The White Sox appear ready to shop for outfield help this offseason, and Chris Getz has already hinted that upgrades are on the table. If that’s where Chicago is headed, the market offers a clear swing-for-the-fences option, a more sensible fit, and one name that could end up being an expensive mistake.
At the top of the wish list sits Randy Arozarena, who looks like the best possible match for the White Sox if money and competition somehow line up. Now with the Seattle Mariners, Arozarena’s stock rebounded after a quieter stretch following his 2021 Rookie of the Year season with the Rays.
A 2024 trade to Seattle sparked him again, and he delivered a career-best 27 home runs in 2025 before backing it up with 26 more in 2026, along with a much better batting average and on-base percentage. He also earned All-Star nods in both seasons and trimmed his strikeout rate by 5% in 2026 as he started using the whole field more.
With his age-32 season ahead, Arozarena is positioned to seek a strong multi-year deal after those back-to-back All-Star campaigns. The White Sox may not ultimately be in the mix, and there’s no guarantee they’ll be serious players, but given their miniscule payroll and status as a contending team, there’s no reason they shouldn’t at least find out what the price is. The problem is simple: the odds of winning a bidding war are probably slim.
A more realistic target is Ian Happ, a player the White Sox could actually imagine fitting into the roster without completely blowing up the budget. Happ, a former first-round pick by the Cubs in 2015, has been one of the steadier, more underrated outfielders in the game since debuting in 2017.
Across ten big league seasons, he has never finished with an OPS+ below 100. He also won a Gold Glove in left field every year from 2022 through 2025 and made the All-Star team in 2022, when he posted 4.3 bWAR.
Happ’s 2026 season wasn’t his sharpest. He hit .218, struggled badly against left-handed pitching, and even though he still popped 24 homers, it wasn’t a vintage year.
Still, his track record is strong enough to expect a rebound. He could step into left field for the White Sox, push Sam Antonacci into a utility role, and give the lineup a switch-hitter with good defense and some offensive upside.
Best of all for Chicago, the down year should keep the contract more manageable than Arozarena’s.
One name the White Sox should avoid is Trent Grisham. After taking the qualifying offer last offseason, he is heading back to free agency and trying to land a multi-year payday.
The 2026 version of Grisham did not match the 2025 breakout. He hit a career-high 34 home runs and put up an .812 OPS in 2025, but this season he dropped to 18 homers - in 76 fewer at bats - and his OBP slid from .348 to .308.
There are still some underlying numbers that look respectable, but the overall trend is not encouraging. Grisham also finished at -5 OAA in center field and his sprint speed was below average.
For the White Sox, that makes the fit questionable, especially if the cost climbs anyway. Tristan Peters and Brenton Doyle each turned in strong defensive seasons in center and combined for nearly as many home runs as Grisham in 2026.
If Chicago is serious about improving the outfield, this is the type of move to pass on.
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Chicagos situation is made trickier by the number of pitchers still working back from Tommy John surgeries, leaving several futures hanging in the balance as the club plans its next round of moves. The added wrinkle is the possibility that a MLB lockout could freeze the market and complicate the normal flow of offseason transactions, which could leave the White Sox with even less flexibility than usual. For a team already facing a roster crunch, the timing of those decisions may matter as much as the decisions themselves. [Read more 🡒]