The Chicago White Sox aren’t usually big spenders, having finished 2025 with the 26th-largest tax payroll in MLB, but turned some heads Dec. 21 with the two-year, $34 million signing of international free agent Munetaka Murakami.

Now, just two days later, the White Sox have signed left-hander Sean Newcomb to a one-year, $4.5 million deal.

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Newcomb split time between the Boston Red Sox and the Athletics last season, making 36 of his 48 appearances with the latter. He struggled in Boston through 12 appearances — five of which came as starts — and posted a 3.95 ERA through 41 innings pitched.

The left-hander had played for the Oakland Athletics in both 2023 and 2024, posting a 4.32 ERA through his 14 games with the team across those two seasons. In 2025, though, he instantly made a much bigger impact on a struggling bullpen.

Through his 36 games with the A’s last season, Newcomb posted a 1.75 ERA, leading all A’s pitchers, and was one of several relievers to record a save after Mason Miller’s departure to San Diego at the trade deadline. He converted both of his opportunities.

Newcomb, understandably, had a much better away split with the Athletics — posting a 0.40 ERA through 13 games on the road compared to a 2.79 ERA through 23 games at home — and playing outside of a Triple-A ballpark in 2026 will definitely benefit him.

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Having lost 100 or more games in each of the last three seasons, the White Sox need as much help as they can get. Newcomb joins a serviceable bullpen which posted a 4.16 collective ERA last season — better than both the New York Yankees and the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

The White Sox look to turn their luck around in 2026, and will hope their new signings can give them the boost they need to return to the postseason for the first time since 2021 — or at least drag them out of last place in the American League Central.

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