After consecutive 100-loss seasons, the White Sox's young core and strategic signings ignite hope for a more competitive 2026.
The Chicago White Sox lost 121 games in 2024. That set the American League record. They followed it with 102 losses in 2025, a 19-game improvement that qualified as meaningful progress given where they were. The core of what this team is going to be is now either in the building or close to it. How quickly it comes together determines whether 2026 is another developmental year or something slightly more competitive.
Projected Opening Day Lineup
1. Chase Meidroth, 2B
2. Austin Hays, RF
3. Colson Montgomery, SS
4. Munetaka Murakami, 1B
5. Miguel Vargas, 3B
6. Andrew Benintendi, LF
7. Lenyn Sosa, DH
8. Edgar Quero, C
9. Luisangel Acuna, CF
Starting catcher Kyle Teel is out four to six weeks after a Grade 2 hamstring strain in the World Baseball Classic. The rotation opens with Shane Smith, who went from a Rule 5 pick to an All-Star in 2025, making the first Opening Day start of his career against his original organization, the Milwaukee Brewers. He is followed by Sean Burke, Anthony Kay, Davis Martin and Erick Fedde. Seranthony Dominguez is the closer on a two-year, $20 million deal.
The State of the Rebuild
Three consecutive 100-loss seasons — 101 in 2023, 121 in 2024, 102 in 2025. The combined record over the last two years is 101-223. Manager Pedro Grifol was fired in August 2024 when the team was 28-89. Will Venable was hired from the Rangers that October and oversaw the 19-game improvement.
The preseason win total at Caesars is 65.5 wins, second-lowest in baseball behind only Colorado. FanGraphs projects 68.6 wins. Those numbers reflect where the team is — a club in transition with legitimate young players arriving but not yet a competitive roster top to bottom.
The front office is not treating it that way, at least publicly. General manager Chris Getz has said he can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Manager Venable told reporters the team is trying to win now. The Murakami signing, at two years and $34 million, is the largest external free agent commitment this organization has made during the rebuild.
Colson Montgomery and the Young Core
Montgomery was the 22nd overall pick in 2021 and spent parts of 2025 struggling at Triple-A before a mid-June hitting adjustment and a July callup changed everything. From July 4 through the end of the season, he hit 21 home runs with an OPS+ north of 130. His max exit velocity was 114.5 mph, which tied Rafael Devers for one of the harder-hit balls in the sport. He bats third and is the organizational cornerstone.
The Garrett Crochet trade in December 2024 — sending him to the Red Sox — brought back the four players who now shape the franchise. Kyle Teel and Chase Meidroth are in the major league lineup. Braden Montgomery is the top outfield prospect. Wikelman Gonzalez is a pitching depth piece. The return on that deal has been better than most expected at the time.
Murakami won a Japanese record 56 home runs in his final NPB season and hit 246 over his career in Japan. At 24, he projects as a legitimate middle-of-the-order presence. The Luis Robert Jr. trade to the Mets — which brought Luisangel Acuna, Ronald Acuna Jr.'s younger brother, and prospect Truman Pauley — cleared $20 million in salary the Mets absorbed entirely.
Farm System
The White Sox are tied for the most Top 100 prospects of any organization per Baseball America, with six names on that list, and MLB Pipeline has five in their Top 100. Prospects1500 ranks the overall system 14th. That remains true even after Colson Montgomery, Kyle Teel, Chase Meidroth and Edgar Quero have all graduated from prospect status.
Braden Montgomery is the headliner — Pipeline No. 36, Baseball America No. 73. He slashed .270/.360/.444 at Double-A Birmingham and is expected to debut during the 2026 season. Noah Schultz, a 6-foot-9 left-hander, is Baseball America's top organizational prospect at No. 26 overall and has top-of-rotation ceiling. He is working to rebound from a difficult 2025 (4.68 ERA). Caleb Bonemer is an infielder with plus bat speed who projects for 20-30 home runs. Hagen Smith is a high-leverage arm Pipeline ranks No. 72. Billy Carlson, the 10th overall pick in 2025, is a defensive shortstop who profiles as one of the better gloves in the minors.
The White Sox also hold the No. 1 overall pick in the July 2026 draft, won with a 27.73 percent lottery probability. The expected selection is UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, whom Baseball America called the most impressive college shortstop prospect in the last 10 years, with Alex Bregman and Dansby Swanson cited as comparable players.
Timeline
The realistic window opens around 2027, when the top pitching prospects — Schultz, Hagen Smith, Tanner McDougal — could be contributing in the rotation, and the hitting core of Montgomery, Teel, Meidroth, Murakami and Braden Montgomery would be established. The 2026 draft pick adds to a system that is already among the deepest in baseball in terms of Top 100 names.
There is also a stadium question in the background. Justin Ishbia, who has an agreement to purchase controlling interest from Jerry Reinsdorf as early as 2029, is reportedly nearing a deal on a 47-acre Amtrak rail yard site in the South Loop for a potential new ballpark. The current lease at Guaranteed Rate Field expires after 2029. Whatever happens on that front, the organizational transition from tear-down to build phase is underway.