What's next for White Sox? After historic turnaround falls short, Chicago has path to sustained contention

The White Sox were one of the best stories in 2026; can they keep the good times rolling? The bad news here is that the 2026 season for the Chicago White Sox has ended. The good news is that, in the previous three installments of White Sox baseball, the season ending was the good news. After three straight 100-loss seasons, including a record 121-loss campaign in 2024, the White Sox were a win away from reaching the ALCS but fell in Game 5 to the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday after taking a 2-0 lead in the series. Given the circumstances, losing in the playoffs shouldn't detract from the notion that this season on Chicago's South Side was an overwhelming success.

The White Sox were arguably the best story in baseball. Some of it was being in the right place, of course, and that has to be acknowledged. The White Sox were an 84-78 team in the regular season, which was good enough to only lose out on the AL Central title by one game and earn them a wild-card spot. They then faced the 81-win Houston Astros in the Wild Card Series and beat them easily to set up the fatal date with the Guardians. They won the first two games of the ALDS, then lost three straight. Now, they