White Sox look to build off 2025's second-half improvement as they turn the page to 2026

On the eve of SoxFest, White Sox manager Will Venable and general manager Chris Getz are anxious to get to camp in Arizona in a couple of weeks to build on last season's promising signs from young players like Chase Meidroth and Kyle Teel.

In his first season in the majors, Meidroth batted .253 with 5 home runs, 23 RBI, 54 runs scored, and 14 stolen bases in 122 games split between second base and shortstop, for a 1.3 WAR. Teel batted .273 with 8 home runs, 35 RBI, 38 runs scored, and a 1.9 WAR in only 78 games, mostly at catcher.

"We're coming into Spring Training with really a ground-up approach, knowing that we're starting from zero. We're hitting the reset button and starting to build from the ground up. That's something that I think you have to do every season, but especially for us as a group that did make so much progress last year," Venable said. "It just doesn't happen because we have momentum. We have to go to work and really start from the ground up."

Getz said he expects the young White Sox team to take a meaningful step forward after three straight seasons with 100 or more losses.

After setting a single-season record for losses with a 41-121 record in 2024, the White Sox improved to 60-102 last year, including a 27-37 record after the All-Star break.

"You look at what we were able to accomplish in the second half, with the additions that we have. We've added to the group of talent that is currently there. The process is only getting stronger. So we do feel like we're going to take another step forward," he said.

The White Sox have made some impressive additions to their roster this offseason. In December, they signed slugging third baseman Munetaka Murakami – who owns the single-season HR record for a Japanese-born player in the NPB - to a 2-year, $34 million contract.

They've also added reliever Seranthony Dominguez to a 2-year, $20 million deal and signed lefty reliever Sean Newcomb to a 1-year, $4.5 million deal. Newcomb was 2-5 with 91 strikeouts in 92.1 innings over 48 games, including 11 starts, with a 2.73 ERA last year with the Red Sox and A's. Dominguez was 4-4 with a 3.16 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 62.2 innings of relief last year for the Orioles.