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2025 Chicago White Sox: The record wasn’t the story — the direction was

Final: 72-90, 5th in AL Central (13 GB)
By: Chet Geepatee

The White Sox finished 2025 at 72-90, a number that looks like a dead end until you put it next to the one that matters more: +31.

That’s the jump PJ Bishop put front and center at the season’s final press conference — not as an excuse, but as a receipt. “We improved by 31 wins,” Bishop said, “and I think our fan base is smart enough to see that we are putting a better product on the field and should continue to get better as we mature and gain experience.”

No one’s throwing a banner for fifth place. But for a club that spent stretches of recent seasons drowning in the margins, 2025 felt like the first year Chicago could actually see what it’s trying to become.

And the best part? The identity wasn’t subtle.

Pressure baseball is back in Chicago

The 2025 White Sox weren’t built to wait around for a three-run homer to save them. They were built to get on base, run, and turn every inning into a tax audit for the defense.

Bishop put it plainly: “Yes — I will always seek out guys who can get on base and cause havoc.”

The numbers backed it up. Chicago finished among the American League’s best in runs, near the top in getting on base, and led the league in stolen bases. It wasn’t pretty every night. But it was consistent, modern pressure — the kind that forces rushed throws, broken concentration, and bullpen calls a hitter earlier than planned.

It also came with an obvious next step.

The next layer: power

The Sox hit enough to score, but not enough to intimidate. Their slugging profile still lived in the league’s middle class — and Bishop didn’t pretend otherwise.

“I would certainly like to attain more power,” he said. “Some of that is guys filling out and have yet to reach their full output — and yeah, if the right guy is out there I would certainly try and bring them in.”

Translation: the foundation stays the same. The offseason goal is adding punch without losing the chaos.

How the lineup finally settled

One of the biggest themes of the year was the constant churn — young players cycling in, roles shifting, lineup slots changing by the week.

Bishop admitted it was part trial, part necessity: “We kept plugging guys in and out until I felt happy with the 9 we had up and down.”

That matters because it frames 2025 properly. This wasn’t a team optimizing for April. It was a team learning what it could trust by September.

Mike Vasil gave the rebuild a heartbeat

Every rebuild needs at least one certainty. A real one. Not “might be good,” but “we can plan around this.”

In 2025, that player was Mike Vasil.

“He had a really good season and earned his All-Star bid,” Bishop said. “Now we just need to put a better staff around him so we can take that next step forward.”

That sentence is basically the entire pitching plan for the winter. Vasil can lead a rotation. Now the front office has to build a staff that doesn’t ask him to be perfect to win.

Shane Smith injury note, innings reality

The finale brought a scare with Shane Smith, but Bishop quickly cooled the panic. “Smith should be back to full health soon as it was just a minor injury,” he said.

The bigger point was broader: “The staff was relatively healthy, just young so naturally we had to limit innings.”

That’s a polite way of saying: the Sox didn’t have enough reliable, adult innings.

Not yet, anyway.

Grant Taylor locked down the ninth — and that changes everything

In a season where close games kept slipping, one role became a true advantage: Grant Taylor in the ninth.

And if you want Bishop’s clearest “this is how we become a playoff team” quote, it was this:

“As we improve, securing those 1-3 run leads is what will make us a .500 team that missed the playoffs to a playoff team.”

That’s the bridge Chicago has to cross next: turning “competitive” into “finished.”

The breakout: Miguel Vargas, and what comes next

Bishop didn’t hesitate when asked who made the biggest leap.

“Miguel Vargas was by far the most improved player and can still get better,” he said. “The power and speed is there — but more consistent hitting and better defense would make him an MVP candidate.”

That’s not coach-speak. That’s a bet.

Because if Vargas becomes a true superstar version of himself — not just power-speed, but day-to-day consistency — he’s the kind of player who changes timelines.

Defense: the offseason homework

Chicago’s defense wasn’t a total mess, but it also wasn’t stable. The manager’s explanation was as direct as it gets:

“A couple of guys were playing out of position or lacking experience. I think a full offseason/spring training will do a lot of these guys a real solid.”

That’s the “young team” catch-all — and it’s fair. But it also points to where the Sox can steal wins without buying them: cleaner roles, better reps, better positioning, fewer “learning moments” in the late innings.

Why the close games didn’t tilt their way

When asked about the one-run games and extra-inning losses, Bishop didn’t dodge. He didn’t blame luck. He didn’t blame umps.

“Youth,” he said. “We were and are one of the youngest teams in the league.”

That’s not a free pass. But it is a real explanation. Young teams usually don’t win the margins until they’ve lost enough of them to remember the feeling.

The next wave is coming — and it’s pitching

If the lineup was the loudest sign of progress, the pipeline might be the most important reason to believe.

“Pitching!” Bishop said, smiling through the fatigue of a 162-game grind. “It’s coming — and soon enough we will be a force to reckon with.”

If that happens, the whole structure changes. Because the offense already knows how to manufacture runs. The bullpen already has a ninth. Add starters who don’t blink in the fifth, and suddenly .444 baseball looks like a stepping stone instead of a ceiling.

The 2026 bar: not a miracle — a milestone

Bishop isn’t promising another 31-win leap. He’s promising a target.

“I don’t expect another 31 game improvement,” he said, “but certainly would love to be .500 or better by the end of 2026.”

That’s the line. That’s the goalpost. That’s the standard the White Sox will carry into the winter.

Because 2025 didn’t end with October baseball. But it did end with something that matters just as much in a rebuild:

A team that finally knows what it is — and knows what it needs next.