The Chicago White Sox's Cinderella 2026 postseason run proves the franchise's dark years are officially gone. However, with the dust settling on the South Siders' best-of-five elimination from the American League Division Series, the reality of the roster construction for 2027 has taken center stage. That could involve trading one of the White Sox strikeout leaders this year.
If the White Sox want to progress from October dark horse to a legitimate playoff contender, General Manager Chris Getz must make certain bold decisions about the roster for next year. The franchise cannot afford to be reliant on Colson Montgomery and Munetaka Murakami , two high-volume strikeout players, in the same lineup next season. Suddenly, the possibility of one of the White Sox strikeout leaders getting traded this offseason enters the conversation.
Oct 10, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami (5) reacts after striking out during the fourth inning against the Cleveland Guardians in game five of the ALDS for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images
Without a doubt, Montgomery and Murakami delivered game-changing power-hitting on the plate during the regular season and on some occasions in the postseason. Together, the two hit over 65 home runs this year, but against elite playoff pitching, their overwhelming swing-and-miss was the Sox offense's biggest problem.
In Game Five of the Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday night, both players went hitless in four at-bats. If indeed the White Sox decide not to retain both players next season, there's a split on which slugger to keep and which to drop because of the math behind the decision, the money, potential, and positional scarcity.
Montgomery set a regular-season record for strikeouts with 227, beating the previous MLB single-season strikeout record set by Mark Reynolds (223) in 2009. He holds a 35.6% strikeout rate this season, the worst among qualified hitters, with his teammate Murakami (35.4%) coming in second. Meanwhile, after the All-Star break, Montgomery's strikeout rate spiked to 41%. With runners in scoring position (RISP), Montgomery had 77 strikeouts in 177 at-bats.
In this postseason, Montgomery recorded 21 at-bat appearances in seven games, but managed just five hits with a batting average of .238 and five strikeouts. Nonetheless, he posted a solid .814 OPS, one home run, two RBI, and a slugging percentage of .429. In the regular season, he recorded 31 home runs, 87 RBI, 55 walks, and added 23 doubles this season, proving he can make the ball fly. Defensively, the 24-year-old recorded six Outs Above Average (OAA) and has a 75% success rate.
Murakami, on the other hand, posted a better strikeout rate but was not much better than Montgomery. With 454 at-bats, he struck out 196 times over 127 games in the regular season, maintaining a 34.5% strikeout rate. His worst stretch came in August to mid-September, when his strikeout rate spiked to 42.1%. In that time, he went 8-for-80, with 77 strikeouts in 42 games. In fact, in the first fifteen days of September, he plunged to a brutal .096 batting average. But he still hit seven home runs. In total, he posted 35 home runs, a .347 OBP, and an .825 OPS, and drew 92 walks.
He hit one home run in the postseason, with five RBI, a below-average OPS (.554), and a batting average of .185 in 27 at-bats. Murakami went hitless in four at-bats in Game 5 against the Guardians, striking out four times. The Japanese slugger finished the five-game Division Series with four hits in 19 at-bats and was struck out 11 times as Cleveland pitching enjoyed throwing fastballs at him.
It is hard to point out who should go or who the White Sox should keep between Montgomery and Murakami. The former is a left-handed shortstop who hit over 30 home runs in the regular season, and there are very few kinds of players on the open market with the same capabilities. And if you find any, their price tag will be at least $200 million. Despite Montgomery's high strikeouts, his raw power profile, highlighted by his top 12% barrel rate and 45% hard-hit rate, proves that his contact quality is already high-grade.
Also, he made adjustments to his plate discipline under pressure during the postseason, with his batting average moving from .197 in the regular season to .238, his OPS rising from .710 to .814, and his on-base percentage from .280 to .385. That means there can be more adjustments to flattening his swing this winter to handle elevated-velocity pitches.
The same doesn't totally apply to Murakami because his OPS went from .852 in the regular season to .554 in the postseason, and his batting average plunged from .207 to .185. But he posted five RBI, more than Montgomery (who had one), and his 35.7% strikeout rate was better than his teammate's (38.7%) in the postseason, while both players' Whiff% spiked above 35%. This makes it hard to compare both players' performance by just those games. Also, we have to remember that they just played their first full season in the major leagues, and they are going to improve.
But whether the White Sox sacrifice one for the 2027 lineup becomes a dilemma. Both players combined for more than 420 strikeouts in 2026, and that's a stat no team in the league can have and still aim to be top in the division and do well in the postseason next year. Trading off Murakami looks like the better bet, as he's at his peak value, but having made some incredible game-winning hits this year, it might be tough to part with him.
Losing Montgomery will not be wise because, at 24, he has the potential to be one of the best shortstops in the league. Or would trading Murakami to get one or two starting pitchers be at the top of the front office's wish list this winter? The choice is on White Sox front office.
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Main Photo Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
