competence to help them squeeze into October.
Neither one was flashy, and that was never the assignment. Kay signed for two years and $12 million, while Fedde came in on a one-year, $1.5 million deal.
Together, they cost the White Sox $7.5 million and delivered 299 innings. In a market where short-term starters can turn into traps in a hurry, that was a win.
The broader field was a mess, which only makes Chicago’s return look better. Tyler Mahle’s season was split in two, with a rough 5.13 ERA over his first 18 starts for the Giants before he caught fire after a deadline move to Atlanta and posted a 1.99 ERA in nine starts with the Braves.
Michael Soroka had a strong case for value too, though he missed two months. Foster Griffin was the only pitcher who clearly outpaced Kay and Fedde across the full season.
The Sox have actually done pretty well with these smaller pitching bets lately. Fedde paid off twice in a sense, first with his strong return to the majors in 2024 and then by helping Chicago turn him into Miguel Vargas. Bryse Wilson didn’t work out in 2025, but Martín Perez’s $3.5 million deal still made sense even with elbow issues limiting him to 10 starts.
Now the club has to go back into that same market again, because Sean Burke finished the year looking like a rotation fixture. There’s hope that Kay can go deeper into games with a full MLB season behind him, and that Davis Martin can bounce back into No. 4 starter territory if his calf problem was the reason his season fell apart late. The White Sox also wanted Noah Schultz, Hagen Smith and/or Tanner McDougal to step forward, but none of them got to a bankable place.
If Chicago decides to aim higher this time, the math could change. Four pitchers stood out as major-ticket options in 2026 - Dylan Cease, Ranger Suarez, Framber Valdez and Michael King - and each offered a different blend of innings and effectiveness.
In Other News...
Anthony Kays White Sox Season Brought Real Value And One Ugly Question
Anthony Kay gave the White Sox plenty to feel good about in 2026, even if his season came with more than a little edge. He reached career highs with 10 wins, 33 appearances and 129 strikeouts, and along the way he carved out a strange little place in club history, from becoming the pitcher with the lowest uniform number ever to start a postseason game for Chicago to turning in a start that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
The value was real enough, especially in a year when he also showed he could handle left-handed hitters and pitch his way through bases-loaded trouble. But Kays season also left behind one ugly question that hangs over an otherwise productive year, and it is the kind of issue the White Sox cannot simply shrug off if they want his gains to mean something beyond one useful regular season. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Kept Betting On Luis Robert Jr And It Cost Them
Luis Robert Jr.s rise and fall has become one of the clearest reminders of how quickly a franchise can go from building around a centerpiece to trying to move on from one. After his breakout 2023 season, the White Sox kept betting on the talented center fielder even as injuries and performance issues chipped away at his value in 2024 and 2025. His production had slipped below league average, but the appeal of his upside never really disappeared, which is why his name kept surfacing in roster decisions and trade conversations.
Now Robert is headed into free agency with interest expected from several teams, leaving Chicago to reckon with what it got and what it never quite could. For the White Sox, it is another costly chapter in a rebuild that has been forced to absorb both the promise Robert once represented and the reality of how little certainty came with it. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Face A Big Free Agency Question After Murakamis Breakout
Munetaka Murakamis first season in Chicago gave the White Sox exactly the kind of early return they hoped for when they signed him to a two-year, $34 million deal, and it also sharpened the questions facing the front office this winter. With free agency looming, the club is expected to stay active and has already been linked in broad terms to a few Japanese names, a reminder that the Sox are still looking for the right mix of upside and fit as they try to keep building around their young core.
Teruaki Sato, Kaima Taira and Hiromi Itoh each bring a different appeal, but they do not all solve the same problem for Chicago. Sato carries the kind of power that can change a lineup, Taira offers another route to bullpen help, and Itoh stands out as a more complete rotation option, which is why the Sox will have to decide whether they want another bat, another arm or something closer to stability as they sort through the market. [Read more 🡒]