White Sox regretting Opening Day roster decision after Nationals player's emergence

The White Sox came into the 2026 regular season in a different situation than in years past. Instead of desperately searching for players to fill out a roster, the White Sox found themselves needing to make tough decisions about a few fringe contributors. One of those tough decisions involved infielder Curtis Mead, who the White Sox acquired in a deadline deal with the Rays in 2025. The 25 year-old put together a strong spring, but the White Sox made the decision to leave him off the Opening Day roster, a choice they may now regret. 

The White Sox designated Mead for assignment at the start of the season, later dealing him to the Washington Nationals in exchange for minor league catcher Boston Smith. Mead played 41 games for the White Sox in 2025 following the trade and slashed just .240/.280/.304 with a .584 OPS. In the same number of games for the Nationals this year, Mead has launched seven home runs and improved his OPS to .834, including a multi-homer performance earlier this week. 

The White Sox could use Curtis Mead's production in their lineup

By no means is Curtis Mead a superstar, but he seems to be tapping into his power more this season and making more hard contact. He’s also walked 20 times already this season after only walking 15 all of last year. He’s a productive MLB hitter that the White Sox could’ve used on their roster. He’s since been traded, but Lenyn Sosa made the White Sox Opening Day roster and they effectively chose him over Mead. In 12 games for the White Sox, Sosa posted a .515 OPS, and he’s still only walked once in 111 at bats between the White Sox and Toronto. Hindsight is always 20/20, but it certainly seems like Mead would’ve been the better choice. 

With a crowded infield and some young players looking for at bats, finding Mead regular playing time would’ve been tricky, but he’s been more productive than Andrew Benintendi and could’ve certainly warranted giving starts at designated hitter. Even with his poor numbers, it’s tough to envision the White Sox benching Andrew Benintendi given his contract, so finding reps for Mead would’ve been difficult. 

On the flip side, Boston Smith has posted strong numbers in his first professional season. He’s 23 years-old in High-A, so the White Sox will need to see how he fares as he reaches higher level pitching, but it looks like they may have found a productive player in the deal. Smith produced excellent numbers at Wright State and was selected by the Nationals in the sixth round of the draft last season. It wouldn’t be the first time that an older player posted strong production after being selected in the later rounds. 

The full result of the Curtis Mead trade and roster decision is still up in the air, but the early returns raise questions about whether the White Sox truly made the right decision back in March.

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