PREAMBLE
It's no secret that the 2022 White Sox were, to say it nicely, an embarrassment. But how do you fix something that is so very broken. The short answer is to have JR croak or sell the team but that's probably not going to happen in this century. So Kenny Williams will continue to lurk in the shadow realm occasionally popping his head out to talk to the media in between raiding the concession stands. And good old Slick "Rick" Hahn will continue to be a doormat that nobody listens to. The problems go much deeper than that, however. Because at the start of this rebuild, they should have cleaned house and not just the GM and the President, but everyone underneath. Especially, and this guy does not get nearly enough blame, Nick hostelter. Because it was the terrible, terrible draft strategy early on in the rebuild that genuinely screwed this team and made it so they never had a legitimate chance. This team is not good despite what you've been told or what you've had to tell yourself. So the only thing to do is to start over...sort of.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
Lucas Giolito: trade (see below)
Dylan Cease: $5.3M tender
Reynaldo López; extend 6yrs/$42M (the new closer should get paid like one)
Adam Engel: $2.3M non-tender
Michael Kopech: $2.2M tender
Kyle Crick: $1.5M non-tender
José Ruiz: $1M tender
Danny Mendick: $1M non-tender
CLUB OPTIONS
Tim Anderson: $12.5M ($1M buyout): trade (see below)
Josh Harrison: $5.625M ($1.5M buyout): decline
PLAYER OPTIONS
AJ Pollock: $13M ($5 million buyout) — EXERCISED and traded (see below)
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
José Abreu (Made $18M in 2021): let go
He deserves a shot at a ring, and that's not likely to happen in a while if he were to stay here
Johnny Cueto ($4.2M): let go
Thnx for the memories, even if they weren't so great, but it's not Johnny Baseballs fault
Vince Velasquez ($3M): let go
Elvis Andrus ($14.25M): let go
MANAGER
Honestly I'd love it if it were Ozzie, because he would bring the fire and not be afraid to speak his mind as he is not a "company man." This team is unbearably soft and weak and spineless and he is exactly the type of manager that this team needs. However, I just don't see him giving up his cushy job to come and manage this dumpster fire.
One guy I sure as hell don't want is Espada, because he is nothing but a fraud. Everybody knows that Houston's team is run by the stat nerds upstairs and Espada is nothing more than a pawn. There's a reason why nobody's hired him despite being interviewed over the last three offseasons. Hell, Houston would rather give an extension to the partially animated corpse of Dusty Baker then give this guy a chance.
So I guess that leaves Long or whoever JR can get to manage this team for minimum wage.
FREE AGENTS
Sean Manea 3yrs/45M (decent lefty, nothing special)
Cody Bellinger 1yr/8M *assuming he gets non tendered by LA (good lefty fourth outfielder)
Some scrub bullpen arms on minor league deals, because why not.
Honestly I just don't see the point of spending big money on a free agent pool that overall isn't very good.
TRADES
Andrew Vaughn to Oakland for Sean Murphy
White Sox need a starting caliber catcher and Oakland seems to have big wood for Andy Vaughn and considering that first base is the least valuable position on the field and also considering that Andy Vaughn has likely already reached his peak and will never be worth more than he is now; it's a good time to move him.
Lucas Giolito & Tim Anderson to LAD for Gavin Lux, Andy Pages, Maddux Burns & Nick Nastrini
This deal makes sense for both teams. For LA they replace the slowly decaying corpse of David Price and safeguard themselves against Trey Turner leaving in free agency, but don't worry LA is not stupid; they won't let Anderson play shortstop. He'll most likely be a second baseman/outfielder for them. For the White Sox they get their new starting left fielder, Andy Pages, as well as their long-awaited second baseman, Gavin Lux, in addition to two highly touted pitching prospects.
Jake Burger, Colson Montgomery, Yolbert Sanchez & Yoelki Cespedes to Miami for Jazz Chisholm Jr. & Sixto Sanchez
This trade may seem a little lopsided in favor of the White Sox, but it has been well documented that Jazz Jr. is not exactly on good terms with the front office. Also, Sanchez hasn't pitched in the Majors since 2020, so his stock is at an all-time low. But both of these guys would be great additions for the White Sox. And in return the Marlins get their shortstop of the future in Montgomery, a decent ML hitter in Burger, Jazz Jrs replacement in Sanchez and their future center fielder in Cespedes.
Leury Garcia, AJ Pollock, Yaz Grandal, Joe Kelly & Jake Dickman to Washington for Patrick Corbin
This is just a straight-up salary dump for both teams. The White Sox save some money up front and the Nationals save some money in the back end, but this is a garbage for garbage deal.
Liam Hendriks & Kendall Graveman to Philadelphia for Mick Abel, Justin Crawford & Erik Miller
Mediocre teams don't need 20 million closers, but good teams do; and that's where this trade helps the Phillies. For the White Sox, they get two high-end pitching prospects and one high-end outfield prospect for two guys that are essentially dead weight on this team.
SUMMARY
DH Jimenez
C Murphy
1B Sheets
2B Lux
3B Moncada
SS Chisholm Jr
LF Pages
CF Robert
RF Colas
Bench - Zavala, Sosa, Gonzalez & Bellinger
Starting 5 - Cease, Lynn, Manea, Kopech, Corbin
Bullpen - Martin, Crochet, Sanchez, Lambert, Ruiz, Foster, Bummer (SU), Lopez (CL)
* Also let's not forget some potential guys in the minors like Jose Rodriguez, Carlos Perez and Duke Ellis.
Rodriguez likely makes his debut sometime next year and can be a depth guy or a starting option in the middle infield. Perez will be the third catcher; likely seeing some time in the majors, but will spend most of his time in Charlotte. And Ellis is a dark horse candidate to be a near term fourth outfielder.
Is this team good? Maybe. But are they better than the team that was forced upon us last year? I think so.
At the very least this team is better suited for the future. They have much better balance of lefties and righties as far as position players go. They're younger, more talented and don't have nearly as many dead contracts or zombie players on the roster anymore. It's a lot of changes, but at a certain point you've just got to realize that you can't make chicken soup with chicken sh!t and throwing a bunch of garnish on top won't make it any better. Instead, you've got to throw out what you've got and start over, but this time don't f*ck it up.
