2026 Lineup Discussion

[Timmy U]

1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I do think Antonacci will be a key bench piece by the 2nd half of the season.  

Personally, I have a hard time seeing Meidroth starting every day on a team with Antonacci. on it It might just be my Midwest bias, but I think Antonacci is a cut above Chase in just about everything except D, and his D ain't bad.

[CWSpalehoseCWS]

7 hours ago, The Mighty Mite said:

No Sosa?

I would trade him. Getting Quero AB's is more important.

[Chicago White Sox]

22 minutes ago, Timmy U said:

Personally, I have a hard time seeing Meidroth starting every day on a team with Antonacci. on it It might just be my Midwest bias, but I think Antonacci is a cut above Chase in just about everything except D, and his D ain't bad.

I fully expect Antonacci to push Chase for the 2B job at some point.  Whether he succeeds in dethroning remains to be seen, but at minimum I expect him to be a key part of the infield mix within a couple of months.  He’s another guy I feel like should end up getting some LF time too.  All that being said, eventually two of Vargas, Meidroth, Antonacci, & Sosa will be on the bench, so infield depth should not be a problem for us.

[WestEddy]

The future of White Sox baseball 👀@ChuckGarfien gives his projected 2026 lineup 🔮 pic.twitter.com/B0lI0oOp0X

— White Sox on CHSN (@CHSN_WhiteSox) December 23, 2025

[Chicago White Sox]

24 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

Quero traded?

[WestEddy]

47 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Quero traded?

There's finally enough interesting players to argue about who should be in the lineup. 

[caulfield12]

At least Baldwin is listed over Pereira...

[vilehoopster]

I have said this over and over and I'm going to say it again: Lenyn Sosa led the team in home runs, RBIs, and hits, and this is on a team that lacked power and really struggled to score runs. And yet, the overwhelming majority of people on this board have him playing backup or want to trade him. I really like Meidroth (there's a lot to like), but he has to sit and Sosa has to be playing 2nd base next year. I know everyone is going to complain about his defense, but again, I heard on a podcast that he was slightly below the league average at 2nd, and it's his stats at 1st that pulled his D-stats down. 

And the thing with Sosa (I said  it before) is his mistakes are so obviously bad (as opposed to a missed grounder by Meidroth) that he appears much worse defensively than he is statistically. When people think of Meidroth, they think of his demeanor in the dugout and his cute play where he avoided that tag stealing 2nd. Those are great things, but they don't put a player in front of the guy (again) who led your team in home runs, RBIs, and hits. 

People seem to forget that Sosa is also young and he's going to keep improving. It's a lot easier to accept that Sosa will become acceptable on D at 2nd before ever thinking Meidroth will hit 20 home runs in a season and lead the team in RBIs.

[vilehoopster]

On a slightly different topic but referring to Garfien's lineup, isn't it nice to see a Sox lineup without the 3 or 4 terrible bats at the end of the order. 

How long has it been since the Sox had a lineup with real bats batting 7th, 8th, and 9th?  Tooooo long. 

[Lip Man 1]

15 minutes ago, vilehoopster said:

I have said this over and over and I'm going to say it again: Lenyn Sosa led the team in home runs, RBIs, and hits, and this is on a team that lacked power and really struggled to score runs. And yet, the overwhelming majority of people on this board have him playing backup or want to trade him. I really like Meidroth (there's a lot to like), but he has to sit and Sosa has to be playing 2nd base next year. I know everyone is going to complain about his defense, but again, I heard on a podcast that he was slightly below the league average at 2nd, and it's his stats at 1st that pulled his D-stats down. 

And the thing with Sosa (I said  it before) is his mistakes are so obviously bad (as opposed to a missed grounder by Meidroth) that he appears much worse defensively than he is statistically. When people think of Meidroth, they think of his demeanor in the dugout and his cute play where he avoided that tag stealing 2nd. Those are great things, but they don't put a player in front of the guy (again) who led your team in home runs, RBIs, and hits. 

People seem to forget that Sosa is also young and he's going to keep improving. It's a lot easier to accept that Sosa will become acceptable on D at 2nd before ever thinking Meidroth will hit 20 home runs in a season and lead the team in RBIs.

As has been pointed out by others he has been in the Sox system since 2016 and still doesn't know what to do defensively and in baseball situations in the field.

That's a problem.

If you wish to keep him, that's fine. he's your new full time DH.

[Snopek]

Honest question about Baldwin: What’s the intrigue with him?

I feel like I’m in the minority in that I find him really underwhelming.

And for the record, I’m glad that I’m in the minority. I trust a bunch of yall seeing something in him more than I trust myself not seeing it. But I just don’t what “it” is.

[Chicago White Sox]

18 minutes ago, vilehoopster said:

I have said this over and over and I'm going to say it again: Lenyn Sosa led the team in home runs, RBIs, and hits, and this is on a team that lacked power and really struggled to score runs. And yet, the overwhelming majority of people on this board have him playing backup or want to trade him. I really like Meidroth (there's a lot to like), but he has to sit and Sosa has to be playing 2nd base next year. I know everyone is going to complain about his defense, but again, I heard on a podcast that he was slightly below the league average at 2nd, and it's his stats at 1st that pulled his D-stats down. 

And the thing with Sosa (I said  it before) is his mistakes are so obviously bad (as opposed to a missed grounder by Meidroth) that he appears much worse defensively than he is statistically. When people think of Meidroth, they think of his demeanor in the dugout and his cute play where he avoided that tag stealing 2nd. Those are great things, but they don't put a player in front of the guy (again) who led your team in home runs, RBIs, and hits. 

People seem to forget that Sosa is also young and he's going to keep improving. It's a lot easier to accept that Sosa will become acceptable on D at 2nd before ever thinking Meidroth will hit 20 home runs in a season and lead the team in RBIs.

Sosa isn’t going to lead the team in HR’s & RBI’s with Colson up for a full season and with the addition of Murakami.  Not suggesting we get rid of Sosa, but being the team lead last year is somewhat arbitrary given injuries, promotion dates, and player profiles.  The bigger issue with making Sosa the everyday 2B is he did most of his damage against LHP.  I still like Meidroth’s potential value vs. RHP more than Sosa’s when you factor in all facets of the game.

[Quin]

Here's mine:

1. DH - Quero (R)
2. C - Teel (L)
3. SS - Montgomery (L)
4. CF - Robert (R)
5. 1B - Murakami (L)
6. LF - Sosa (R) - see if he can manage LF better than Benintendi.
7. 3B - Vargas (R)
8. RF - Baldwin (S) 
9. 2B - Meidroth (R)

I want the power concentrated in the middle and to get Quero's OBP up top. I think Meidroth is the perfect "second lead off" guy in that he could move Sosa, Vargas and Baldwin over while also getting on base for Quero, Teel and Colson.

Benintendi: Banished to the shadow realm.

[Quin]

3 minutes ago, Snopek said:

Honest question about Baldwin: What’s the intrigue with him?

I feel like I’m in the minority in that I find him really underwhelming.

And for the record, I’m glad that I’m in the minority. I trust a bunch of yall seeing something in him more than I trust myself not seeing it. But I just don’t what “it” is.

The White Sox OF situation after Luis Robert is terrifying, so Baldwin gets it.

[Chicago White Sox]

1 minute ago, Snopek said:

Honest question about Baldwin: What’s the intrigue with him?

I feel like I’m in the minority in that I find him really underwhelming.

And for the record, I’m glad that I’m in the minority. I trust a bunch of yall seeing something in him more than I trust myself not seeing it. But I just don’t what “it” is.

He had a 119 wRC+ against RHP in the second half of the season last year.  He has sneaky speed and was ok defensively in CF in his first go at it based on advanced metrics.  To me, there is a very useful player here.  His fWAR was bad because of poor defense in many other spots (mostly OF corners), but I think with time that will change.  I think his floor is a quality utility guy and his ceiling is a first division regular if he can find a spot where he can excel.

[caulfield12]

1 hour ago, Quin said:

Here's mine:

1. DH - Quero (R)
2. C - Teel (L)
3. SS - Montgomery (L)
4. CF - Robert (R)
5. 1B - Murakami (L)
6. LF - Sosa (R) - see if he can manage LF better than Benintendi.
7. 3B - Vargas (R)
8. RF - Baldwin (S) 
9. 2B - Meidroth (R)

I want the power concentrated in the middle and to get Quero's OBP up top. I think Meidroth is the perfect "second lead off" guy in that he could move Sosa, Vargas and Baldwin over while also getting on base for Quero, Teel and Colson.

Benintendi: Banished to the shadow realm.

JR usually believes in forcing players or coaches to perform until at least that  final contract year hits.

Unfortunately.

Maybe Leury was the lone exception, but that was a tiny AAV in play there.

[Lukakke Appling]

2 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

He had a 119 wRC+ against RHP in the second half of the season last year.  He has sneaky speed and was ok defensively in CF in his first go at it based on advanced metrics.  To me, there is a very useful player here.  His fWAR was bad because of poor defense in many other spots (mostly OF corners), but I think with time that will change.  I think his floor is a quality utility guy and his ceiling is a first division regular if he can find a spot where he can excel.

I agree with this. If he could lay off high heat that would go a long way as well. 

[Lukakke Appling]

56 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

JR usually believes in forcing players or coaches to perform until at least that  final contract year hits.

Unfortunately.

Maybe Leury was the lone exception, but that was a tiny AAV in play there.

There’s been a few exceptions other than Leury.
 

Keppinger and Danks come immediately to mind, but there’s others I know I’m not mentioning. 

[caulfield12]

3 minutes ago, Lukakke Appling said:

I agree with this. If he could lay off high heat that would go a long way as well. 

He's really the only speedy player the Sox have after Robert.

(Not going to count Hill yet.)

 

[caulfield12]

1 minute ago, Lukakke Appling said:

There’s been a few exceptions other than Leury.
 

Keppinger and Danks come immediately to mind, but there’s others I know I’m not mentioning. 

Everyone pretty much knew Danks was completely shot after that injury.

Benintendi can still play everyday, just not that well.

And the White Sox didn't have significant debt back then, either.

 

(Leury Hendriks Keuchel all parts of that debt picture.)