As Opening Day approaches, most teams are done searching for outside help.
The Chicago White Sox, however, may have just let one slip through their fingers.
In the wake of losing Mike Vasil to season-ending Tommy John surgery, the White Sox suddenly find themselves short on reliable innings out of the bullpen. It’s a gap that won’t be easy to fill—and one that made a recent move by the Boston Red Sox stand out even more.
Boston signed veteran reliever Tommy Kahnle.
For Chicago, it felt like a missed opportunity.
Kahnle isn’t just another available arm. He’s a familiar one. His breakout came with the White Sox back in 2016, when he emerged as a dependable bullpen option. He followed that up with another strong stretch in 2017 before being dealt midseason, launching a career that has kept him relevant across multiple contenders.
Now 36, Kahnle isn’t the same pitcher he once was—but he’s still effective.
Even after a somewhat uneven 2025 season with Detroit, where control issues crept in, he remains a proven reliever capable of handling meaningful innings. His evolution into a changeup-heavy pitcher—throwing it the vast majority of the time—has helped him stay competitive despite declining velocity.
And for a team like the White Sox, that experience could have mattered.
Vasil’s injury created a significant void. His ability to cover multiple roles and log over 100 innings last season made him one of the more valuable pieces in Chicago’s pitching staff. Replacing that kind of workload will likely require multiple arms—and a veteran like Kahnle could have eased that burden.
Instead, he’s headed to a Boston bullpen that already has depth.
That’s what makes the decision feel puzzling.
The White Sox don’t need perfection—they need innings. And at this stage of spring, finding a cost-effective, experienced arm with familiarity in the organization seemed like a logical step.
Now, the options are thinning.
Free agency no longer offers many clear solutions, leaving Chicago to explore less predictable avenues. The waiver wire could become a key source of reinforcements, especially as teams finalize their rosters and make late cuts.
It’s a path the White Sox have used before—Vasil himself was acquired that way.
Internally, there are candidates who could step up.
Chris Murphy, Jedixson Paez, and Jonathan Cannon are among the names who may see expanded roles. But relying heavily on unproven or developing arms comes with risk, especially for a bullpen already under pressure.
That’s why the coming days will be critical.
Whether through waivers or a late addition, the White Sox still need to address the gap left behind. And if they don’t, it could become an issue that lingers well beyond the opening weeks of the season.
Because sometimes, the moves you don’t make end up mattering just as much as the ones you do.
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