PREAMBLE
Honestly, I have no idea where the White Sox are in this process. The injury to Kopech sets them back a bit, as while TJ survivors sometimes come back throwing harder than before (but maybe not...) we/they still just don't know what they have with him. Couple that with the decline of Giolito, the very distinctly pedestrian Lopez and even Rodon, and the decline/injury of some of their prospects in the lower levels, and we still don't have much of an idea what the "winning core" of this team pretends to be (and I didn't even mention the offense).
At the same time, I think the Sox are a bit stuck, as they committed to this process and so kind of owe it to themselves and others to see it through. They aren't going to get any of the big ticket guys, and so winning through propping up a significantly below average 2018 team seems folly. I haven't thought about this as much as i usaully do, because I honestly just don't know what more they can do besides buy some lottery tickets and hope some of the lower level prospects and Eloy come up and perform or get healthy and get back on track.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
Write “tender” or “non-tender” after each player. Feel free to offer explanation afterward if necessary.
- Jose Abreu, $16M - tender
- Avisail Garcia, $8M - No. I think I'm done with this experiment.
- Yolmer Sanchez, $4.7M -tender
- Carlos Rodon, $3.7M -tender
- Matt Davidson, $2.4M -tender, and start him on the shoulder routine
- Leury Garcia, $1.9M - tender
- Danny Farquhar, $1.4M - non-tender. Put him somewhere though because his story is awesome and he's seemingly a great guy.
CLUB OPTIONS
Write “pick up” or “decline” after the option.
- Nate Jones, $4.65 million/$1.25M buyout - pickup
- James Shields, $16 million/$2M buyout - decline
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
Try to retain, or let go?
- Miguel Gonzalez (made $4.75 million in 2018) - nope
- Hector Santiago (made $2 million in 2018 — added) - try to retain at a similar or lesser deal
FREE AGENTS
List three free-agent targets you’d pursue during the offseason, with a reasonable contract. A good example of a bad idea:
No. 1: Andrew McCutchen (5 years with an option built in there somewhere - $75 million) - I have no idea what kind of money he is looking for and what the market is for him. But the Sox need someone, anyone, who can get on base on occasion. If he slows down too much for the outfield they can put him at first base or something, I don't care.
No 2: Lance Lynn (2 years - $20ish million with some incentives) - Seems like a guy that could be useful and not terrible. Maybe a good candidate to flip as well.
No 3. Yovani Gallardo (minor league deal or a 1 year for not very much) - Maybe he could be good again? Or he can go to the bullpen and help there. Roll the dice.
No 4. Daniel Hudson (minor league deal) - I liked this guy.
TRADES
Propose trades that you think sound reasonable for both sides, and the rationale behind them. A good example of a bad idea:
No. 1: Trade Jose Abreu and someone in the A+/AA conglomerate to CLE for Shane Bieber and some RP in the minors. Cleveland needs help if they want to make it past the first round of the playoffs ever again. In particular they need something at 1B. They also have a lot of pitching and Bieber is a good prospect. I don't expect much of a return for Abreu, so this is the best I could come up with that would be reasonable.
SUMMARY
Not sure if I have a complete 25 man roster and don't know what payroll is except probably pretty low. This is going to be a bad team, but they need another year+ to figure out what the prospects in A+ and AA are going to bring before they can commit to any long, expensive contracts. Which is too bad given the talent level on the market right now. Luckily, I expect Harper, Machado, et al. to build in opt outs into some of these deals. So, maybe if Eloy, Robert, and Moncada light the world on fire they can start to think about a splash deal.
C Narvaez/Castillo
1B Davidson/Skole?
2B Moncada
3B Sanchez/Moncada/Davidson
SS Anderson
LF Delmonico/LaMarre/Garcia
CF Engel/Garcia
RF McCutchen
P Rodon
P Lopez
P Lynn
P Giolito
P Gallardo/Hudson/prospect
yikes
