White Sox fans will be bummed after reading ESPN insider's offseason assessment

The past month has been quiet on the news front for the Chicago White Sox. The team made headlines early in the offseason, adding LHP Anthony Kay, 1B Munetaka Murakami, and LHP Sean Newcomb before the Holidays. White Sox fans felt like it may be an active offseason as the team looked to take another step forward entering 2026, but activity has slowed down significantly in recent weeks. Still, several impact players remain available and several weeks remain until Spring Training. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers, in an article this week about what’s next for the AL Central, put the White Sox in the category of “Their work is (basically) done”, putting a damper on the idea of any other significant additions coming. 

“The White Sox could use another outfielder after Michael Taylor retired and Mike Tauchman became a free agent,” Rogers wrote. “Mostly, the organization needs its young players to take big steps in 2026,” he said later. 

The White Sox have made strong moves, but the offseason is incomplete

While I agree with the sentiment that the largest improvements to the 2026 White Sox will come from within, the White Sox have some glaring holes that have yet to be addressed. Adding an outfielder, like Rogers said, seems likely, but the team needs another starter to eat innings and protect their young pitchers. Sean Newcomb is the favorite for the fifth starter spot as it stands right now, but he hasn’t thrown more than 100 innings in a season since 2018. Newcomb has been significantly less effective as a starter in his career, so there’s no guarantee he performs well enough to stick in the rotation anyway. 

Aside from just the starting rotation, the White Sox have other needs they’ve failed to address. Chris Getz has mentioned on multiple occasions that the White Sox would like to add higher leverage relievers to help supplement their bullpen. If Sean Newcomb was intended to be a starter, the only relievers the White Sox have added are Chris Murphy and Ryan Borucki. Both have a chance to have a role in the 2026 bullpen but are far from being reliable late-inning options. 

In an interview with MLB Network during the Winter Meetings, Chris Getz mentioned a desire to add “mature bats” to the lineup. Since then, the only offensive additions include Murakami, who certainly has potential but has never played in MLB, and Jarred Kelenic, who needs to earn his roster spot in Spring Training. Corner outfield was an area highlighted for improvement and the team has yet to definitively improve the position, instead adding high-upside reclamation projects. 

Along with the actions and words not lining up comes a roster with some pieces that don’t fit. Infielder Lenyn Sosa doesn’t have a path to playing time after leading the team in home runs in 2025, and I’ve long felt that trading him is the most likely path. But the calendar has flipped to late-January. The countdown to Spring Training is getting smaller. MLB camps open in a matter of weeks instead of months, and the White Sox offseason feels far from complete. There’s still time to make moves and still options available, but fans are growing restless. 

There’s no question that the White Sox have made some impressive moves this winter. The signing of Munetaka Murakami was largely praised by fans and evaluators around the league as excellent value for the White Sox. But it feels like there’s more work to be done and it just doesn’t make sense to stop now. 

The White Sox would love to take another step forward in 2026 and launch themselves into the picture of contending teams in the near future. Growth from the young players will be the most important part of making that step, but supplementing the young players with experienced veterans is crucial development. To this point in the offseason, the White Sox have yet to do that. 

I sincerely hope that Jesse Rogers is wrong and the work isn’t done for the White Sox. But if it is, it’ll leave me feeling like the job is incomplete.