The White Sox may not have earned any postseason honors in 2025, but that doesn’t mean some of their younger players left town empty-handed. MLB announced its 2025 pre-arbitration bonus pool distribution, and four of Chicago’s players received supplemental cash based on their contributions this past season. Dollar amounts are based on “Joint WAR,” a unique Wins Above Replacement metric agreed upon by MLB and the MLBPA, with separate calculations for hitters and pitchers. The Joint WAR calculation is unfortunately
not available, so Baseball-Reference’s WAR is used here instead. For overall comparison, the top earner of the pre-arbitration bonus pool this season was Pirates ace Paul Skenes (7.7 bWAR), who was awarded a whopping $3.4 million thanks to a historic season capped by a unanimous NL Cy Young award.
However, sitting at the top of the group for Chicago is Colson Montgomery, who received $516,819. A solid chunk of change for what was, for Montgomery, a feel-good and appropriately rewarding breakout campaign that saw him cement his status as one of the franchise’s core pieces for the foreseeable future. Montgomery’s 3.3 bWAR was in large part a reflection of a season filled with consistent offensive production mixed with elite defense at a premium position. The only thing he didn’t do was earn any hardware, but he did finish fifth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting. The performance was especially impressive given that he appeared in only 71 games. The 23-year-old made a significant jump forward in his development and looks every bit like one of the league’s most valuable young infielders.
Following Montgomery was Shane Smith, who earned $255,276 in bonus pool money, commensurate with the value he created for the Sox. Smith’s 2.3 bWAR was a pleasant surprise for fans and likely even those in the organization who may have had high expectations for the righthander. He made six quality starts in 2025 while flashing improved command and the kind of “itch” to compete that was very much needed during a season of transition.
Kyle Teel, who continues to establish himself as a possible long-term answer behind the plate, collected $241,037 based on a 1.9 bWAR performance. His WAR captures how well-rounded Teel’s rookie campaign was for the White Sox, showcasing excellent receiving skills, developing power, and a growing presence in the box as a game-caller. Stability at catcher has been something the Sox have lacked for what feels like decades, so the continued development from Teel is particularly encouraging.
Chase Meidroth rounded out the group by collecting $218,320 for his 1.3 bWAR. Meidroth didn’t make many headlines, but his versatility, on-base ability, and plug-and-play reliability made him exactly the type of glue guy that every contender needs.
Edgar Quero likely just missed the cut at 1.2 bWAR, so this is a data point that shows how close he is to becoming a member of that group. He made significant strides for himself, continuing to improve at catcher while also flashing offensive consistency.
Fans will also notice Mike Vasil’s absence from the list. Since we don’t exactly know how Joint WAR is calculated, all we can do is speculate that whatever his numbers worked out to be, they were much different than his 2.9 bWAR.
For White Sox fans, these extra checks are also a little reminder that not all is doom and gloom right now. The past few seasons have had a lot of setbacks, but there is still a young core that is getting better, learning, and creating value. As the recent performances in 2025 demonstrated, these young players are hopefully not far from even bigger awards (and bigger checks) as well.
