The 2025 Winter Meetings have come and gone, and despite the swirling of rumors, the White Sox were largely quiet. The White Sox won the draft lottery and secured the first overall pick in the 2026 MLB draft and selected two intriguing young arms in the Rule 5 draft, but the effort to build the 2026 roster was nothing but rumors. Those rumors were quite telling, however, about the plan for the rest of the offseason, and there’s a lot that fans can take away.
Among the players linked to the White Sox during the Winter Meetings: Former Rays closer Pete Fairbanks, Astros OF Jake Meyers, and former Dodgers top pitching prospect Dustin May. The White Sox also have continued interest in infielder Ryan O’Hearn, and are interested in adding an outfielder, though specific names haven’t yet been mentioned. The outfield market has been quite slow, with Mike Yastrzemski's deal with Atlanta this week the first real movement.
Whether the White Sox will convert on any of these pursuits remains to be seen, and the team could have interest in other players beyond those already reported, but the White Sox even being interested in this group is a significant change from a season ago. Chris Getz has mentioned on a couple of occasions about the White Sox willingness to add, and although it won’t be at the top of the market, they appear to be interested in more significant additions than last season.
The White Sox reported interests show a step in the right direction
The White Sox offseason additions for last year included Austin Slater, Martin Perez, Michael A. Taylor, Mike Tauchman, and Josh Rojas, with Perez’s five million being the most expensive of these deals. All of these contracts were just one-year deals and none represented any significant purpose other than veteran leadership and rounding out a very young and inexperienced roster. The addition of an established closer like Fairbanks or an all-star bat like O’Hearn would be much more impactful than a filler player, and those players could actually have a role on a competitive White Sox team in a year or two.
Regarding the potential interest of notable free agents in joining the White Sox, GM Chris Getz doesn’t think fans have anything to worry about:
Getz on free agents sensing the White Sox improvement/development: "When we meet with these agents or talk to these players, the reputation is really strong. They can sense what’s going on here. People want to come here. They do. They want to work here, they want to play here."
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) December 10, 2025
The White Sox organization is in a much better place than it was a year ago. The 2025 season saw the debut of several impact young players, leading to a 28-37 second half that showed quite a bit of promise. It led to optimism both inside and outside the organization about the direction the team is heading. Chris Getz and the front office seem to be pursuing a similar leap in 2026 and their free-agent pursuits reflect as much. Making impact moves without significant financial commitment will put the White Sox in a position to have payroll flexibility when the team is ready to take the leap to contention.
While White Sox fans shouldn’t expect any star-level names, the players brought in over the next two months should make an impact beyond the washed veterans from a year ago, and that’s a reason to be excited.