PREAMBLE
The White Sox could seriously contend for the division next year. The White Sox power numbers were nowhere near where they needed to be last year, but the Twins will not be able to keep up with their meteoric pace from 2019. The Indians tried a soft rebuild and maybe it worked? But they are more of a question mark than they have been in nearly a decade. We all know the Tigers and Royals will be fighting for draft pick status. That being said, we need pitching. Unfortunately, we don’t get it. The South Siders will ride and die with their offense, hoping for continued greatness from TA7 and Moncada, no decline from Jose Abreu, and the ascension of Eloy and Robert to all-star level young building blocks – plus a little infusion of talent that should elevate the second base and right field (just don’t expect huge names to do it). Oh yeah, and a new DH.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
Write “tender” or “non-tender” after each player and their projected 2020 salaries. Feel free to offer explanation afterward if necessary.
- Alex Colomé, $10.3M TENDER
- Yolmer Sánchez, $6.2M NON-TENDER
- James McCann, $4.9M TENDER
- Carlos Rodon, $4.5M TENDER
- Leury García, $4M TENDER
- Evan Marshall, $1.3M TENDER
- Josh Osich, $1M NON-TENDER
- Ryan Goins, $900K NON-TENDER
CLUB OPTIONS
Write “pick up” or “decline” after the option.
- Welington Castillo: $8 million/$500,000 buyout
Dump off to the rangers with international money for a lottery ticket, obviously. This was the most telegraphed move of the last decade. Everyone saw it coming.
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
Try to retain, or let go?
- Jose Abreu (made $16M in 2019)
RETAIN – Jose is the heart of the team and still has enough left for a run. Jerry and Jose both want a playoff payoff for all his hard work.
3 years - $32 million
- Iván Nova (made $9,166,167 in 2019)
LET IT GO.
- Jon Jay (made $4M in 2019)
LET IT GO.
- Hector Santiago (made $2M in 2019 on split contract)
BRING HIM BACK ON A MINOR LEAGUE 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: Wilmer Flores (three years, $18 million). Meet the new Yolmer; a supersub place holder at second base for Nick Madrigal. The upside is the Flores has much better offensive numbers. This may even allow Hahn to justify holding Nick back. With almost 300 plate appearances last year for the Diamondbacks, his 0.848 OPS would be third on the 2019 White Sox.
No. 2: JD Martinez (four years, $88 million plus fifth year club option/buyout of $12 million/$2.5 million). Burying the lead a little bit, but speaking of OPS – JD would have been number 1. Hopefully JD is able to break the curse of the free agent designated hitters that has plagued the south side. Hahn finally lands a coveted free agent and ESPN remembers the White Sox play for the MLB for at least 3 days.
No. 3: Gio Gonzalez (two years, $23 million plus third year mutual option of $8.5 million). Reunited and it feels so good! Jerry watched the world series that saw the two most expensive starting pitching rotations dueling and he sticks to his guns and refuses to offer any of the top tier FA pitchers any money. (Don’t be too mad at him, he did just sign JD to what could be the Sox first $100 million dollar man.) Sox get a good number 4 and a veteran presence that has more upside than the previous veteran presences that have rolled through. We are still banking on two of Kopech/Reynaldo/Cease/Dunning to step up to Giolito’s level to make the rotation fearsome.
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 (This one’s for Hawk!): Trade Ian Hamilton, Lincoln Henzman and Blake Rutherford to San Francisco for Mike Yastrzemski. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZZZZZZZ! Yastrzemski is an old rookie and had a good first year. The Giants are not in a position to take on the Dodgers right now, so they hedge the bets towards the future and part ways with the 29 year old. It’s a gamble, but after missing on Ozuna and Gardner, Hahn takes a chance on this left handed bat by dipping into some of the dwindling minor league talent.
SUMMARY
Final signing, not a free agent, but the Sox will extend Robert before the season so he will be in centerfield to start the season! Caveat to the bullpen – I made zero moves there. I think more free agent arms will be brought in to round out the back of the bull pen, but I limited myself to the 3 free agent signees that Jim notes in the rules of the OPP. A stronger bullpen makes me feel better about next year than this final roster.
Look, it’s an improvement, but the Sox will still be relying too heavily on the internal development for 2020. We still need to see depth built up at the major league level, Flores definitely helps. Mendick can stay in Charlotte (when Madrigal coms up) unless needed for emergency not as the main attraction heading into spring training. All in all, division may be achievable, but its Minnesota’s to lose right now. Maybe 2021 is more realistic.
LINEUP
STARTERS:
C McCann
1B Abreu
2B Flores
SS Anderson
3B Moncada
LF Jimenez
CF Robert
RF Yastrzemski
DH Martinez
BENCH:
Engel
Leury
Mendick
Collins (First backup catcher/DH/1B)
Zavala
ROTATION:
Giolito
Cease
Kopech
Lopez
Gio
BULLPEN:
Colome
Bummer
Fry
Herrera
Marshall
Cordero
Thyago/Kodi/Frare (rotate as needed from AAA)
