The Chicago White Sox are on the rise in 2026.
The team’s disappointing 60–102 record in 2025 guaranteed that Chris Getz, Chicago’s executive vice-president and general manager since 2023, wasn’t going to trot out the same crew. Although progress has been noted, at seasons’ end, over Getz’s three years directing the club’s baseball operations, and after landing in fifth place twice and fourth place once in the American League Central, there is room for growth this coming season.
When losing regularly occurs, everyone associated with forming the club’s roster starts to look over their shoulder. Getz and his staff, along with field manager Will Venable, have been kicking up their rebuilding game since last September. White Sox fans should be pleased with the many personnel moves involving players chartered by the club’s brass.
White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, 89, who has been the main voice of the franchise since 1981, may need a scorecard when attending spring training later this month in Phoenix. Under Getz’s watch, 24 players have been signed to minor league deals, and another 15 will be invited to training camp as non-roster invitees.
It’s as if the White Sox are having a six-week-long tryout camp, and everyone is starting out equal.
A number of possibilities could shape the White Sox in the coming season between this month at their Camelback Ranch-Glendale facility in Phoenix and the home opener on April 2 at Rate Field against the Toronto Blue Jays on the city’s South Side. Getz has already made several big-time splashes that should keep them close to division leaders Cleveland and Detroit.
After trading center fielder Luis Robert Jr. and his $20 million contract for this coming season, Getz used some of those freed-up funds to sign free agent right-hand reliever Seranthony Dominguez. Agreeing to terms of $20 million over two years, Dominguez is the workhorse that Chicago needed to have leading their bullpen.
Splitting last season between the Baltimore Orioles and the Blue Jays, Dominquez appeared in 67 games. Bringing seven years of experience with him to the White Sox should make his team’s second-year manager confident that when called upon, scoring leads will be protected.
Austin Hays last week was welcomed to the White Sox. The free-agent outfielder signed a one-year contract. Last with the Cincinnati Reds, Hays gives Venable flexibility in Chicago’s lineup. He has extensive experience in playing all three outfield positions over the past eight seasons in the American and National Leagues. With the signing, Chicago’s 40-man roster is now complete.
Days before Christmas, the White Sox received a present several other MLB clubs were hoping to have land under their trees, signing Japanese slugging infielder Munetaka Murakami to a two-year, $34 million contract. This signing signals that Chicago is not only interested in attracting players from Asia, but it is willing to outbid and overpay to land an international star.
Although Murakami has split his time between third and first base, initially, he is likely to be penciled in as the everyday designated hitter. During his 2022 Nippon Professional Baseball season in Japan with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Murakami won a second consecutive Nippon Professional Baseball MVP, belted 56 home runs, and captured a batting Triple Crown.
Anthony Kay and Sean Newcomb are two additional pitchers who will stabilize the White Sox staff. Newcomb split his 2025 duties, first with 12 appearances with the Boston Red Sox, followed by 37 games with the A’s. The lefty reliever finished his time in Sacramento with a 1.66 ERA. As for Kay, he returns stateside after two seasons pitching in Japan. His two-year contract with Chicago comes after accumulating an 11–6 record overseas. After bouncing around for six seasons with Toronto and the New York Mets organizations, Kay, 30, figured out his game with Yokohama and now returns with a renewed confidence.
Jordan Hicks and Luisangel Acuña are the two other top pieces to Getz’s retooling of the 2026 White Sox. Acuña comes to the White Sox as part of the Robert Jr. trade. In just over 100 games on the MLB level with the Mets the past two seasons, the infielder-outfielder has demonstrated sparks of being a serious threat on the base paths, and a potential leadoff hitter that Chicago’s lineup has been lacking. With Jordan Hicks on the mound this summer for the White Sox, look for him to—at least in the beginning of the season—work out of the bullpen. However, he has extensive experience starting. In 2025 Hicks while with the Red Sox and San Francisco Giants appeared in 35 games. He started nine games last season.
The 2026 club on the South Side isn’t remotely going to be the same old, business-as-usual White Sox. The losing reputation has been tossed out the window. Getz and Venable could very well be looking at a second consecutive season with 19 additional wins. But, the newest collection of White Sox have the talent to reach above and beyond an 81–81 finish. White Sox baseball hasn’t been this exciting in many years.
