PREAMBLE
Jerry wouldn’t hire Tony La Russa then not spend enough to get him over the hump, right? Right?! I doubt we’ll have many fans in the stands next year. The TV ratings were up for the Sox, but down across all sports in general during the pandemic. I think people like to watch with fans in the stands and relieve some of the FOMO from not actually being there. That being said I think the budget crunch will be real, and it will be another year before we open the wallet for any bats or arms.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Nomar Mazara: $5.6M | $5.9M | $5.7M – Tender. His swing looks suspiciously like Nicky Delmonico’s. Long with a swing plane that requires superhuman hand eye to make contact. He just doesn’t keep the bat on the same path as the ball. Its like trying to hit the period at the end of this sentence. That being said I don’t see any other viable lefty outfield options for under his price. He can make the adjustment. Pleas just don’t bat him in front of 5’6” Nick Madrigal anymore, poor kid lost a ton of high strike calls this year because of this giant ahead of him.
- Carlos Rodón: $4.5M | $4.5M | $4.5M – Non-Tender. I loved watching the slider for a few years there, but its time to move on.
- Lucas Giolito: $2.5M | $5.3M | $2.5M – Tender. No great player in their right mind would want to sign an extension in this economic environment, but its still worth trying.
- Reynaldo López: $1.7M | $2.2M | $1.7M – Tender. See how some relief work does to build focus, accuracy, and let his fastball fly. Being a righty in the box against this guy is putting your life in the hands of someone who misses high and tight suspiciously often.
- Evan Marshall: $1.3M | $1.9M | $1.4M -Tender. Pulling for you Forgetting Sarah.
- Adam Engel: $1M | $1.4M | $1M – Tender and extend while he’s cheap. Plus Plus defense. Newly compact swing with decent power and contact. Great guy.
- Jace Fry: $800K | $1M | $800K - Tender
- Yolmer Sánchez: Make an offer at $1.5M. Going to need someone at 2nd while Madrigal is rehabbing and he has the clubhouse rooting for him.
CLUB OPTIONS
- Edwin Encarnación: $12M – Decline....
- Gio González: $7M ($500K buyout) - Decline
- Leury García: $3.5M ($250K buyout) – Rework. Hopefully around $2M for a prove that you can stay healthy year.
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- Alex Colomé (Made $10,532,500 in 2020) – Let go. I hate to say it. I know his ERA in non-save situations is horrendous and makes his peripherals look worse than they are. This guy is a gamer. There aren’t any younger options on the free agent market, and I don’t know that we have the depth to stay in house. But he deserves to get $50M over 3 years and we won’t afford that.
- James McCann (Made $5.4M in 2020) – Farewell James
- Jarrod Dyson (Made $2M in 2020) – Thanks for trying Jarrod
COACHING STAFF
- Manager: Tony La Russa, not by choice. I hope he doesn’t alienate Tim Anderson or all of Sox nation.
- Pitching coach: Greg Maddux. We need someone with brains.
- 1st Base: Darryl Boston is lucky we didn't have fans this year. Don't really want to hear chants of "rapist" any time soon, hopefully he gets housecleaned as well.
FREE AGENTS
I truly don’t think we are signing anyone of consequence this offseason. No chance we get Springer even though he’s as good against righties as most lefties are, and would look really good in RF. I’d give a 15% chance we land Bauer on his favored 1 year deal. Joc Pederson comes in waves but nothing you can surf on, and his defense is declining. Adam Eaton would fit in great with Tony La Russa’s clubhouse while destroying any remaining enjoyment for anyone else.
#1: Roll the dice on a reliever like Trevor Cahill for $5M/yr with an option for next year just to have some veteran presence.
#2: One of these starting pitchers:
Quintana if he’ll take under $10M/year for a couple years to come home.
Garrett Richards if he’ll take under $8M on a one year deal.
Matt Shoemaker if he’ll take $4M on a one year deal.
#3: Josh Reddick if he comes in under or near Mazara at around $6M for two years.
TRADES
I was hoping for a Michael Conforto trade, but then he went and blew his past performance out of the water this year. We can’t really offer anything but extremely young pitching and outfielders who should never leave AA anyway. Keep the powder dry.
SUMMARY
We’ve still got a good squad at $115M, which could actually be under $100M if we dump Mazara and don’t sign anyone of note, which I see as the more likely scenario. Its going to be a rough financial year for Jerry and his board, and I’ve seen no evidence over the years that he’s willing to lose money.
Next year we go after Conforto in right and maybe Schwarber at DH depending how his year goes. Take a shot at one more pitcher or maybe big bullpen arm after we find out what we’ve got with these kids in a full season in 2021. Our year is 2022, but 2021 is still going to be fun.
Lineup
- SS Anderson $7.25M
- 3B Moncada $6.8M
- 1B Abreu $17.66M
- LF Eloy $4.33M
- CF Robert $3.5M
- C Grandal $18.25M
- RF Mazara $5.57M
- DH Vaughn $0.575M
- 2B Madrigal $0.575M
On the bench
C Collins $0.575
2B/3B Yolmer $1.5M
SS/OF Leury $2M
OF Engel $1.2M
Starting Pitching:
Keuchel $18M
Giolito $3.9M
Cease $0.575M
Richards $10M
Dunning $0.575M
Bullpen:
Bummer $2M
Cahill $5M
Marshall $1.5M
Foster $0.575M
Heuer $0.575M
Lopez $1.9M
Cordero $0.575M
Fry $0.9M
On the Farm
Burdi
Kopech
Crochet
