Chicago has a long history of signing legends past their prime — but a one-year deal with Justin Verlander or Max Scherzer could actually make sense this time.
The Chicago White Sox have a bit of a reputation for acquiring aging veterans when they’re well past their prime.
It hasn’t been as common in recent years, but especially during the Kenny Williams era of White Sox baseball, Chicago became the spot where every MLB legend or future Hall of Famer seemed to stop briefly at the end of their career.
Williams always had to get his guy — even if that meant getting him five (or sometimes ten) years too late.
Perhaps it was a strategy by the front office and owner Jerry Reinsdorf to boost ticket sales and generate intrigue around White Sox games. Maybe it was just an annual, desperate attempt to catch lightning in a bottle — which, at times, felt like the organization’s only strategy for having meaningful seasons.
Whatever the motivation, it happened far too frequently.
Ken Griffey Jr. Andruw Jones. Manny Ramirez. Kenny Lofton. Jimmy Rollins. Justin Morneau. Roberto Alomar. Steve Carlton. José Canseco.
The list goes on and on.
It’s a habit the White Sox have largely broken free from in recent years. But according to the latest MLB free-agency rumors, it could happen again on the South Side in 2026.
This time, though, it might actually make perfect sense.
Jon Morosi of MLB Network shared the latest on the pitching market earlier this week, and he connected the Chicago White Sox to future Hall of Fame pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander — both of whom are still looking for a home and intend to pitch this season.
Verlander will be 43 years old on Opening Day. And while he got off to a rough start last season with the San Francisco Giants, he finished the year with a 3.85 ERA across 152 innings.
That’ll play on just about any team in baseball.
Over his final 13 starts with the Giants, Verlander went 4–3 with a 2.60 ERA and held opposing hitters to a .228 batting average.
Scherzer, 41 and turning 42 midseason, didn’t have the same level of regular-season success. He posted a 5.19 ERA for the Toronto Blue Jays and missed significant time due to injury. But even he showed flashes late, making quality postseason starts — including Game 7 of the World Series, where he threw 4.1 innings of one-run ball against the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers.
There’s reason to believe both future Hall of Famers still have something left in the tank. Especially for a team like the White Sox, which is hunting innings, experience, and veteran leadership.
Why would Verlander or Scherzer sign with the lowly White Sox, you ask? Because it could be a path to meaningful innings, a solid payday, and a midseason trade to a contender. If there’s no immediate opening in the rotation of a World Series hopeful right now, there very well could be one by July.
And if you’re the White Sox, and you can get either pitcher to sign a one-year deal in the $8–10 million range, you do it. You take the veteran presence and the innings early in the season, knowing full well you’ve added a player contenders will be calling about at the trade deadline.
That’s worth every dollar.
It may not come with the best optics for either side. And yes, it would add Scherzer or Verlander to the long list of baseball legends who inspire the phrase, “I didn’t know he played for the White Sox.”
But not every move like this is as meaningless as a 38-year-old Manny Ramirez, who appeared in just 24 games for the Sox.
This would actually fill a real need on the roster, give fans another reason to tune in, and provide Chris Getz with another legitimate trade asset to flex at the deadline.