Smiles were still abundant around Rate Field from the Munetaka Murakami signing when the White Sox hung another, much smaller ornament on the tree.
While the majority of front offices slipped into idle mode heading into the holidays, Chris Getz remained wired up. On Tuesday morning, all that energy coalesced into more activity: the club announced it had agreed to terms on a one-year, $4.5 million deal with lefthander Sean Newcomb. The news today felt more like a footnote than a flashpoint; however, you’ve got to give credit when credit is due. Getz is definitely not sitting on his hands.
Just one day prior, South Side fans celebrated the introduction of Murakami, whose left-handed thunder will hopefully rumble through the middle of the Sox order all season long in 2026. Newcomb’s homecoming certainly won’t garner the same headlines, but it will serve a similar purpose for Chicago, which is quietly loading its roster with pieces that make sense.
Newcomb, 32, offers precisely the kind of experience that seems to fit well in bolstering the Good Guys’ pitching options. The southpaw has been around; he’s seen both sides of the game, and in 2025, out of the bullpen, he discovered a secret formula, which he’s now sold to the highest bidder. Dividing time between Boston and Oakland last season, Newcomb stumbled upon a breakout reinvention as a late-inning reliever, compiling a pretty solid overall 2.73 ERA and a 2.19 ERA out of the pen that had him finishing fifth in the league out of all relievers. He’s got some strength in the run prevention department with a Pitching Run Value (57th) that’s slightly better than league average and a Ground Ball % (74th) that demonstrates he keeps the ball on the ground. Despite not possessing overpowering stuff, the lefty was especially nigh-indomitable after crossing the country to Oakland, breezily getting batters out and imbuing a sense of calm to his club in a time of year when even the best bullpens are in disarray.
His positional fluidity is part of what makes the profile interesting, as Newcomb has more than one story about his service time. He’s started games. He’s finished games. He’s been the bridge when the going has gotten tough. For a White Sox squad designing a roster with flexibility baked into its structure, that experience will count. He’s not walking in with his role prescribed; instead, he’ll be a set of options that manager Will Venable can now tuck away.
The timing feels right, too. With the holidays rearing around the corner, Getz let it be known he had no interest in easing off the gas. These moves feel less like coincidence and more like the intent chess play of a front office trying to fit together a larger puzzle one piece at a time. While one player injects excitement into the fold, the other brings steadiness, and together they allow the front office to at least insinuate a lineup and pitching staff that looks better than it did a year ago.
Overwhelming optimism and completely jumping back on the bandwagon by Sox fans won’t stem from one single signing or even many, as the play on the field still needs to improve significantly. However, as the lights around Rate Field burn bright and winter blankets the city, the Sox have given their fan base one final thing to hold tight to: hope that better days are being meticulously crafted as they settle in for their long winter’s nap.