The Chicago White Sox may be the most known factor in the AL Central. After what seemed like a decent rivalry that ultimately extinguished, resulting in years long rebuild, the White Sox have found themselves rooted squarely in the bottom of the AL Central. The 2025 season was no different.
The White Sox finished last season with a 60-102 record under manager Will Venable. This paltry record was somehow better than the 2024 record of 41-121. Will the White Sox be able to tack on 20 more wins in 2026
and claw their way back into the AL Central conversation?
This off season saw the White Sox making a lot of moves, not necessarily amazing moves, but more than we saw from the Guardians front office. One of the big shake ups to the established White Sox roster was the trade of OF Luis Robert Jr. to the Mets for IF/OF Luisangel Acuña and RHP Truman Pauley. Some other notable moves include OF Austin Hays and RHP Erick Fedde both agreeing to a one-year contracts.
Perhaps the most noteworthy signing came from Japanese NPB player Munetaka Murakami. In the NPB Murakami put up a 211 wRC+ and hit .273/.379/.663 as an infielder.
Fangraphs has the projected Opening Day lineup against RHP as:
- Chase Meidroth – RHH 2B
- Colson Montgomery – LHH SS
- Miguel Vargas – RHH 3B
- Munetaka Murakami – LHH 1B
- Austin Hays – RHH RF
- Andrew Benintendi – LHH LF
- Lenyn Sosa – RHH DH
- Brooks Baldwin – SH CF
- Edgar Quero – SH C
Projected Bench:
- Korey Lee – RHH C
- Luisangel Acuña – RHH INF/OF
- Derek Hill – RHH OF
- Everson Pereira – RHH OF
Projected Starting Rotation:
- Shane Smith – RHP
- Anthony Kay – LHP
- Davis Martin – RHP
- Sean Burke – RHP
- Erick Fedde – RHP
The line up has some handedness issues looming. Brooks Baldwin batted .249 as a LHH making his place in the line up against RHP worthwhile, but the opposite can be expected from Quero. Quero hit .220 against RHP as a LHH, but is much stronger against lefties as a RHH, batting .357. Their projected ace is the only starting pitcher in the rotation who had a sub 4.00 ERA in 2025 (3.81). Colson Montgomery will likely see his first full season with in the big leagues, giving him a chance to expand on his 2025 season. In 2025 Montgomery posted a 129 wRC+ and a 2.7 WAR. He batted .239/.311/.529 in only 71 games (284 PA) with the club. Montgomery is positioned to be the face that ushers in a new era of White Sox baseball as prospects like Caleb Bonemer (ranked 33rd overall), Noah Schultz (ranked 36th overall), and Hagen Smith (ranked 65th overall) begin their climb to the show.
Its no secret the White Sox have it all stacked against them, but the team is shaping a new identity entering their second season under manager Will Venable. The front office is trying to make meaningful and impactful moves. This is a team that still has some life left in them. I, like most, predict that they will finish 5th barring a catastrophic implosion from the other AL Central teams. However, I do hope this team can show some scrap and muster up a more competitive record. After all this division is most fun when its a neck and neck competition top to bottom.
