As the 2025 regular season winds down and the attention turns to 2026, GM Chris Getz and the Chicago White Sox will have some big decisions to make.
It's a consequential offseason for the South Siders. Given the team's improvement in 2025 and the promise shown by the young core, White Sox fans are restlessly awaiting additions in free agency that can raise the bar for next season.
Will the White Sox make a few necessary moves to see more improvement in 2026? Or will ownership cheap out once again?
One of the difficult internal decisions Getz will have to make involves veteran starting pitcher Martín Pérez. While I currently don't expect the White Sox to bring him back, I think that would be a costly decision that Chicago lives to regret.
Martín Pérez has proven to be reliable
Martín Pérez may have missed most of the 2025 season due to a shoulder injury, but when he has been on the field, he has been a huge piece of Chicago's starting rotation.
In 10 appearances on the year, Pérez has done 52.1 innings and posted a 3.27 ERA. He’s 34 years old, and will turn 35 in early April of next year. The White Sox have a mutual option with Pérez for $10 million in 2026.
Given his age, the amount of time he has missed with an injury, and the young pitching depth in the organization, I don’t expect the White Sox to pick up their end of that option. I think that would be a mistake.
If you combine the last four seasons of his MLB career (2022-2025), Pérez has a 3.77 ERA in 525.1 innings pitched. He is a reliable mid-rotation arm. His 1.05 WHIP in 2025 is also the lowest of his career.
Pérez will be cheaper than most pitchers in free agency
Davis Martin and Shane Smith are the only two starting pitchers that have truly locked up a spot in next year's starting rotation. There is still a lot of uncertainty, and Pérez would help stabilize that group for just $10 million.
That’s a really competitive price in today’s free agent market. Looking at some of the available free agent starting pitchers, it’s hard to imagine the White Sox finding another lefty arm as good as Pérez without having to play in the high-end of the market.
Last offseason, Nick Martinez got a one-year, $21.05 million deal. Alex Cobb got $15 million when he only made three starts in 2024. Matthew Boyd, who made just 23 starts with a 4.47 ERA in 2023 and 2024 combined, got two years and $29 million from the Cubs.
Based on his recent comments about how the White Sox would be competing for a playoff spot in 2026, it’s safe to assume Pérez wants to be back on the South Side.
For both on the field and off the field reasons - as he’s a great ambassador for the new and improved White Sox - Chicago needs to bring him back and pick up that option.