The Chicago White Sox gave themselves a far better season than anybody saw coming in 2026, but the way it ended made the next move feel even clearer.
An 84-win campaign and a trip to the American League Division Series would have sounded outlandish a year earlier. Then came the gut punch: a 2-0 series lead over Cleveland slipped away, and that collapse left the year with a sour finish. Now the pressure shifts to general manager Chris Getz, who has to show this wasn’t just a one-off surge.
If Chicago wants to build on what it just did, the biggest offseason answer should come on the mound. The rotation was thin all year, and the numbers back it up.
White Sox starters combined for just 674.2 innings, the fewest in Major League Baseball. Will Venable spent the season finding ways to patch over that weakness, especially in October, but that kind of juggling act only goes so far when the starting pitching isn’t steady.
There are reasons to like the younger arms already in place. Sean Burke looks like a pitcher the White Sox can build around.
Noah Schultz and David Sandlin add more upside, and Hagen Smith and Grant Taylor could eventually join the rotation picture as well. That’s a promising group.
It just doesn’t look like enough to carry Chicago through another postseason push on its own.
Getz admitted as much in his season-ending press conference, acknowledging that the club needs help from outside. Saying it and solving it are two different things, though.
The move that makes the most sense here is a trade for an established starter rather than a major free-agent splash. Chicago has stockpiled plenty of infield talent in its minor league system, and at some point, having more prospects than spots turns into leverage.
That doesn’t mean dealing the organization’s top young players just to make noise. But packaging a prospect or two for a dependable starter with multiple years of team control would be a sensible way to attack the problem.
The White Sox already tried a version of that approach with Luis Castillo, and it didn’t work out. Castillo, acquired from Seattle, struggled badly in Chicago, putting up an 8.42 ERA over 31 innings before being left off the postseason roster. That history shouldn’t scare the team off from trying again.
What Chicago needs now isn’t another arm that might become useful later. It needs someone who can take the ball every fifth day and steady the whole staff.
The White Sox stunned people in 2026, and nobody is going to sleep on them next season. If Getz wants to turn this surprise run into something real, landing a proven starting pitcher would be a strong place to begin.
In Other News...
White Sox Must Fix A Costly Playoff Flaw To Truly Break Through
The White Sox spent the regular season looking like a team ready to take the next step, only to run into the same kind of postseason reality check that has tripped up plenty of promising clubs before them. Their divisional-round exit exposed the kind of weaknesses that are harder to hide in October, especially when the pitching is asked to carry too much of the load and the lineup is forced to grind for every run.
If Chicago wants to turn a strong season into something more lasting, the blueprint is already out there. Teams like the Rays and Brewers have shown how far a club can go with a deep, reliable pitching staff and a more disciplined offensive approach, and those are the kinds of traits the White Sox will need to lean into if they want to be more than a good regular-season story. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Face A Crucial Scouting Decision In Chris Getzs Rebuild
The White Sox are still in the middle of a rebuild that has leaned heavily on getting the draft and player development right, and that makes the vacancy in amateur scouting especially important. Chicago announced that amateur scouting director Mike Shirley is no longer with the organization, leaving another key front-office chair open as the club works to stabilize the pipeline of young talent.
The move comes after Shirley had been placed on administrative leave while the team conducted an internal investigation, and the search now turns to who will guide the next wave of draft decisions. An internal answer is very much in play, with crosschecker JJ Lally viewed as a potential candidate, giving the White Sox a choice between continuity and a broader reset in a department that matters plenty to Chris Getzs long-term plan. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Roster Crunch Could Force Tough Decisions Sooner Than Expected
The White Sox are already staring at a familiar offseason headache: a 40-man roster that is sitting at 46 players, with six more on the 60-day injured list who will need to be added back after the season. Even before winter business really begins, that means the front office is headed toward a squeeze, and the usual calendar markers are coming fast. The Nov. 17 Rule 5 protection deadline and the Nov. 20 non-tender deadline often force clubs to make decisions quickly, especially when they are trying to sort out who belongs on the roster and who does not.
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 🡒]