When the Winter Meetings kick off Sunday night in Orlando, one of the Chicago White Sox’s top priorities should be finding a real answer at first base.
As of today, the Sox don’t have a single internal option who can provide adequate defense at first — an underrated but crucial trait — or offer the kind of consistent power threat you expect from that position on a contending team. Your first baseman needs to be a middle-of-the-order bat, someone you can count on for legitimate home-run production.
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Chicago has been spoiled in that regard for decades, with Frank Thomas handing the keys to Paul Konerko, who then passed them to José Abreu. Those three combined for 14 All-Star selections, seven Silver Sluggers, three MVPs, and 1,123 home runs in a White Sox uniform.
This organization simply isn’t used to having a first base problem. Yet here we are, December 2025. Lenyn Sosa and Miguel Vargas project as league-average offensive contributors at best, and while Vargas is steadier defensively, neither is a natural fit at the position.
So yes — signing a free agent makes all the sense in the world.
But a recent rumor of unknown origin suggesting the White Sox could be interested in former Cubs first baseman and recent KBO standout Patrick Wisdom? That’s truly baffling.
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David Haugh floated the idea on 670 The Score’s “Inside the Clubhouse” on Saturday morning.
“Anthony Kay, two years, $12 million. An ex-Cub added to the mix. Patrick Wisdom, ex-Cub, is also linked to them. He had 35 home runs in Japan last year,” Haugh said to Bruce Levine. “Wisdom… does that make sense for them? Is he a guy that’s coming back to MLB?”
Let’s start with a correction. Wisdom wasn’t playing in Japan last season. He was in Korea, where he hit 35 home runs for the Kia Tigers. That’s not a minor detail — NPB is a significantly stronger league than the KBO.
So both Haugh and Levine were off from the jump.
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I truly have no idea where this connection came from, but the idea of Patrick Wisdom as the White Sox addition at first base would feel like a slap in the face to fans.
And that’s not meant as a dig at Wisdom. He was incredibly easy to root for during his Cubs tenure. He has real power and he can hold his own defensively at first. But the bat-to-ball issues were a problem in MLB, and they remained a problem overseas — he still hit just .236 in Korea despite the home-run total.
Why would that suddenly change at age 34?
“The White Sox had real problems at first base last year defensively. Wisdom is an adequate guy that has big power. Great guy and all that. The stability of being able to hit a few home runs as a DH, a first baseman, backup third baseman… it’s not an awful idea,” Levine responded. “I just don’t think in the eyes of White Sox fans it’s a moving-forward type of name.”
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He’s right about the last part.
It won’t happen. And on the extremely off chance it does, White Sox fans should be furious.
Because this is supposed to be a moving-forward offseason — not a bargain-bin, bottom-of-the-barrel rebuild year. Chicago isn’t at that stage anymore. This is the phase where you add foundational veterans who can help you win in 2026 and beyond. A 34-year-old first baseman with on-base issues does nothing to solve that problem.
So let’s stop wasting time on rumors that don’t actually exist and start focusing on names that do make sense. Like Ryan O’Hearn, for example.
Report: White Sox Are Targeting Free Agent 1B Ryan O’Hearn