Offseason Outlook: Chicago White Sox

The Reinsdorf era may be drawing to a close.  With clean books and many unsettled positions, do the White Sox have any bold offseason moves up their sleeve?

Guaranteed Contracts

• Andrew Benintendi, LF: $31MM through 2027

Option Decisions

• Luis Robert Jr., CF: $20MM club option ($2MM buyout); deal includes $20MM club option for 2027
• Martin Perez, SP: $10MM mutual option ($1.5MM buyout)

Total 2026 commitments (if Robert’s option is exercised): $38MM
Total long-term commitments (if Robert’s option is exercised): $52.5MM through 2027

Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; salary projections via Matt Swartz)

• Mike Tauchman (5.143): $3.4MM
• Steven Wilson (3.166): $1.5MM
• Derek Hill (3.040): $1MM

Non-tender candidates: Wilson, Hill

Free Agents

• Tyler Alexander, Michael A. Taylor (retired)

In last year’s Offseason Outlook, we briefly touched on the bigger-picture questions of who will own the White Sox long-term and where they will play in 2030.  One of those questions has likely been answered.  In June of this year, the team announced that “Jerry Reinsdorf and Justin Ishbia have reached a long-term investment agreement that establishes a framework for Ishbia to obtain a future controlling interest in the White Sox,” adding that “Ishbia will make capital infusions into the White Sox as a limited partner in 2025 and 2026 that will be used to pay down existing debt and support ongoing team operations.”

That’s the headline, but the details are crucial:

“The agreement provides that, from 2029–33, Reinsdorf will have the option to sell the controlling interest to Ishbia. After the 2034 season, Ishbia will have the option to acquire the controlling interest. In the event of any such future transaction, all limited partners of the Sox would have the opportunity to sell to Ishbia at that time. In addition to Justin Ishbia, his brother Mat Ishbia, and father Jeff Ishbia will also be significant investors. There is no assurance that any such future transaction will occur, and in no event will such a transaction take place before 2029.”

If you’ve got 20 minutes to spare, check out this discussion between Alex Maragos of NBC 5 Chicago and Jon Greenberg of The Athletic, who has done a lot of reporting on this planned transfer of ownership.  You’ll hear the word “transformative” thrown around, but there’s no reason to expect a significant player payroll increase in the near future.  White Sox fans have a new sense of hope about the future of the franchise, but for the 2025-26 offseason, we don’t expect much of an Ishbia effect.

The 2025 White Sox were just normal bad, rather than historically bad.  It was the team’s third consecutive 100-loss season, with a 60-102 record.  The White Sox ranked 14th in the AL with 3.99 runs scored per game.  The starting rotation ranked 11th with a 4.39 ERA, while the bullpen checked in at 10th with a 4.16 mark.  The defense seemed to be bottom-five in the league.

Despite that, positives are emerging.  The White Sox have established a Kyle Teel–Edgar Quero job-share at catcher.  Teel came up in June and posted 1.9 fWAR in 78 games, including a 125 wRC+ at the plate that ranked sixth among all catchers.  Shortstop Colson Montgomery came up in July and slugged at a level well beyond anything he’d done at Triple-A: a 129 wRC+ with 21 home runs in just 284 plate appearances.

On the pitching side, GM Chris Getz snagged Shane Smith from the Brewers in the Rule 5 draft last winter, and he remarkably became the team’s All-Star representative.  The righty, 26 in April, faltered in the middle of the summer but posted a 3.09 ERA and 27.1 K% over his final ten starts.

First base was a bit of a black eye.  The White Sox justifiably gave up on former third overall pick Andrew Vaughn, optioning him to Triple-A in May and sending him to the Brewers for pitcher Aaron Civale in mid-June.  The Brewers brought Vaughn up a few weeks later and he put up a surprising and robust 142 wRC+ in 254 plate appearances, plus a couple of key home runs in the Division Series against the Cubs.

The White Sox never really settled on a first baseman after moving on from Vaughn, with guys like Tim Elko, Ryan Noda, and trade deadline pickup Curtis Mead getting looks.  The majority of starts went to Miguel Vargas, who also played a bunch of third base.  Vargas flashed signs of life in May and August, but overall his 101 wRC+ doesn’t really play for a starter at an infield corner.  So what can be done?