As exciting as the 2026 season was for the White Sox, the majority of the season has been clouded by the impending lockout. In a little over a month, the CBA expires, and with a new deal highly unlikely to be reached by then, MLB’s owners are expected to lock out the players on December 1st. How long the lockout will last and whether or not it will affect the 2027 regular season is not yet known, but it’s certain to affect offseason activity regardless. With the offseason officially beginning five days after the end of the World Series, teams should have about a month to get started on their offseason before things shut down. And all indications are, they’re going to take advantage of it.
Takeaways from MLB's 34-page memo to owners on rules for potential lockout, via @EvanDrellich:
— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) October 8, 2026
- No trades or signings between MLB teams and players
- MLB will not stop players from playing in other professional leagues
- Player NIL and videos will be scrubbed from official… pic.twitter.com/ftujlLWHB0
In an article from Andy McCullough of The Athletic on Thursday, he mentioned the feeling around the league is that November will be very busy for free agency and other offseason activity. It’s easy to understand why. With uncertainty looming about the structure of the game moving forward, many players and teams will want to lock things in place early. It sounds like some agents feel the same way.
Superagent Scott Boras, who has represented many of baseball’s top players over the years, spoke about that very thing.
“For many teams, I can make an argument it’s clearly best for them to sign players currently, before the CBA, than it is after,” Boras said. “Because they have more freedom to do what they’re going to do. They can react later. Now they can get the talent. They can get what they want.”
It sounds like Boras isn’t the only one who feels that way either, and it seems like a December 1 deadline could help accelerate the market. Obviously, it’s not a hard deadline. Players can still choose to wait until the lockout lifts if they aren’t getting a deal they like beforehand. But there’s motivation for both sides to get something done sooner.
White Sox will need to strike early to upgrade rotation and outfield
For the White Sox, the primary focus will likely be on starting pitching and the outfield. Their payroll is among the bottom teams in the league, so there should be plenty of wiggle room when it comes to taking on salary, should they so choose. As of Chris Getz’s media session last week, he said he had not yet had the budget conversation with ownership. Reinsdorf has shown the willingness to increase the payroll up close to $200 million when the team is contending before, so perhaps that’s a benchmark to look forward to eventually. Whether that’s this offseason or not, who knows.
It’s not clear which tier of free agency the White Sox will be shopping in this offseason, or even the full list of players who might be available. But one thing is clear, if Chris Getz isn’t prepared to act early and often, the White Sox are going to fall behind. In my opinion, this offseason is one of the most pivotal for the entire White Sox rebuild. The team is coming off a playoff appearance and has a very low payroll. It feels like a tremendous opportunity to improve and continue to supplement the group of young players. Hopefully, Chris Getz and the front office are using this time to come up with a plan so they can be ready to strike when free agency begins.
December is going to be dark for baseball fans, but there should be some excitement coming as soon as November.
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