As the White Sox continue to look for high-leverage bullpen help, an undervalued veteran like Tyler Kinley could be a free agency bargain.
As we wait for more news or rumors involving the Chicago White Sox, there’s no better time to explore potential free-agent fits who address some of the club’s biggest needs.
If we take general manager Chris Getz at his word, we know the White Sox are not finished adding to their bullpen.
The organization has been looking for help in high-leverage relief situations, but it has yet to make a significant bullpen addition this winter. The only pitcher the White Sox have signed so far is left-hander Sean Newcomb, who they plan to test as a starting pitcher at the beginning of Spring Training. That doesn’t exactly read as a move designed to provide late-inning insurance.
It’s not that the White Sox need a closer. Earlier in the offseason, I may have felt that way, but the more time has passed, the more I’ve come around to the idea of Jordan Leasure handling the role full-time in 2026. Ultimately, that’s where I think the team is headed.
Spending big on a closer isn’t the wisest use of resources—especially for a team with financial limitations like the White Sox. If you’re the Dodgers, sure, go spend top dollar and build the best roster possible. But we saw during the last rebuild how investing heavily in the bullpen, only to have overall spending restricted at the peak of contention, led to a fleeting window. That was a clear misuse of resources.
At the same time, having a lockdown option at the back end of the bullpen is essential for any team with World Series aspirations. You need stability in high-leverage situations.
That’s why 2026 is such an important year for evaluating Jordan Leasure. If you have an internal option who is under club control and doesn’t require a massive payday, you need to know whether he can handle that responsibility.
But you also need insurance—just in case it doesn’t work. That’s where free agency comes into play.
The White Sox should be targeting a proven veteran arm who can be deployed in high-leverage spots whenever Will Venable deems it necessary. Someone with the flexibility and reliability to pitch every other night. Maybe that’s not a traditional closer, but someone with experience closing games would certainly help.
One pitcher who fits that criteria is right-hander Tyler Kinley, and I believe he’s currently undervalued by the rest of the league.
Tyler Kinley
Spotrac projects Kinley’s free-agent market value at roughly one year, $2.8 million. That’s a contract the White Sox could easily make work—and one that could end up providing far more value than the price tag suggests.
Kinley will turn 35 before Opening Day, so a multi-year deal seems unlikely. But in 2025, he showed just how much spending most of his career with the Colorado Rockies may have masked his true ability.
From 2020 to 2025, Kinley pitched in 253 games for Colorado and posted a 5.05 ERA—nothing impressive on the surface. But after being traded to the Atlanta Braves midway through the 2025 season, he was dominant. Over 24 appearances and 25 innings with Atlanta, Kinley recorded a 0.72 ERA and a 0.68 WHIP.
It’s remarkable what getting away from Coors Field can do for a pitcher’s career.
When healthy, Kinley is a workhorse. He made 73 total appearances in 2025 and logged 67 outings in 2024. Having a veteran arm capable of pitching every other day is an incredibly valuable asset for a manager to have.
What really stands out—and why Kinley makes sense for the 2026 White Sox—are the advanced metrics pointing to elite performance.
In 2025, no pitcher in baseball had a better hard-hit rate than Kinley. He ranked in the 100th percentile. He was also elite in whiff rate, chase rate, and average exit velocity allowed, while posting respectable numbers in barrel rate, expected batting average, and expected ERA.
His breaking pitches carried a run value of 15, according to Baseball Savant, which placed him in the 99th percentile among pitchers.
Even in 2024—when his surface-level numbers were rough, including a 6.19 ERA—his underlying metrics remained strong. He ranked in the 93rd percentile in whiff rate, the 88th percentile in hard-hit rate, and the 79th percentile in chase rate.
The difference in 2025 was the addition of a curveball to his arsenal. Kinley did not throw that pitch prior to last season. He used it roughly 12% of the time, and it made everything else more effective. His breaking-ball run value jumped from -1 in 2024 to 15 in 2025 as a result.
I believe the rest of baseball is still undervaluing Tyler Kinley because of the relatively small sample size of elite production. But with the added curveball—and a chance to work with Brian Bannister and the White Sox pitching staff—this could be a home run bullpen addition on a one- or even two-year deal.
The White Sox should be all over it. Whoever signs Tyler Kinley is getting a bargain.