Dingo_Sox’s Offseason Plan

PREAMBLE

Well I think we all wish that ended better, injuries at and poor play at the wrong time left us speculating what could have been.  There is a good-great team in there if steps are taken and supplemented properly.  The White Sox should be the favorites for the AL Central going forward and we need to make sure that becomes reality.

MANAGER

Let’s get this out of the way; I don’t believe LaRussa is going to be a serious candidate.  This feels more like a solid for a friend of Jerry’s and a warm up for Rick Hahn when the serious candidates come out upon elimination.  That said, we could do worse, and we have done worse in recent memory.  As for my pick for manager, AJ Hinch.  That said, I am not particularly sold on Hinch but he seems like best of what the front office is looking for.  I can see LaRussa being a bridge to Hinch/Cora as well, since I would have to guess that’s a Manfred driven directive to not put them in top spots immediately after the suspensions are up.  When the press conference was called I didn’t think Renteria was being let go but more so Don Cooper was taking a new position in the organization.  For Pitching Coach, let the manager choose and not foist Matt Zaleski on them.

Manager: AJ Hinch

Pitching Coach: Hinch’s choice

This is the White Sox we are talking about here, weirdness is their shtick.

  1. AJ Hinch
  2. Matt Quatraro
  3. Bruce Bochy
  4. Joe Espada
  5. Alex Cora* (I think it’s a done deal he’s going back to Boston)
  6. Tony LaRussa

ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS

  • Reynaldo Lopez, $2.2M – Tender
  • Nomar Mazara, $5.9M – Tender
  • Yolmer Sanchez, $2M – Non-Tender
  • Carlos Rodon, $4.5M – Non-Tender
  • Evan Marshall, $1.9M – Tender
  • Adam Engel, $1.4M – Tender
  • Lucas Giolito, $5.3M – Tender
  • Jace Fry, $1M – Tender

Method 2, all are prefilled.  According sportrac Yolmer is still arb eligible, and he’s still gone.  If I didn’t need his 40 man spot he’d still be here.  It’s time to end the Rodon experience on the south side, he may be an effective one day but gone are the days of rolling people out there see what sticks.  A change of scenery will do him well.  Now is the time to win.

Everyone* else is an easy decision at this point.

* I have things to say about Nomar Mazara

CLUB OPTIONS

  • Edwin Encarnacion, $12 million – Decline
  • Gio Gonzalez, $7 million – Decline
  • Leury Garcia, $3.5 million – Pickup

White Sox Baseball, where DH’s go to die.  Gio, it took years and three different stints but you finally pitched for us.  I only wish it was the Gio of 10 years ago.  Leury is worth another shot especially at 3.5 million.  Depth was a big issue this last season and it makes no sense to burn more depth.

OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS

  • James McCann – Offer 3/24 and extend QO
  • Alex Colome – Offer 2/24 No QO
  • Jarrod Dyson – Let Go

James McCann has been a large part of Giolito’s ascencion to ace status, as we saw the first starts this year when Grandal was catching him.  There is also no way I would make the choice on this without talking to the ace of the pitching staff, as he is the guy we are going to be counting on in to get a win whether it is in June or October.  If he feels that he can get there with Grandal this offseason I am all for letting him walk with a QO.  However if feels getting there is going to take more than an offseason, I would offer anywhere between 3/24 – 3/30 to retain McCann.  I would never fault a dude for trying to get paid, especially with all the weirdness floating about.  The other reason I would try and retain McCann is because our catching depth is trash.  For a post season run having the depth behind Grandal be Collins/Zavala doesn’t exactly sound like a plan to win but more so a 2018 White Sox move.  I would actively try and resign Colome as well we have in house closer stand-ins.  While I’m not particularly sold on any particular bullpen arm being the closer going forward, the viability is there.  While the adventure with Colome is always there, the job gets done.  I don’t particularly think there will be a big market for Colome given his peripherals, but The Phillies are looking kinda sus right now in terms of bullpen.

ROSTER CLEANUP & RULE 5 PROTECTION

  • Yermin Mercedes– DFA with NRI for Spring Training
  • Yolmer Sanchez – NRI for Spring Training* (If he does not get picked up on a major league deal)
  • Tyler Johnson – Flight risk, probably with better health seen Chicago

While working on this I looked at the 40 man roster and the players that are Rule 5 draft eligible and I made this part of the roster construction.  The crop of Rule 5 protectee’s this year are uninspiring.  Gavin Sheets I gave the most pause to but we have enough 1B/DH floating around and the lost 2020 season really hurt his ability to differentiate himself.  Hunter Schyver and Jake Burger I think the injury issues/recency in the case of Schyver are too great to be taken in the rule 5 draft.  I don’t consider Lenyn Sosa, Blake Battenfield, Luis Mieses, or Laz Rivera flight risks.

FREE AGENTS

No. 1: Marcus Stroman (four year, $60 million). I don’t think very highly of our starting pitching depth, nor did I at the beginning of last season.  So we are adding one definite SP that can slot in nicely into our rotation around 2/3 and some potential wild cards in further in.  While I think Dunning and Kopech are should be considered long term piece of this team going forward, Kopech I extremely doubt will be ready to go at the start of the season.  I eyeballed the contract and it felt okay-ish after this season.  Also, I believe Stroman fits better here on a personnel level and financial level.  And those are the two biggest reasons I didn’t go for Trevor Bauer here.  I would go up to 3/60 for Stroman tops though with a backup plan of Taijuan Walker to shorter deal.

No. 2: Trevor May (three years, $20 million 6/7/7). The bullpen needs some reinforcement, mostly of the non-closer variety which is a bit of a mixed bag this offseason.  While yes, the bullpen got taxed near the end of the 2020 season that felt like a direct result of the dearth of starting pitching. Trevor May fills a need for the White Sox, K’s from the bullpen, and looking at the relievers available May is perhaps the best non-closer option IMO (that is not Keone Kela because NOPE!).  I thought about Hendricks or Rosenthal here but ultimately it made more sense to go a touch younger here, and the added bonus of taking him away from the Twins.

No. 3: Michael Brantley (one year, $15 million).  Being very unoriginal here, we need a competent DH as we have needed one for years.  It was really fun watching him be a fun at bat to watch on a team many of us hate watched a good portion of 2020.  Hopefully we don’t end this one’s career too.  And if we do, then that’s just revenge with extra steps from all the time he spent on the Indians lighting us up.

No. 4: Yoelqui Cespedas (Max out the remainder of the pool). While yes I would like make a run at Colas I don’t think his contract is going to get settled in a timely fashion for the 2020-2021 deadline.  I imagine his bonus is going to be around $3 million which should be right around what we have left if not a little more, and if it is more lets work a way to get some more cap space.  Potential to fix that long running hole in RF we’ve had staring at us for seemingly forever.  Mazara is his current theoretical placeholder.  And if Colas somehow does become available, start trading for international pool money.

No. 5: Tyler Flowers (one year, $3 million) – only if we do NOT resign McCann. The reunion many of us wanted years ago but never got.  He’s still a competent backup catcher and would be some ways in having to see Collins or Zavala a lot this upcoming season.

No. # Corey Kluber? – If his option no picked up by Texas I am definitely checking in on him and his medicals.  I don’t believe the Rangers are going to be picking up his option, especially considering its $18 million.  If all looks good, let’s try and get him in for $10 million.

TRADES

No. 1: Brandon Flores Jr., Jose Ruiz, and Gavin Sheets for Mike Foltynewicz and Sean Newcomb. Yes, those two bombed hard this past season which makes me believe that at least Folty is done with the Braves.  Newcomb is why Sheets is included as he has some value and an option left.  The Braves have the pitching infrastructure to make something potentially out of both Ruiz and Flores.  For either side it could end up being a complete nothing burger and sometimes, that gamble on the change of scenery is all that’s needed.

Gauging value on the minor side for either team to get a deal done is too much of a crap shoot, so I am expecting the trade deadline this year to go full on Crazytown Banapants.

SUMMARY

The bones of a great team are here, it’s time to make it happen.  Yes, we are adding a lot of money but this should make us a strong contender this year if we don’t get seriously injured (Robert, Anderson, Moncoda, et al.). We’ve saved a lot of money over the years and this is good enough of a year to cash in while over owners will be tightening the purse strings; we have a chance to really make a push for a championship.  There is no excuse for going hard this offseason.

Let’s talk about the aberration of tendering Mazara.  Was he terrible this year, unquestionably so.  The market is also pretty dismal for RF this offseason and the trade market is going to be weird this offseason with both sides working with extra apprehension.  This also plays into why I am retaining Leury, and hoping against hope he stays something that resembles healthy.  Mazara is getting an extremely short leash and to be honest, I don’t think he’s making to July let alone the trade deadline.  I’m eyeing Michael Comforto at the deadline and pouncing early as possible on him.  Why at the deadline, I think they are going to be looking heavily at an in house of Blake Rutherford to either take RF or to turn into trade bait for one, because it’s the White Sox we are talking about here.

Payroll with buyouts ranges from $155.4 million to $172.7 million (McCann and Kluber) so it is unquestionably on the higher side.  And that is also the reason why I used Method 2 for arbitration; it gives us some payroll buffer space.  Lopez is being moved to long relief as his last chance with the organization, Crochet is not getting the Condor treatment and will be getting stretched out in AA or AAA to start the season, and this is Cease’s time to show he deserves a rotation spot.  For Lopez and Cease, maybe some extra time in the lab will do them some much needed mechanical good,  because if Cease alone can find the strike zone this rotation could be truly terrifying

C – Yasmani Grandal – 18.25m

1B – Jose Abreu – 16m

2B – Nick Madrigal – 600k

3B – Yoan Moncada – 6.8m

SS – Tim Anderson – 7.25m

LF – Eloy Jimenez – 4.3m

CF – Luis Robert – 3.5m

RF – Nomar Mazara – 5.9m

DH – Michael Brantley – 15m

Bench – Tyler Flowers -3m, Danny Mendick – 600k, Adam Engel – 1.4m, and Leury Garcia – 3.5m

 

SP – Lucas Giolito – 5.3m

SP Dallas Kuechel – 18m

SP –Marcus Stroman – 15m

SP – Dylan Cease – 600k

SP – Mike Foltynewicz/Dane Dunning – 600k

RP – Alex Colome – 12m

RP – Aaron Bummer – 2m

RP – Trevor May – 6m

RP – Codi Heuer – 600k

RP – Evan Marshall – 1.6m

RP – Jace Fry – 1m

RP – Jimmy Cordero – 600k

RP – Reynaldo Lopez – 2.2m

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iamkarnold

I don’t think Atlanta is going to give up Folty and Newcomb for what amounts to garbage. Maybe if they’re looking to shed salary in a major way but with Ozuna coming off the books I think they won’t be that desperate to shed those guys. Could probably get more from other pitching starved teams like LAA or BOS.

Josh Nelson

Taking Trevor May away from the Twins would be fun.