CHICAGO – The overriding goal for the White Sox is sustained success, not a jump up into contention for one surprising season, featured in the early part of the 2026 campaign despite a 12-8 setback to the Mariners Friday at Rate Field.
General manager Chris Getz’s plan is to continue developing his young talent at the Major League and Minor League levels, and spend when the time is right. Adding Munetaka Murakami, who tied Aaron Judge for the Major League lead in homers at 15 with a first-inning blast, proved to be more than the right time for his two-year, $34 million deal.
But this strong White Sox start, as the rebuild slowly moves into a more competitive phase, won’t alter Getz’s thinking. At least, it won’t change anything on May 8.
Not even in the middle of a balanced, bordering on less-than-awe-inspiring American League, and specifically AL Central, where the White Sox sit at 17-21 and three games behind the Guardians.
“It really doesn’t,” said Getz prior to Friday’s series opener against the Mariners. “We are not losing sight of what we are building toward here. Guys are continuing to progress and develop. They have taken advantage of these opportunities. We just want to continue to play quality baseball, compete.
“If you just look at it on a daily basis, on a nightly basis, we feel like we have a chance to win. It’s not like we didn’t in the past. It was more that you almost needed to be perfect. Now the lineup is deeper, the rotation is deeper. We’ve got some weapons in the bullpen to allow us to navigate and finish off games, the defense has improved.”
Good things were on display, despite Friday’s defeat.
Sean Burke’s scoreless-innings streak reached 16 before the Mariners scored in the second. They added four off him in the third when Luke Raley launched a grand slam on a 0-2 fastball, getting too much of the plate. Raley homered twice and drove in a single-game Major League-high seven runs overall.
This White Sox team plays with high energy, one of its true trademarks, and doesn’t seem to ever be completely out of a game. Colson Montgomery, who has reached base in 20 straight, completed a four-run answer in the bottom of the third with a bases-clearing, three-run double, giving the shortstop 17 RBIs in those 20 games.
There’s improvement from day to day, let alone week to week, for this group, and it’s being noticed by others around the game.
“We’ll see where things go,” Getz said. “Really happy with how some of our Minor League players are playing right now. You look at their development and the first pick in this upcoming Draft has gotten a lot of attention. To have an opportunity to add that level of talent into what we are doing adds to the optimism and excitement.
“We felt really good how we were going about things. We all know there’s a lag to seeing it happen at the Major League level and now to get some glimpses into what we are capable of doing more on a regular basis than we were in the past, it’s encouraging and exciting. Hopefully, our fans feel the same way about where this is headed.”
Getz pointed to making sound decisions and developing these young players as most important to achieving their goals.
“That’s how we are going to separate ourselves. We are going to continue to add talent and find ways to get these guys better,” Getz said. “We’ve been very intentional on who we are bringing into this clubhouse.
“We are looking for winning-type players that are focused on what I have to do to help this team win. That’s starting to really seep into this organization as a whole and help clarify who we are targeting at any level of acquisition.”
In terms of contending for the ‘26 AL Central, Getz acknowledged the White Sox can, in fact, contend and they can win series. But the White Sox don’t want to get ahead of themselves.
When manager Will Venable was asked about contending during a conversation with MLB.com earlier in the week, he kept the focus in the present.
“For us to get to where we want to be eventually, we have to take care of business today. That’s kind of where my head is at and where we want to keep these guys,” Venable said. “If we focus on today and do whatever we can to win today and do that every single day, there’s not a limit to what the group can do.”