I am thinking about this off season plan not as a 2019 off-season plan. This is the start of a 2020 off season plan. Hahn needs to start building the 2020 team when the window of contention opens. Creating “the plan” only when “the time is right” or only when the team will start to contend is an incorrect approach.
Having said that, how is the ChiSox going to look in 2020? What pieces will be available in the farm, trade, and free agency?
Core players that will be present in 2020:
Moncada 2B, Eloy RF, Palka DH, Timmy SS, Narváez C, Basabe CF
Bench: Yolmer, Leury (?)
Starters: Rodon, Kopech, Giolito, Cease, ReLo
Relievers: Dunning (Potential starter later), I. Hamilton, J Fry, Minaya
On the on-deck circle: Adolfo, Roberts, Madrigal, Rutherford, Rivera, Hansen, Burger, Collins, Zabala
Jim has mentioned previously that the ChiSox have a plethora of OF, so my plan won’t be adding OFs. We have plenty. What position players are needed? We need a 3B. We need a catcher. We need a 1B.
Finding a catcher and a 1B can’t be difficult. Finding a 3B will be difficult. But let’s focus on arbitration candidates:
- Jose Abreu, $16M: Non-Tender
- Avisail Garcia, $8M – Non-Tender
- Yolmer Sanchez, $4.7M: Tender
- Carlos Rodon, $3.7M: Tender
- Matt Davidson, $2.4M: Tender
- Leury Garcia, $1.9M: Tender
- Danny Farquhar, $1.4M: Non- Sox outrighted Danny Farquhar, Ryan LaMarre, and Rob Scahill to Charlotte.
Many of us love Abreu, but quite honestly, he should not be part of this team when the window of contention opens. He is declining really fast, and he will be 33 in 2020. Paying 16M for a player that probably won’t break the 2 fWAR is not a good decision. We need those 16M. Avi? Ditto. He is just not good enough. We need those 8M. That’s 24M free of money. Almost Machado’s kinda salary and Machado will easily surpass the production Avi & Abreu will provide combined while using just one roster spot. That’s a no brainer.
CLUB OPTIONS: Decline both (Shields and Jones)
TRADES: Trade Wellington Castillo for a bag of balls and a useful veteran reliever. Eat 6M of salary.
Free agent signings:
MANNY MACHADO: 311M – 10 years with player’s opt-out after 4 years: 35M, 32M, 32M, 32M, 6 yrs of 30M
With Machado, the Chisox fills the 3B need with both: elite glove, elite arm, and elite bat. He is the impactful player this team needs to complement with Eloy and the next core of prospects. He is just 26 yrs old. We will be paying big for his 26 to 30 years of age, but if he produces 5 + fWAR in average, it pays by itself, and then some.
YASMANI GRANDAL: 4 years for 80M: 25, 25, 15, 15
JAMES SHIELDS: Sign Shields for a 1 year 5M to eat innings
HECTOR SANTIAGO: Using Josh’s numbers – Resign Santiago for 2.5M
That is it.
Roster:
| Position Players | (Number in Millions) | |
| Player | Salary | |
| Catcher | Yasmani Grandal | $25.00 |
| First Base | Matt Davidson | $2.40 |
| Second Base | Yoan Moncada | $0.58 |
| Shortstop | Tim Anderson | $1.40 |
| Third Base | Manny Machado | $35.00 |
| Left Field | Leury Garcia | $1.90 |
| Center Field | Adam Engel | $0.58 |
| Right Field | Eloy | $0.58 |
| Designated Hitter | Daniel Palka | $2.40 |
| Bench | Jose Rondon | $0.58 |
| Bench | Yolmer Sanchez | $0.58 |
| Bench | Omar Narvaez | $0.58 |
| Pitchers | ||
| Salary | ||
| SP1 | Carlos Rodon | $3.70 |
| SP2 | Reynaldo Lopez | $0.58 |
| SP3 | Lucas Giolito | $0.58 |
| SP4 | James Shileds | $5.00 |
| SP5 | Dylan Covey | $0.58 |
| RP | Jace Fry | $0.58 |
| RP | Juan Minaya | $0.58 |
| RP | Ian Hamilton | $0.58 |
| RP | Ryan Burr | $0.58 |
| RP | Aaron Bummer | $0.58 |
| RP | Wellington Castillo's trade | $6.50 |
| RP | Hector Santiago | $2.50 |
| RP | Gregory Infante | $0.58 |
Total payroll: Around 94 million. Still under the preferred max, and we have a team that is taking shape to contend right in 2020. This is a plan thinking in the future where we might only need to find a 1B. Goldschmidt, Smoak will be available in 2020. Maybe even Abreu!
