With free agency set to begin, ESPN isn’t wasting any time taking an early look at the 2026 Major League Baseball landscape.

The network’s annual “way-too-early” power rankings are back — an offseason tradition built around “how teams look right now, minus their free agents, while factoring in rookies and young players.”

Unsurprisingly, the Los Angeles Dodgers landed atop this year’s list. They probably won’t be surrendering that spot anytime soon.

But for the first time in a long time, the Chicago White Sox weren’t buried at the bottom. Not even close, actually.

ESPN ranked the White Sox at No. 24 — ahead of the Pirates, Cardinals, Twins, Angels, Nationals, and Rockies.

“It’s obviously been a rough three years with three consecutive 100-loss seasons, but I like the general direction here with an interesting group of impact rookies arriving in 2025 (Colson Montgomery, Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero, Shane Smith, Sean Burke),” wrote ESPN’s David Schoenfield, highlighting the positive trajectory on the South Side.

He also pointed out that “outfielder Braden Montgomery and pitchers Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith [are] not far away.”

Just ahead of the Sox in the rankings are the Houston Astros and Arizona Diamondbacks — and honestly, I’m not sure I would’ve believed you if you told me that a year ago. But here they are, sitting in the same tier as some of baseball’s recently elite organizations. It’s a reminder that even the mighty can hit a downturn — and that the White Sox might finally be trending the other way.

You could even make the case that Chicago deserves to be higher. Both Arizona and Miami hovered around .500 in 2025, but neither team seems ready to make a leap this winter. The Diamondbacks are shedding talent. The Marlins are stuck in neutral. Meanwhile, the White Sox are only scratching the surface.

Do these early power rankings actually matter? Of course not. They'll literally have zero impact on the 2026 season, and the landscape will continue to shift with every free agent that inks a contract.

But there’s still meaning behind the movement. For a franchise that’s spent years being labeled one of baseball’s bottom-feeders, perception matters. And for the first time in a long time, the perception around the White Sox is shifting — from hopeless to hopeful.

That’s progress, and a welcome sight for White Sox fans who deserve to see a competent on-field product.