For the 2026 Chicago White Sox, the arrival of Opening Day isn’t just a celebration of a new season; it’s also a deadline for a game of “Roster Tetris.” With a front office focused on a deep rebuild, the team finds itself with a critical mass of “bubble players.” Guys who are talented enough to be on a 40-man roster, but out of minor-league options, and facing the cold reality of the waiver wire.
If these guys don’t crack the 26-man, it’s DFA city — tossed to the wolves, with 29 teams circling for
scraps. In a league desperate for cheap depth, most of them are one waiver away from vanishing off the South Side for good.
Top of the line talent crew
First up: the ex-top prospects, now dangling at the end of their developmental rope.
Lenyn Sosa (INF): Once a prized international signing, now a walking question mark. He led the team with 22 bombs last year, but can’t find a glove that fits. With Colson Montgomery, Chase Meidroth, and the rest of the infield mob breathing down his neck, Sosa is squarely on the must-keep-or-must-lose chopping block.
Luisangel Acuña (INF/OF): The Sox have no choice but to keep Acuña on the 26-man. That sets off a domino chain with someone else getting the boot. Getz keeps promising Acuña the runway he never got with the Mets, but with the infield jammed, he’ll be scrapping for second base and probably thrown into center, the spot vacated by Luis Robert Jr.
Everson Pereira (OF): Acquired from the Rays, Pereira has “bust-level” hit tool concerns but “All-Star” athleticism. If the Sox can’t find 400 at-bats for him, another team surely will take a flyer on his raw power.
Miguel Vargas (INF): A key piece in the Michael Kopech/Erick Fedde trade, Vargas certainly improved in 2025, but how he fits in 2026 is uncertain. The White Sox need him to work out, but if he struggles in camp (he’s actually been killing it) and they attempt to “hide” him in Triple-A, he’s as good as gone.
Jarred Kelenic (OF): Kelenic isn’t just a typical non-roster invitee; he signed with Chicago specifically because hitting coach Ryan Fuller, who worked with him in Nashville during the offseason, believes he can help him adjust his swing. To keep Kelenic, the White Sox must add him to the 40-man roster, but since the 40-man is already bursting with “no-option” players, adding Kelenic means the Sox would likely have to designate someone else.
With Andrew Benintendi and Pereira both nursing “right side soreness” in early March, Kelenic may have a window to seize an Opening Day starting role. If he hits as he did in the 2023 season (.253/.327/.419), he isn’t just a bubble player, but rather a middle-of-the-order threat. Although his play in Spring Training so far hasn’t indicated that guy is in there, as he’s slashing .176/.222/.235.
Pitching logjam
Tyson Miller (RHP): Not on the 40-man, minor-league deal in January, and the poster child for Catch-22. If he shoves in spring, someone else gets the axe. He was nails for the Cubs in 2024, then his hip exploded in 2025. Now he’s healthy, but a 7.36 ERA in Arizona is not exactly banging down the door.
Tyler Gilbert (LHP): Ate innings for the 2025 Sox — 46 games, 3.88 ERA, and plenty of opener gigs. He’s out of options, and the Sox have a lefty pileup with Brandon Eisert and Chris Murphy lurking. If they only keep two southpaws and Gilbert gets the chop, he’s gone. At 32, a lefty who can start or mop up is catnip for contenders.
Odd man out in a three-headed monster
Korey Lee (C/OF): The White Sox are currently carrying three catchers who all arguably belong in the majors: the veteran-minded Lee and the “future of the franchise” duo of Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero. Because Chicago cannot send Lee down without clearing waivers, he is essentially holding a roster spot hostage. In a desperate bid to increase his value, Lee began taking reps in left field late in the 2025 season and made one in-game appearance, even making a sliding catch against the Padres.
If he makes the Opening Day roster, it likely won’t be as a primary catcher, but as a “Swiss Army Knife” who can catch, DH, and fill in at the corners. If the Sox decide they can’t afford to carry three catchers, Lee is a prime candidate for a claim. At 27 years old, with a first-round pedigree and a respectable .762 OPS in his limited 2025 action, a team would likely snatch him up the moment his name hits the wire.
The land down under
Curtis Mead (INF): Came over for Adrian Houser at the deadline. Former Top-100 guy, with a quick bat and sharp eye. He’s off to play for Team Australia in the WBC, so his Cactus League showcase is done. The Sox have no choice but to keep him on the 26-man because if they let him hit waivers, he’s gone in a heartbeat.
Defensive insurance policy
Derek Hill (OF): The White Sox signed Hill to a unique split contract ($900k MLB / $450k MiLB) this winter to try to create “artificial” flexibility. However, Hill has no options left. The split contract is a gamble by the front office, betting that other teams might be deterred from claiming him because they’d have to inherit those specific contract terms. Hill is effectively the “store-brand” version of Michael A. Taylor, elite speed and defense, but a career 32% strikeout rate. If the Sox keep the high-upside youth (Acuña, Pereira), Hill is the most likely veteran wire sacrifice.
Rule 5 blues
While the other players on this list are “out of options,” the Rule 5 picks are in an even tighter cage: they must remain on the active MLB roster for the entire season. If the White Sox want to move them to the minors, they have to pass through waivers and then be offered back to their original teams (the Red Sox and Rays) for just $50,000.
Jedixson Paez (RHP): Picked second overall from Boston, Paez is the control artist of the bunch. He hasn’t pitched above High-A, but the Sox are betting his 1.40 BB/9 command can play in relief. One spring outing so far: scoreless, hitless, one K.
Alexander Alberto (RHP): A big righthander straight out of the Rays system, he’s got pure stuff with a fastball that touches 101. Three spring games, but the lack of upper-level reps is showing with a 6.75 ERA over four frames. If he can’t find the zone, the Sox have to decide if the 100 mph gas is worth bumping a vet like Tyson Miller.
If Paez and Alberto don’t show “survival skills” in the final two weeks of spring, they surely will be the first dominoes to fall. Their departure would be the only way to save the other “bubble” players from the waiver wire.
The stakes
For Chris Getz and the White Sox, the end of March is a tightrope walk. Keep the wrong guy, lose the right one, and suddenly you’re watching talent blossom somewhere else — looking at you, Romy González.
As Opening Day creeps closer, these guys aren’t just fighting for a spot on the South Side; they’re fighting to stay in the organization, period. For more than a few, the flight out of Glendale is likely a one-way ticket to somewhere else.
