The White Sox saw a 19-game winning improvement in 2025 – and all that did was drop the club to 60 wins.
That’s how bad things have gotten for this franchise, which has had three consecutive 100-loss seasons. But at least the 2025 season had a different atmosphere than the horrific 2023 and 2024 seasons.
The 2023 debacle marked the battle window abruptly closing due to self-inflicted wounds. The sequel in 2024 was the worst 162-game season known to man.
Hope emerged from the 2025 season thanks to the arrival of promising youngsters like Colson Montgomery, Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero, Chase Meidroth, Shane Smith and Grant Taylor. The talent level seemed to be elevated as young veterans like Davis Martin, Lenyn Sosa and Miguel Vargas prove their ability to support cast players.
Things are looking good on the South Side, but that doesn’t mean the Pale Hose are ready to compete next season.
It’s still expected to be bad…but the talent is improving
Dan Szymborski of FanGraphs recently showed off his ZiPS projection for what things will look like for the White Sox next season. A big takeaway is that his prediction does not include a player ending the season with a negative WAR (wins over replacement).
That’s not exactly something to celebrate. But considering how much the talent has diminished over the years, the return to a roster of players at replacement level or better shows that things are moving in the right direction.
Szymborski still doesn’t think the White Sox will put together a surprisingly competitive season. He believes it is more important for the White Sox to continue to focus on improving the young core and adding more prospects to the big league roster:
The White Sox could keep their losses in the US 90s in 2026, but I probably rate the chances of a Cinderella season for them as much lower than for many teams at that level, like the Nationals. While this isn’t the kind of thing you actually want to say in a press release, I hope the Sox aren’t too obsessed with the exact number of wins they get next season, and focus on making their team a long-term contender rather than, say, pushing for .500 in 2026. We’ll see.
Indeed, it sounds like the front office is keeping its focus on a long-term candidate rather than looking for a quick fix for the roster. The biggest moves so far include adding reliever Chris Murphy, outfielder Everson Pereira and infielder Tanner Murray in a pair of small trades. A few key free agent additions could improve the club’s chances of finishing in a 70-75 win range.
General manager Chris Getz should have some money this season to make that happen. Payroll currently stands at $56.63 million for Spotrac. If Getz could get owner Jerry Reinsdorf to even approve a $90 million payroll for next season, that would give the GM almost $34 million to work with.
That could be enough to get two veteran starting pitchers, a few more bullpen arms and an upgrade in right field or first base. Getz needs to show he is capable of making those additions, as the jury is still out on his ability to make sensible moves.
However, $34 million still means shopping in the figurative bargain bin of free agency. That’s better than adding players from the figurative scrap heap like the past two seasons, but still not enough to take the White Sox from terrible to good. Instead, it will make this club a better, bad team.
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