Ahoy!

We're embarking on our 21st season covering the Chicago White Sox, and thanks to your support, James Fegan is on hand in Milwaukee for the opening series. Here's hoping the White Sox put forth a product that makes you want to follow them as closely as we do. We're doing what we can this weekend by offering an extra month on all annual subscriptions. Go to our products page and use the promo code OPENINGDAY2026 and get 12 months of access for the price of 10.

While Opening Day has its own gravity, it's also worth paying attention to the opening month. The White Sox have lost 100 games in each of the last three seasons, and miserable Aprils set the tone, both under Pedro Grifol and Will Venable. In fact, the White Sox haven't posted a winning month since June 2023, which was 16 baseball months ago. While the White Sox don't want to phrase their hopes and dreams in terms of a win total, I'll put forth the idea that they should shoot for a winning month, and then go from there. It doesn't sound that hard, so maybe the White Sox will occasionally make baseball look easy.

Thanks for reading, listening and subscribing!

-Jim

By JAMES FEGAN

MILWAUKEE -- White Sox manager Will Venable has a laundry list of action items -- control the strike zone and running game for pitchers, two-strike approaches for hitters, emphasizing defensive versatility on the diamond -- that all seem like more tangible goals for his players than instructing them to win 80 games in 2026.

Most of the highest-ceiling arms in the organization reside in the Triple-A Charlotte rotation at present, whereas the major league outfield will have post-hype prove-it projects like Everson Pereira and Luisangel Acuña in the Opening Day lineup. So general manager Chris Getz unsurprisingly alluded to a roster that will transform over the course of the year, making an improved product by year's end a more central goal than a specific win total.

"You want to look at once we get through this season, reflect back on what 2026 was for us, a better idea of where we are in the development of this major league club and the organization as a whole," said Getz, who also specified that the Sox should win more games this year. "You are going to take your lumps like any team does. We are going to learn more about what these players are capable of doing. It’s a pretty strong group of players in a healthy clubhouse that we hope leads to good things this upcoming season."

Colson Montgomery, the most essential White Sox, is simply pleading ignorance about the expectations entirely, so as to completely avoid the sort of narrative framework that is rampant this time of year.

"Everyone on this team knows their roles and knows what they need to do, and if we just go out there and do that to the best of our abilities, you never know what can happen," Montgomery said. "I can't even tell you if we even have heard. I don't know that number, the wins or where we're supposed to be or anything like that. I bet everyone else can tell you the same thing. We just know that we believe in what Getzy and Skip [Venable] have done in this offseason about going out and getting guys to really improve us for the year. We're firm believers in all that, and we're firm believers in that we're getting better each year."

The White Sox aren't at the nadir of the most gruesome rebuild in franchise (or all of baseball?) history anymore, but they've not reached the point where their goals are "playoffs or bust" either. And if Wednesday's workout day at American Family Field is any indication, unless the stated goal is winning something at the end of the year, the preseason rallying cry is going to sound a little vague.

Every year, we try to pin down which players are the most vital to making the most out of the upcoming year. Why should this season be any different?

Between now and Monday, get an extra free month on all Sox Machine annual subscriptions by using the promo code OPENINGDAY2026.

You are receiving this newsletter as a registered member of Sox Machine. If you’ve had this email forwarded, consider subscribing to our exclusive coverage of the White Sox and their minor-league affiliates here.