2026 changed the way this White Sox front office thinks, and this offseason plan makes that clear. The approach here isn’t to chase a splash for the sake of it. It’s to keep the core of what worked, then patch the spots that could slip backward.
That starts with the arbitration calls, which are pretty clean across the board. Miguel Vargas gets a tender, along with Brenton Doyle and Huascar Brazobán. Joey Bart, Jordan Leasure, and Chris Murphy are all non-tendered.
There are no impending free agents to sort through, but the plan does move on from a few familiar names. Newcomb, Fedde, and Grichuk are all thanked for their service, even after being very effective in 2026. The thinking here is simple: good enough was good enough last year, but better is the target now.
The biggest addition in the lineup comes in Seiya Suzuki, who is projected at four years and $105 million. The idea is to upgrade what Grichuk and Benintendi gave the club as a productive platoon DH mix with some outfield work, while adding more certainty and more overall value. Suzuki is viewed as a steadier right-handed bat and a strong defensive outfielder, someone who can help in right field and left field if Peters, Antonacchi, Montgomery, and Doyle don’t take the next step.
The bullpen gets a major boost too, with Adrian Morejon coming in on a five-year, $80 million deal. The logic is built around volatility: relievers can swing wildly from season to season, so the goal is to stack the unit with elite arms, high-end prospects, and useful fillers depending on who is throwing well at the moment.
Morejon fits that mold. He works multiple innings, handles high-leverage spots, strikes out nearly one-third of the hitters he faces, and has posted ERAs of 2.83, 2.04, and 2.82 over the last three years.
Behind the plate, the move is to send Anthony Kay to San Diego for Freddy Fermin. That deal is framed as a clean fit with Kyle Teel, giving the White Sox a catcher who is a gold glove finalist and highly regarded for game calling and pitcher work.
The note on San Diego is that Salas is the future there and the club needs to reshape its rotation, while Kay may be better suited to their park. The original idea had been to trade Bush, Cannon, and Zavala and keep Kay in the bullpen, but Kay apparently wasn’t thrilled with that during the postseason.
The rotation is where the plan stays patient. Rather than force a mid-tier starter into the mix, the approach is to wait and see what develops from Schultz, Sandlin, and Drew Thorpe, who is called a personal favorite.
There’s also hope that Castillo can still be productive, since he has done a lot for a long time and isn’t that old. Smith and Taylor are still possibilities to develop into starters, and with the likely lockout looming, the question of how many innings the staff will actually need remains open.
If the rotation comes up short, the answer could be a consolidation trade during the season.
The lineup reflects the same theme of leaning into what already worked while adding more reliable production. Antonacci leads off in left, followed by Vargas at third, Teel at catcher, Suzuki at DH, MUNE at first, Meidroth at second, Montgomery at short, S.
Montgomery in right, and Peters in center. The bench includes Doyle, Fermin, Benintendi, and Acuna.
The rotation is listed as Sean Burke, Davis Martin, Noah Schultz, Luis Castillo, Drew Thorpe, and David Sandlin, with the bullpen left to be finalized. The overall picture is a roster built to be deeper, more flexible, and less vulnerable to regression, especially in the outfield, at catcher, and in the relief corps.
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White Sox Catching Prospect Reaches A Crucial Year For His Development
Jackson Appel entered the White Sox system with a reputation for polish behind the plate, and that has helped make him one of the more interesting catching prospects in the organization. A sixth-round pick in 2024, he brought a strong defensive profile from a college path that included stops at Penn and Texas A&M, where he picked up multiple accolades and showed the kind of receiving and game-management skills teams value in a catcher.
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White Sox Momentum Just Put Chris Getz Under Real Pressure
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Now the challenge is turning that momentum into something lasting. Chicago is heading into the offseason with clear areas to address, and the front office knows the next round of roster work has to match the standard set by the fan response. With the General Managers Meetings approaching, the pressure is on Getz to keep the progress moving in the right direction. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Take Low-Risk Flier On Pitcher With Something To Prove
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Marsh last pitched in the majors with the Royals in 2024, and Chicago is giving him a chance to work his way back into the picture after a difficult stretch. His place in the organization is still very much tied to how he looks once camp opens, with his health and performance helping determine what kind of role he can claim down the line. [Read more 🡒]