90-year-old owner Jerry Reinsdorf didn’t expect 2026 to be the year. But then, the Chicago White Sox beat the Houston Astros in the best-of-three Wild Card series in just two games and are heading to the ALDS after three consecutive 100+ loss seasons. This speaks to their complex, years-long rebuild. The Crochet trade looked questionable at first. So did the Vargas acquisition. But by 2026, both moves had transformed the White Sox.
Reinsdorf faced twin criticisms: prioritizing profits and trading Crochet for unknowns. Now, 2026 supported both decisions.
“It’s absolutely amazing. First of all, it’s amazing to lose 121 games. That was depressing. But then you could see the progress starting. The first thing I realized with Chris was the organization he was putting in place,” Reinsdorf shared with ESPN’s Jesse Rogers.
“You know, when you build a building, the foundation comes first. And he went about putting in place a terrific foundation in the scouting and in the minor league development. And then that started to produce the players. Then, of course, there was the Crochet trade… I didn’t think it would come to fruition this fast.”
What made it special, as Reinsdorf explained, was the methodical foundation Chris Getz built from the ground up.
2024 season was a nightmare for the White Sox, losing a record 121 games. They got Will Venable as their new manager. The chairman fired Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn in the summer of 2023 and asked Chris Getz to go for the role of GM, who was managing the team’s farm system back then. Even though Getz wasn’t Reinsdorf’s first choice, as he wanted to hire Tony La Russa.
But Getz assured that he could turn the franchise around quicker than anyone because he was aware of the plague.
General Manager Chris Getz aggressively stockpiled high-end young talent and retooled the minor league system.
Three young hitters, Vargas, Montgomery, and Murakami, each hit 30+ homers, forming the core Getz had envisioned.
The draft class delivered, too.
Sean Burke emerged as a certified ace (3.34 ERA), flanked by young arms like Davis Martin. Crochet’s trade, though, looked bad for the White Sox back then, but proved successful.
By trading Crochet at peak value, Getz avoided injury risk and secured a haul of young talent that became the core.
The return package gave the White Sox a championship-caliber young core. Names like Chase Meidroth (.276 BA) and Braden Montgomery (2 hits in MLB postseason debut) came in exchange for Crochet and excelled.
Vargas’s 33 homers also powered Chicago’s offense.
What made the White Sox’s 2026 success more special is how the front office went ahead amid the noise against them.
Reinsdorf was called out for mandating a strict financial ceiling. He maintained the franchise’s streak of never handing out a $100 million contract.
Their payroll finally touched $100 million this season, and the results are coming fast.
“I didn’t think it would come to fruition this fast, I really didn’t. I really thought 2027 was the year we would contend. Nobody told the players they couldn’t do it,” Reinsdorf himself was left in surprise.
After Chicago defeated Houston on Tuesday, Reinsdorf flew in to take a chance for his team’s probable postseason contention. He came back to the same visiting clubhouse, where he was 21 years ago when the White Sox swept the Houston Astros to win their World Series ring.
The players gathered together at Daikin Park for their celebratory picture on Wednesday, and a familiar name echoed.
“Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!”
Wearing a black playoff T-shirt over an Oxford blue dress shirt, Jerry Reinsdorf stepped to the front of the shot and got in the middle for a picture.
Now, the White Sox are getting ready to face the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field for the ALDS. Chicago went 7-6 against Cleveland in the regular season, which fans would hope they continue.