The White Sox enter 2027 with no shortage of uncertainty, and the offseason plan laid out here leans hard into the kind of unsentimental roster churn that teams like the Brewers and Rays have made routine. That means making tough calls on familiar names, shifting pieces around the diamond, and betting that a few young players can hold their gains from last season.
The biggest move is a bold one: Munetaka Murakami is dealt to Seattle with Anthony DePino for Logan Gilbert and Lucas Kelly. The reasoning is straightforward in the source’s logic.
Murakami’s future still needs to be decided this winter, but after his second half, an extension is considered too risky. Miguel Vargas also needs to move off third and onto first, which creates the opening for that shift.
Seattle, meanwhile, is described as having plenty of pitching but a need for slug.
Gilbert becomes the new top starter. He, like Murakami, has one year of control left, and the proposed path is either a $15 million arbitration deal or a three-year agreement at $22 million, $23 million, and $25 million. Kelly, 23, finished last year at Double-A and is projected as a pitcher with closer stuff and a middle-relief floor.
The infield gets rearranged around Vargas. He moves to first, Antonacci slides to second, Meidroth takes short, and Colson handles third.
Antonacci is said to be better suited to second, where he has more value than in left field. Meidroth is expected to handle short at least as well as Colson, while Colson is viewed as a defensive upgrade at third.
The outfield from left to right is Randy Arozarena, a Peters/Brenton Doyle platoon, and Braden. Teel is behind the plate, Randal Grichuk is the DH and an emergency left fielder, and Joey Bart backs up at catcher.
Tanner Murray and Brooks Baldwin fill the super-utility roles.
The arbitration decisions are cleanly split. Vargas, Doyle, and Bart are tendered.
Huascar Brazobán, Jordan Leasure, and Chris Murphy are non-tendered, though Leasure and Murphy are still seen as worth minor league deals. Vargas is labeled the best player on the team.
Doyle is viewed as a strong platoon partner for Peters in center and an elite glove. Bart is the likeliest internal backup option to Teel.
Two impending free agents get attention, too. Erick Fedde and Andrew Newcomb each produced 2.0 bWar last season, but Newcomb did it in just 90 innings compared to Fedde’s 141.
Newcomb is being envisioned as a true swingman, with a projected workload around 130 innings, and he gets a two-year offer at $7 million per season. Fedde does not fit the plan.
Grichuk, meanwhile, is called lightning in a bottle from last year, with skepticism that he’ll repeat it, but he still gets a one-year, $2.5 million offer because the alternatives at designated hitter and backup outfield are limited.
The free-agent shopping list is headlined by Randy Arozarena and Raisel Iglesias. Arozarena gets five years at $25 million per season as the left fielder and the best outfield bat available, with Antonacci shifting to second base as a result.
Iglesias is offered one year and $16 million to give the Sox a real closer. He’s 37, the source notes, and the Braves may prefer to lean on younger internal arms rather than pay him that again.
There’s also an effort to move money and roster clutter in a separate deal: Andrew Benintendi, Davis Martin, and $8 million go to any team willing to take them for a low-A pitcher or outfielder. Benintendi still has value, but not the $14.5 million he’s owed next year.
The move is framed as salary relief and a way to clear a roster spot for another position player. Martin gets a blunt sendoff after a solid first half, with the reminder that “crafty righty” usually isn’t a thing.
On the pitching side, the rotation is set as Gilbert, Burke, Hagen, Kay, and Castillo. Hagen is praised as ready, while Castillo is pegged as a wide-range outcome: maybe just an overpriced fifth starter, maybe something worse.
The bullpen runs Newcomb, Vasil, Taylor, Hicks, Hudson, Sandlin, Davis, and Iglesias. Newcomb, Taylor, and Sandlin are all candidates to work as multi-inning openers or bulk arms, and could even swing into the rotation if needed.
The payroll math ends up near $140.85 million once the Benintendi money, the $1.5 million owed to Hendriks, and the rest of the roster accounting are layered in. If Jerry insists on spending less, the plan says the Sox would have to shop for a cheaper closer than Iglesias. But the skepticism is clear about going bargain-bin again.
That’s the whole blueprint: lean into the young core, shift Vargas across the infield, add slug with Arozarena, grab a real closer, and hope the right versions of Colson, Braden, Teel, Vargas, Antonacci, Peters, and Meidroth show up again. The source makes the final point plainly - a lot of things had to go right for 84 wins in 2026, and a lot of things will have to go right again in 2027.
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