Anthony Rescan’s Offseason Plan

PREAMBLE

I’m going to do my best here to accomplish two goals, win the division in 2020 and compete long term. This team had several value sinks, particularly in the rotation, that brought down the top end performances of the core players. Still, some of these spots will be filled by young players getting their first full season in the big leagues in Madrigal, Robert, Kopech, and Cease.

I’ve got a few major priorities.

  • Add a top of the rotation starter
  • Add at least one every day, lefthanded power bat
  • Bolster depth

ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS

  • Alex Colomé, $10.3M – Tender
    • He’ll be moved in a subsequent trade. I’d be fine moving forward with him though.
  • Yolmer Sánchez, $6.2M – Nontender
  • James McCann, $4.9M – Tender
  • Carlos Rodon, $4.5M – Tender
    • He’ll be moved in a subsequent trade. I want nothing to do with keeping him on the roster.
  • Leury García, $4M – Tender
  • Evan Marshall, $1.3M – Tender
    • He’ll be moved in a subsequent trade. I’d be fine moving forward with him though.
  • Josh Osich, $1M – Nontender
  • Ryan Goins, $900K – Nontender

CLUB OPTIONS

  • Welington Castillo: $8 million/$500,000 buyout – Decline. The Beef is spoiled.

OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS

  • Jose Abreu (made $16M in 2019) – I’d give him something similar to the 2/32 that Michael Brantley got. Let’s call it 2/30.
  • Iván Nova (made $9,166,167 in 2019) – I’ll pass. He greatly out performed his DRA and looks to be headed down the tubes.
  • Jon Jay (made $4M in 2019) – Bye, Felicia.
  • Hector Santiago (made $2M in 2019 on split contract) – I’d invite him to Spring Training on a non-roster invite, but that’s the most I’d do.

FREE AGENTS

Gerrit Cole – 8 years, 240 million

I’m spending the money. I toyed with the idea of trading for Syndergaard or moving other pieces around, but this is just the best option. Cole becomes the ace ahead of Giolito and the pair will head a young, talented rotation in 2020. Will the White Sox do this? Probably not, but it’s what I’d do.

Robinson Chirinos – 2 years, 11 million

Chirinos is old, but reliable. He’s provided steady defense behind the plate for the Astros, while remaining a league average hitter. This is essentially the contract that Kurt Suzuki got last year, so I think it’s a pretty decent comparable deal.

Drew Pomeranz – 2 years, 15 million

Pomeranz saw a huge resurgence after his switch to the bullpen. Even in the short time before his move to the Brewers, the changes were clear. Pomeranz is fit to be a backend of the bullpen piece. In the 28.6 innings Pomeranz pitched from the pen, he posted a 1.88 ERA with a 47.2% K-Rate and a paltry 7.6% walk rate. He slides into the set-up role in front of Aaron Bummer.

Tanner Roark – 1 year, 7 million with a player option for 2021

Roark gets brought in to compete for the #5 spot with Reynaldo Lopez. The loser of that race becomes the swing man in the pen. The provides the depth that the Sox just didn’t have last year in the rotation.

Asdrubal Cabrera – 1 year, 3.75 million

Cabrera provides a solid bat off the bench that can play a bevy of infield spots. He’s been about league average over his career versus both RHP and LHP, which isn’t surprising for a switch hitter. Still, he can be deployed regardless of matchups and spell players for playing time.

TRADES

Trade Alex Colomé to the Cubs for Kyle Schwarber

Left handed power is a legitimate need for the White Sox. Kyle Schwarber has that in spades. He’ll slide into the DH role, but also will get some playing time in left field with Eloy on the bench or in the DH spot.

In giving up Colomé, the Sox move on from a guy at the height of his value to fill an immediate need for both teams. This is a classic baseball trade.

Trade Evan Marshall, Micker Adolfo, and Dane Dunning to the Dodgers for Joc Pederson

Here’s your every day right fielder. Pederson provides a second, lefty power bat to this potent lineup. Pederson is pretty adept with the glove and is a good athlete, so I have no issues sliding him into right field and asking him to make the adjustment.

The Dodgers have been longing for pen arms for years, so Marshall fills an immediate need there. Dunning and Adolfo provide prospect depth and could slide into roles with the big club soon.

Trade Zack Collins to the Tigers for Joe Jimenez

I like Jimenez quite a bit. He has struggled to accept the closers’ role for the Tigers; however, the righthander has displayed exceptional strikeout rates over the course of his career. He provides a bit of upside in a mid-to-back end relief role.

Collins gives the Tigers a bat behind the plate they haven’t had in years and a potential heir to first base.

Trade Carlos Rodon to the Cardinals for Jose Martinez

I’m acquiring Martinez to split a bit of time with both Schwarber and Pederson. Martinez will spell one of the two against LHP and provide a good amount of hitting off the bench.

Carlos Rodon is a good upside play for the Cardinals who tend to gravitate towards guys like this. I may not be bullish on his arm being healthy, but the stuff was always there.

EXTENSIONS

I’m going to steal Josh Nelson’s extensions for Robert, Moncada, and Giolito. I think Josh did a great job there.

Two newly acquired pieces in Kyle Schwarber and Joc Pederson still have a couple of years left of control, but I’d also consider re-upping them. Still, I’d want to wait and see how they perform.

SUMMARY

I came in at $119,830,000 for the 26 man roster.

C: Robinson Chirinos

1B: Jose Abreu

2B: Nick Madrigal

3B: Yoan Moncada

SS: Tim Anderson

LF: Eloy Jimenez

CF: Luis Robert

RF: Joc Pederson

DH: Kyle Schwarber

BENCH: Jose Martinez, James McCann, Leury Garcia, Asdrubal Cabrera

Starting Rotation: Gerrit Cole, Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech, Tanner Roark/Reynaldo Lopez

Bullpen: Tanner Roark/Reynaldo Lopez, Carson Fulmer, Jimmy Cordero, Jayce Fry, Kelvin Herrera, Drew Pomeranz, Joe Jimenez, Aaron Bummer

I’m a little bit concerned at the pitching depth here. Having both Herrera and Fulmer in the pen is concerning. However, I’d be very active on the non-roster invitee market.

Offensively, I’m very happy. There’s a lot of lefthanded power there with Martinez to plug lineup holes when facing LHP. Only Pederson is asked to move “out of position”, which I think he can handle.

By plugging holes filled by negative replacement value players, this roster already adds approximately 11 WARP. PECOTA isn’t out yet and I don’t want to juggle the playing time projections from the year old, five year forecast. But, I think it’s fair to say that the combination of Schwarber, Chirinos, Pederson, Martinez, and Cabrera can add about 8 WARP to the offense while Cole, Roark, Pomeranz, and Jimenez can bring another 10 WARP. That said, there should be some expected regression from Giolito, Moncada, and Anderson; however, this team should still be a top end performer with that in mind. Also, keep in mind, tallying up WARP isn’t exactly how this works, but it gives us a good picture of the improvements that were made.

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Bennett Karoll

Whoops you mentioned the Joc trade now it won’t happen. 2 years in a row Social Media ruins it.

BeefLoaf108

Good plan! I like your smaller signings, they are all reasonable and help the depth on this squad. The trades are super fun as well.