Ranking the South Side’s offseason needs

The Chicago White Sox likely will have another frugal offseason.

GM Chris Getz did not outright say the club will not be big spenders in the offseason during his final press conference. He did make it clear that if the team is going to move up in the standings in 2026, it will come from the young core that emerged this season getting better through offseason training.

So yeah, the GM is tipping his hand that he would be working with another limited budget this offseason.

The good thing is even if owner Jerry Reinsdorf authorizes yet another eight-figure payroll, Getz will have some money to work with to add some pieces to help this young collection of talent win more next year.

The White Sox tentatively have just $47.1 million committed in payroll expenses for 2026 per Spotrac. Andrew Benintendi’s $17.1 million is the only guaranteed deal on the books for next season. Getz has indicated he is going to exercise Luis Robert Jr’s $20 million option, so that’s two.

The GM can slash $8.5 million by declining the team’s portion of Martin Perez’s $10 million option (he would still be owed a $1.5 million buyout). I believe that is probably going to happen, given Pérez’s lengthy stay on the injured list during the season with an elbow injury and finish of the year on the 15-day IL with a shoulder injury. If I am doing the math correctly, that means the White Sox enter free agency with just $37.1 million committed to two players and $38.6 million committed to overall payroll.

The White Sox only have veteran outfielder Mike Tauchman and Steven Wilson eligible for arbitration. Those two are not going to break the bank.

That leaves a decent chunk of the budget to be used to address some short-term roster issues the team has as it navigates through the next phase of this rebuild.

I would rank addressing their needs in the following order:

1. Starting pitching
2. Bullpen
3. First base
4. Designated hitter
5. Utility outfielder

Must add at least two starting pitchers
You can only pencil in Shane Smith and Davis Martin into next year’s rotation. Getz must add at least a couple more arms to eat up innings, because the internal options come with some major risks.

Sean Burke should still get consideration for a rotation spot, but he must solve his command issues. Jonathan Cannon’s second-half slump was so bad that you have to wonder if he can even salvage his career in a long relief role. His stuff just did not look competitive.

Yoendrys Gómez showed he deserves a Spring Training audition with how he had the ball dancing during some of his starts and was often unhittable the first time through the order. Ideally, he is better suited for a swing role given how often he got hit during his nine starts (22 ER and 40 hits).

Pérez has expressed interest in returning, so maybe something can be worked out to bring him back on a cheaper deal. There is a high potential that his arm will not hold up for a full season.

Top pitching prospects Noah Schultz, Hagen Smith and Tanner McDougal likely need more innings in the minors. Drew Thorpe, Ky Bush and Mason Adams might not be fully recovered from Tommy John surgery by Opening Day.

One avenue to add a starter is the Rule 5 draft. I doubt the franchise gets the impact like it did with Smith. But they will be drafting high enough, second, to take another gamble.

Improve the pen in high-leverage situations
The White Sox lost a lot of close games this year because the bullpen was so poor in high-leverage situations, and that performance demands some attention.

While I never want to see the team invest a lot in the bullpen like they did during the contention window earlier this decade, it might be worth it to sign a few arms to one-year deals to help prop up the bullpen in crunch time. Getz can then turn around and flip some of those veterans at the trade deadline, as the market has been kind to bullpen arms recently.

I just know another offseason of acquiring the likes of Cam Booser and Bryse Wilson is not going to cut it.

It would be nice to upgrade first baseand DH
The organization finally grew tired of Andrew Vaughn being nothing more than a replacement-level player and dealt him away to Milwaukee (where he became the best version of himself) for a mediocre innings-eater.

Tim Elko raked at Triple-A, but he could barely make contact at the big-league level (.152 BABIP and 41.7% strikeout percentage). It was a limited sample size, although probably enough to prove to the front office that Elko is not a long-term option at first base.

I rank addressing first base behind the pitching needs because the club at least can get competent defensive play out of Miguel Vargas (four defensive runs saved at first this year). Lenyn Sosa can provide some power while playing some first; the problem is that Sosa cannot even perform the rudimentary defensive functions at first base.

While I would love to see Pete Alonso crush home runs on the South Side in a first base/DH role, I doubt Jerry is going to authorize the money it would take to sign the All-Star slugger. However, Rhys Hoskins on a one-year deal might be worth bringing in to upgrade the position in the short term.

DH would be another position where it would be nice to have a consistent power presence. However, it might be best not to pursue a full-time DH because you want to keep the option open to have both catchers, Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero, in the lineup.

Outfield depth is always good to have
Finally, getting some outfield depth like the team had with Michael A. Taylor all season and Austin Slater for half of it would be a luxury. You are going to need someone to play at least 60-70 games in center when Robert Jr. inevitably goes on the 10-day IL. In addition, Benintendi’s defense is so poor in left that you need a late-inning replacement.

It is not a priority, as the team has Brooks Baldwin pegged to be the next Leury García. Plus, Corey Julks, Will Robertson, and Dominic Fletcher are also still in the organization. However, I would not turn my nose up at bringing Slater back to crush left-handed pitching and deal him again at the deadline for another pitching prospect.