Welcome to the Sox Machine Offseason Plan Project.
If you’re new to the OPP, it’s something we’ve done the last several winters, before and while my sites had a post-it-yourself option. Last year's Offseason Plan Project had a whopping 130 submissions, and you can join the fray this year. The steps:
- Copy the template below
- Paste it into the text editor on this page
- Fill it out* and submit it. Here is a good example from last year.
(*In case it isn’t etched into your memory like it is mine, Andy Gonzalez’s number is 26. You will need to know that.)
As always, the variable is the payroll constraint. Last year, I set the limit at $120 million. The White Sox spent $128 million, so, hey, not bad.
The cap on this year's project is more of a guess than ever, because the finances of baseball are so uncertain that MLB Trade Rumors came out with three sets of arbitration projections, because nobody's exactly sure how the league is going to interpret the 60-game schedule.
In a normal year, with the window opening and TV ratings and attendance rising, the White Sox might be pushing toward a payroll of $150 million or more. But if the game's pandemic-hampered finances put a damper on spending, it's possible the same $128 million payroll could still accommodate a similar influx in talent.
Here's how the White Sox's payroll breaks down:
- Obligations: $77.8M to eight players
- Options: $22.5M to three players ($3.5M in buyouts)
- Arb-eligible: $14.7M-$22.5M to seven players
At its most expensive -- retaining everybody, the most expensive arbitration system -- that gets you to $126 million. Some declined options here, non-tenders and smaller arb figures can easily knock that number back to eight figures.
Under these circumstances, I'm going to set a soft payroll cap of $135 million. If you want to expand it to $150 million because you'd rather frame contracts in non-pandemic terms, rather than wondering if a player expecting a $50 million contract will have to settle for half that, that's understandable. If you want to take on the added challenge of how to estimate the effects of the shortened season on salaries, godspeed. Either way, the premise is that the White Sox shouldn't be financially prevented from addressing their weakest areas in some credible capacity.
*Cot's Baseball Contracts has the White Sox' payroll obligations, although it's worth using Spotrac as well since there appears to be a crossed-up link on the page.
*MLB Trade Rumors has the list of 2020-21 free agents. Note the players with club options and exercise common sense when it comes to their potential availability.
*There are such things as dumb ideas, but the threshold is fairly high to cross it. The idea is to generate as many feasible names and combinations as possible, so even if you guess wildly wrong on the price, that can be hashed out in the comments.
————— ✂️ [cut along the perforated line] ✂️ —————
PREAMBLE
Establish where you see the White Sox at this point, and your mindset/philosophy/strategy in putting together the roster for the upcoming season.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
Write “tender," “non-tender” or "rework/extend" after each player and their projected 2020 salaries, arranged by the three calculation methods described by MLB Trade Rumors. Feel free to offer explanation afterward if necessary.
- Nomar Mazara: $5.6M | $5.9M | $5.7M
- Carlos Rodón: $4.5M | $4.5M | $4.5M
- Lucas Giolito: $2.5M | $5.3M | $2.5M
- Reynaldo López: $1.7M | $2.2M | $1.7M
- Evan Marshall: $1.3M | $1.9M | $1.4M
- Adam Engel: $1M | $1.4M | $1M
- Jace Fry: $800K | $1M | $800K
- Yolmer Sánchez: Uncertain
CLUB OPTIONS
Write “pick up” or “decline” or "rework" after the option.
- Edwin Encarnación: $12M
- Gio González: $7M ($500K buyout)
- Leury García: $3.5M ($250K buyout)
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
Try to retain, or let go?
- Alex Colomé (Made $10,532,500 in 2020)
- James McCann (Made $5.4M in 2020)
- Jarrod Dyson (Made $2M in 2020)
COACHING STAFF
Here's a first: Pick your manager and pitching coach, with any elaboration.
- Manager:
- Pitching coach:
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: Gordon Beckham (one year, $5 million). Let's get him that fully vested pension.
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 Yoán Moncada to Boston for Chris Sale. The White Sox need starting pitching help, and Andrew Vaughn is a third baseman now.
SUMMARY
If you finish up with a fairly firm 26-man roster -- assuming rosters are back down to 26, anyway -- roll it out here. If you don’t, at least offer a sense of the payroll required, but more detail is always welcome.
What’s more important is describing how you settled on your plan — how or whether it resolves key positions, and what kind of position the White Sox occupy heading into 2021 and the following offseason.
Every plan may not be comprehensively sound, but even the shakiest ones may have one name or argument worth filing away for a position. The point of this exercise is to generate as many possibilities as possible, to see which players are the most popular, and to see how those go about finishing the roster in the first winter where Rick Hahn isn't pretending the rebuild is still ongoing.
