The Chicago White Sox’ postseason exit on Saturday closed the book on a surprising 2026 run, but it also shifted the spotlight to what comes next. After falling 2-0 to the Cleveland Guardians, the South Side can finally turn its attention to building a roster that looks built to last.
And if the White Sox are shopping for a starter who can give the rotation some real structure, San Diego Padres free agent Michael King fits the bill. If he opts out of his player option this offseason, he’d be a name worth serious consideration for a club that leaned heavily on a bullpen-driven formula all the way through the postseason.
That approach worked for the White Sox in a very unusual way. They became the first team in MLB to win four straight postseason games with a starting pitcher throwing four innings or fewer. It was effective, but it also underscored the same issue that’s hovering over the roster now: the White Sox don’t have enough traditional starters.
King would check a lot of boxes. He posted a 3.21 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in the regular season, and he piled up 159 strikeouts while working as a top-end starter. For Chicago, that kind of production would immediately change the shape of the rotation.
Durability is part of the appeal, too. King logged 185 innings over 32 starts, giving him the kind of workload the White Sox have been missing. He also brings a nasty sweeper and a sharp changeup that generated a 27% whiff rate, giving him the kind of secondary stuff that plays in any rotation.
The postseason only strengthened the case. King finished with a 0.64 ERA across 14 innings this year, including seven scoreless innings with eight strikeouts in Game 1 of the NL wild-card series against the Chicago Cubs. He also came out of the bullpen in Game 3 and tossed two scoreless innings to help seal a 4-3 win.
King has said he’d like to return to the Padres, but he is still expected to test free agency. If that happens, the White Sox should be in the mix.
In Other News...
White Sox Have A Rotation Problem Three Arms Could Complicate
Pitching depth loomed large in the White Soxs AL Division Series collapse, and the issue is carrying straight into the offseason. After blowing a 2-0 lead, Chicagos rotation picture for 2027 already looks like a major talking point, with the front office expected to add arms while sorting through a group of in-house candidates who could help shape the staff.
Among the names to watch are Drew Thorpe, Mike Vasil and Hagen Smith, each bringing a different kind of uncertainty to the conversation. Thorpe has remained one of the more intriguing internal options, Vasil is working his way back, and Smith could get a longer look in a starters role, which gives the Sox a few possible paths but not much certainty yet. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Face A Huge Murakami Decision After His Big Season
Munetaka Murakami quickly became one of the biggest reasons the White Sox pushed all the way to the ALDS in 2026, even if the batting average never told the whole story. Signed to a two-year deal before the season, he delivered the kind of power production and run scoring that made him impossible to ignore, and by the end of the year he had done enough to put himself in position for something bigger than a short-term fit.
The next question now is how long that relationship lasts after his current contract runs out in 2027. ESPNs Jesse Rogers believes the White Sox and Murakami have a real interest in working toward a multi-year extension, which makes sense given how well the first chapter has gone, but there is no indication anything is close yet. For a team that just found a major middle-of-the-order force, the longer-term planning may be just as important as the breakout season itself. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Face Tough Calls On Recent Additions This Offseason
With the 2026 season in the books, the White Sox front office has turned its attention to a familiar offseason pressure point: arbitration. This time, the decisions run through a group of six eligible players for 2027, and the discussion is less about routine housekeeping than about which recent additions still fit the clubs direction. The evaluations are being driven by recent performance, projected salary, and whether each players track record justifies another year on the roster.
Austin Bart, Huascar Brazobn, Brenton Doyle and Miguel Vargas all sit somewhere along that familiar tender-or-non-tender spectrum, which is exactly why this stage of the winter matters so much for a team trying to sort out value. Some of the calls appear more straightforward than others, but the larger theme is clear enough: Chicago has to decide quickly which players are worth carrying forward and which ones are better left to the open market. [Read more 🡒]