Will Venable spent the back half of 2026 stitching together a rotation on the fly, and the White Sox can’t afford to keep living that way in 2027. If Chicago is going to have a real starting staff next season, the path is pretty clear: build around Sean Burke, add help from outside, and hope a few of the club’s other arms settle into defined roles.
Burke should be the No. 1.
He was the Sox’s de facto ace in 2026, and there’s no obvious reason that changes in 2027 unless the front office lands a higher-end veteran through free agency or a trade. At this point, he looks like the staff leader.
The bigger question is who joins him near the top of the rotation. One obvious candidate is a free agent or trade pickup, and the Sox should be aiming high enough that the addition can handle the front of the staff.
Davis Martin could have been slotted there after his early-2026 run, but his second half was rough enough that he doesn’t belong in that conversation right now. He was also dealing with a sore leg after an IL stint tied to a blister issue.
If Chicago adds the right arm, that spot should belong to someone who can start games at the top of the rotation. Clay Holmes and Kris Bubic are names to keep in mind.
Martin fits better a little further down. His 2026 season came in two very different halves: dominant early, shaky late.
The most reasonable projection is somewhere in the middle, and that profiles as a solid third starter if the Sox make the kind of upgrades they’re expected to pursue. If they don’t add much, or only bring in depth, then his role could shift upward.
Anthony Kay belongs in the mix too, though his spot depends on whether he can start working deeper into games. The lefty needs to be giving the Sox five innings consistently.
If that doesn’t happen, the fallback is obvious: either slide him down to the fifth spot or send him back to the bullpen. He also has to cut down on hitting batters.
Another outside addition could wind up right here if the team finds a serviceable arm who doesn’t need to be a true rotation anchor.
The final spot is messy, and that’s because the White Sox have multiple directions they could go. Luis Castillo is the uncomfortable name here.
He was the main trade target in 2026, but instead of being one of the better arms in the group, he lands in the five spot for now. He’s under team control on what the source describes as an albatross of a contract, so unless the Sox move him, he’s likely staying on the roster.
He was on the injured list at the end of the year, so maybe the answer is as simple as getting healthy again - unless that IL stint was just a phantom injury because he was struggling.
Erick Fedde is another possibility if he returns. He worked well enough as a bulk reliever in 2026 to stay in the conversation.
Then there are the young arms, and that group is still very much part of the picture. The Sox have said directly that at least one of Noah Schultz, Hagen Smith, and Grant Taylor will be stretched out to start. That trio was on starter tracks not long ago, and the safest approach might be to keep Taylor in the closer role, let Schultz get more seasoning at Charlotte, and stretch out Smith, who was more reliable than Schultz.
There are other names in the mix, too. Fedde, Smith, Schultz, and Taylor all remain possibilities, and Shane Smith and Jonathan Cannon could enter the picture along with David Sandlin and Drew Thorpe.
Even with all of those internal options, Chicago has made it clear it’s looking outside the organization as well. That suggests one or two new arms could show up in camp next spring, and it would not be a surprise if Castillo were moved if another team is willing to take on the money.
If the Sox don’t add outside help, they could still piece together something workable with Burke, Martin, Kay, a rebound from Castillo, and Fedde or one of the young pitchers. Another version would be Burke, Martin, Kay, and two of the younger arms.
Either way, the message is the same: the White Sox need starters who can chew up innings. The patchwork approach wore the staff down late and helped create problems in the ALDS.
If Chicago can find four or five reliable starters who go deep into games, the rotation and the team as a whole will be in much better shape.
In Other News...
White Sox Offseason Blueprint Hints At A Much Bigger Reset
The White Sox are heading into the offseason with a roster that already looks like it could use a few more layers of clarification, from arbitration-eligible players to looming free agents and a handful of moving parts left over from recent transactions. The broader picture in the clubs planning is easy enough to see: Chicago is sorting through depth, role fit and a potential lineup structure for next season, while also weighing how aggressive it wants to be as the front office keeps reshaping the roster around a long-term plan.
Recent trades have only added to the sense that this winter could bring more turnover, with the team already pulling in Braxton Ashcraft and sketching out how players like Freddy Peralta and Alec Bohm fit into the larger discussion. The intriguing part for White Sox fans is how much more movement might still be coming, because the current blueprint suggests the organization is still willing to make bigger, harder choices if it means accelerating the reset. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Link To Superstar Starter Raises A Bigger Front Office Question
As the White Sox head toward free agency, the conversation around their roster fits is already bigger than just plugging a few holes. Starting pitching remains a need, and so does outfield depth, which is why Jim Bowden of The Athletic linked Chicago to Tarik Skubal while ranking the left-hander as the top free agent on the market and putting the Dodgers and Mets in the same bucket of possible suitors.
The tougher question is whether a club still operating under financial constraints and a fairly cautious roster-building philosophy can realistically chase that kind of impact arm. Bowdens broader point was less about a likely chase and more about the kind of decision the White Sox front office has to make if it wants to accelerate the rebuild, because the market for a star starter of this caliber is expected to test every teams appetite for spending. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Rotation Search Just Got Real About One Harsh Limit
The White Sox are already being pushed into the 2026 starting-pitching market, and the early list is a reminder of how hard it is to build a rotation from the top down. Tarik Skubal sits at the center of the conversation because he is the sort of arm every team would want to chase, but the reality is more complicated than the name alone. Chicagos search has also turned toward a handful of other free-agent and trade possibilities, with each one carrying a different mix of cost, risk and fit.
Freddy Peralta is emerging as the more realistic high-end target for the White Sox, which says plenty about where the clubs search may actually lead. Clay Holmes, meanwhile, still lingers as a name worth watching after past trade chatter, but he looks more like a fallback than a front-line answer. Beyond that, Chicago is sorting through left-handed options such as Foster Griffin and Trevor Rogers, trying to find a path that makes sense without overreaching for the wrong kind of help. [Read more 🡒]