The White Sox are probably the most surprising team in the playoffs through the first two months of the season. Chicago takes a 32-28 record into tonight’s game at Minnesota, putting them three games back in the race for second place in the AL Wild Card. They are only a game and a half back of the incumbents in the AL Central.
Chicago’s front office expected to take a step forward after their third consecutive 100-plus loss season. They came Munetaka Murakami middle of the order and took a handful of one- and two-year passes from the pitching staff. Having said that, they may not have identified this team as a potential play-off team going into this season. They have been in rebuilding mode throughout Chris Getz’s three years as general manager.
The Sox now find themselves in a different place as teams chart their trade deadline options. Should they be looking to move MLB talent revenue this summer to help push for a potential upset?
Getz spoke with Chad Jennings of The Athletic last week, indicating that the front office is focused on the long term. “It’s never 2026. It’s not. It’s still a very big picture,” Getz told Jennings. At the same time, he said the club is “starting to have this kind of winning mentality.” That may have changed the direction of the front office a few days later, as Getz has already gone back on last week’s comments.
“We’re focused on 2026. I know I said it’s not 2026, but this team is playing really good baseball,” the GM said Tuesday (link via James Fegan of the Sox Machine). “We know where we are at the top, within the division and the Wild Card, and we are monitoring it. If there are opportunities to add to this – we are more optimistic than just 2026 because we want to have a consistent winner here – but if there are opportunities to really add to this team, we will do that.”
Getz did not raise his hand on what the front office will prioritize. That’s easy to project from the outside. The Sox had the top 10 offense overall and tied for third in home runs behind the Yankees and Braves. They are one-tenth in percentage supported and one-fifth in conviction. Pitching has been a relative weakness, ranking 19th in earned run average and 20th in strikeout rate.
Chicago could use help in both the rotation and the bullpen. Starting pitching stats have been a big priority, as there are a few obvious areas that need improvement at the end. Davis Martin had a great season establishing himself as the top arm of the staff, poor start today at Target Field notwithstanding. Sean Burke again Anthony Kay be the arms that can rotate in the center.
Resigning Erick Fedde in the $1.5MM reclamation deal didn’t work out, while high expectations Noah Schultz he hasn’t been effective enough in his eight MLB starts. Schultz went on the injured list with patellar tendinitis last week but should be back after being sidelined for a while. Another hope, David Sandlinhe has played his first two major league games yet. If the Sox continue to contend, they think they can add at least one starter to replace Fedde.
The bullpen has found its footing somewhat after a bad April. The second year is fine Grant Taylor it is a rear weapon. Sean Newcomb, Seranthony Domínguez again Bryan Hudson they are all active and mixed with increasing roles. They could use another arm or two in the middle innings, though.
There isn’t much to do on the position player side considering Murakami and Kyle Teel come back from injury, or perhaps they will explore the foreign market. Sam Antonacci took left field and quickly rose to the top of the list as a solid base-running threat. They got a good job Tristan Peters in center field, but entered the season without a major league hitting record. The right field became a revolving door, currently falling on a Rikuu Nishida/Randal Grichuk the group.
Getz told Fegan that the Sox expect to look at outside opportunities Braden Montgomery this season. Found next to Teel once Chase Meidroth of Garrett Crochet deal, the 23-year-old Montgomery is hitting .281/.366/.461 over 23 Triple-A contests. He logged the same amount of Double-A playing time before getting the bump to Triple-A in early May.
Even if the Sox move up Montgomery before the trade deadline, they could be looking at a lefty out of the organization. Montgomery is a switch-hitter who can play either center field or right field. While it’s likely the Sox will want him to play regularly as he gets older, there may be some growing pains. Between that and the possibility of Peters regressing offensively, adding some kind of outfield help makes sense.
None of this means that the front office is likely to work from the top of the farm system. The expected cost of a back-end starter, middle-relief help and/or a complementary outfield bat should all be managed accordingly. It’s too early to determine many buyers and sellers, but Mickey Moniak, Jake McCarthy again Trevor Larnach they are among the most likely left-handed outfielders to be found.
