On June 4, the Miami Marlins had just been swept by the lowly Colorado Rockies at home and were sitting with a 23-37 record. They had just four more wins than the Chicago White Sox at that point.
On September 6, the Marlins had lost five games in a row and were 65-77, 11 games out of a wild card spot in the National League.
Miami has been on a magical run ever since. Winners of seven straight games and 11 of their last 12, the Marlins are now 77-80. They are four games out of the NL Wild Card with five to play, and they’ll finish the year with a series against the New York Mets. There’s a chance Miami could get a wildcard spot with a sweep over the last weekend of the regular season.
The baseball world doesn’t really know what to make of the Marlins. Casual baseball fans would be hard-pressed to name a single player in Miami's everyday lineup right now. They are 15th in runs scored, 25th in team ERA, and somehow still in contention on the morning of September 24.
I think it just goes to show that baseball teams are never truly as far away as they think they are. The Marlins lost 100 games last season and didn’t do very much to improve their MLB roster. They banked on development from their young core to carry them, and here they are in the playoff race without their best player (Kyle Stowers) suiting up since August 15.
That’s as good of an argument as any for the Chicago White Sox to put the pedal to the metal and try to go for it in 2026.
The White Sox could realistically compete in 2026
The White Sox are probably in a better spot right now than the Marlins were at this time last year.
Both teams are going to finish the year right around the 100-loss mark, but the White Sox definitely have more rookies and young players to be excited about.
Miami’s offensive leaders from 2024 - Jazz Chisholm, Jake Burger, Josh Bell, and Bryan De La Cruz - are all with different teams in 2025. Injuries to Eury Perez and Sandy Alcantara made them unpredictable assets in 2025 and Janson Junk had a career 6.75 ERA before joining Miami.
That’s a lot worse than the White Sox, who have Kyle Teel, Colson Montgomery, Lenyn Sosa, and Chase Meidroth all producing above 1.1 fWAR this season with years of contract control remaining.
Chicago’s pitching staff is also sustainable. Sean Burke, Davis Martin, and Shane Smith aren’t going anywhere, and the farm system should provide reinforcements before much longer.
If the Marlins can flirt with .500 and a wildcard birth without making any significant offseason additions, surely the 2025 White Sox can do something similar if Jerry Reinsdorf gives Chris Getz a little bit of money to spend.
Why shouldn’t the White Sox go get Ryan O’Hearn or Josh Naylor in the offseason to play first base? The 20-20 production of Josh Naylor, and a platoon bat like Austin Hays in the outfield would completely fill out Chicago’s offense. Outside of all the promising youngsters I mentioned, Luis Robert Jr., Mike Tauchman, Miguel Vargas, and Andrew Benintendi could all be back, as well.
Why shouldn’t the White Sox bring back Martín Pérez on his mutual option and sign another veteran starting pitcher? If we are to bank on more growth from Shane Smith, Sean Burke, and Davis Martin, the White Sox could have a starting rotation of five guys with a sub 4.00 ERA.
All you need to do is capture a little magic. The Marlins are proof that a rebuild doesn’t need to take five years before you try to compete again.