Perhaps I’m reaching for a comparison that doesn’t exist, but if Chicago White Sox fans want an idea of where the club is currently at in their rebuild, they should look to the 2018 White Sox.
There are many similarities between the this year's team and the one we saw before the previous contending window.
With emerging prospects, a volatile bullpen, and a strikingly similar record, the 2025 White Sox remind me a lot of the 2018 squad.
The emerging prospects
The White Sox have started to see flashes from their young core at the big league level in 2025.
Kyle Teel has an .800 OPS. Colson Montgomery has launched 14 home runs. Shane Smith was an All-Star during his rookie season. Edgar Quero, Chase Meidroth, and Grant Taylor have all had their moments too. But there’s still more help on the way.
The White Sox have No. 1 prospect Braden Montgomery looking strong in Double-A while Caleb Bonemer and Billy Carlson are both a few years away.
We’ll probably get Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith in 2026, but neither are ready at the moment.
Similarly, the 2018 White Sox had Yoán Moncada (23), Tim Anderson (25), and Reynaldo Lopez (24) putting together respectable seasons as really young players. Michael Kopech also made his debut during the 2018 season, which electrified Sox fans.
As 2019 and 2020 rolled around, the White Sox got development from Lucas Giolito and brought up more reinforcements. Luis Robert Jr., Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease, and Nick Madrigal would all debut from 2019-2020.
We are going to see a similar wave of young talent come up for the White Sox in 2026 and 2027.
A similar record
By record alone, the White Sox might seem like they are still far away from contending. If they are able to play close to .500 baseball the rest of the way, they’ll come in right around the 100-loss mark in 2025.
While 100 losses is nothing to celebrate, it's exactly where the 2018 White Sox were, and two years later, they were in the playoffs.
When you are losing games because of a shaky bullpen and some unreliable veterans that don’t have a long-term future with the team, it can be much easier to find a year over year improvement.
The White Sox finished 62–100 in 2018. This year’s club might be headed for the same fate.
One more building year is necessary
After a 100-loss season in 2018, the White Sox didn’t go all out in free agency. Chicago infamously missed out on both Manny Machado and Bryce Harper during that offseason.
That being said, they did make a few moves that significantly improved and lead to a building block 2019 season.
The White Sox signed catcher James McCann, who made the AL All-Star team in 2019. They also brought in a proven closer in Alex Colomé to stabilize the bullpen, and inked deals with veteran pitchers Ivan Nova and Evan Marshall to eat some innings.
These moves, while small, helped raise the floor of the 2019 White Sox. They called up more prospects, got development from young players, and won 72 games (72-89). Then it was all systems go for 2020.
Yasmani Grandal and Dallas Keuchel were signed ahead of the 2020 season. The rest of the prospects got called up. It was time to force the window of contention open.
My expectation for the White Sox this offseason is to be a bigger player in free agency. I’m not banking on any huge contracts or additions, but adding a few reliable pieces on multi-year deals could help raise the floor of the team. Then, as the current young core develops and more prospects join the White Sox, it will be time to compete in the 2027 season.
It's certainly not a 1-for-1 comparison, but I think the comparisons between the 2025 White Sox and the 2018 White Sox are fair.