Preamble
It is time to bring Joy back to the White Sox fan experience. When Jim published the article about La Russa having a three year $4 million a year contract, I thought “I’d gladly let JR pay me $400,000 a year for three years to be the GM who cleans up this mess.” I’d even donate a quarter of my salary to White Sox Charities each year and another quarter of it to a charity of my choice—the Chicago Food Depository, each year. And if I was unsuccessful at getting to a World Series or getting my White Sox to win at least one round of playoff games in 2 of the 3 years I was in charge, I would hold a public event where I sit on a stool on the old home plate of Comiskey Park and allow fans to dip old white socks in buckets of rotten egg yolk and chuck said socks at me (for a small charitable donation) whilst I wear a dunce cap emblazoned with the names of all of Rick Hahn’s negative WAR free agent acquisitions. It would be Bill Veck-esque fun mixed with real accountability – rarities for the White Sox and their fans, these days.
If the contention window is open, then the front office needs to make a statement that the team is going to try to climb through/jump out that open window with a team that could be a serious threat to achieve October glory: Not by wasting another off-season signing overpriced bullpen arms and utility players, but by adding a couple of all-stars to the core. Players with track records of 3.5-5 WAR seasons; This plan aims to use creative trades to get some of the bloated contracts off the books by jettisoning some of players most responsible for miring us in mediocrity and “throwing money” at acquisitions that could actually make 2023-2025 an exciting few seasons for Sox fans.
MANAGER
Not being privy to the interviews or what these guys are like, it’s hard to have too much of a preference, but I’ll go with Kevin Long. I am banking on a lineup that will take the other team into submission and Long could be a good fit on that front. I’m fine with the news of Espada not being the guy because of my admittedly childish and unreasonable disdain for
his Astros stench. I think Ron Washkngton is my second choice and I could even live with Willie Harris or Ozzie, as long as Ozzie’s children are not allowed in the dugout and are only allowed in the clubhouse on “bring your kids to work” day.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Lucas Giolito: $10.8M Tender
- Dylan Cease: $5.3M Tender
- Reynaldo López; $3.3M Tender
- Adam Engel: $2.3M Non-Tender
- Michael Kopech: $2.2M Tender
- Kyle Crick: $1.5M Non-Tender
- José Ruiz: $1M Non-Tender
- Danny Mendick: $1M Tender
CLUB OPTIONS
- Tim Anderson: $12.5M ($1M buyout) Pick up (our right fielder problems are solved!)
- Josh Harrison: $5.625M ($1.5M buyout) Buyout
PLAYER OPTIONS
- AJ Pollock: $13M ($5 million buyout) — EXERCISED but will be traded as part of a prospects package
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- José Abreu (Made $18M in 2021) Let go: and thanks for the memories…
- Johnny Cueto ($4.2M) Let go.
- Vince Velasquez ($3M) Let go.
- Elvis Andrus ($14.25M) Let go.
TRADES
Trade 1: Andrew Vaughn, AJ Pollock (& $3 million), and Jared Kelly to the Pirates for Reliever Wil Crowe and 2nd base prospect Nick Gonzalez
The Pittsburgh Pirates are truly woeful: back to back 100 lost seasons is a painful experience for fans. The Sox should send them Andrew Vaughn to play first base as they had an OPS +82 at first base from Michael Chavis, this season. Vaughn had an OPS+ of 111 in 2022 , and if he actually gets to play first base rather than play at an out of position corner outfield position, he might even become an offensive force. The Pirates are loaded with promising middle infielder prospects so they may be willing to move Gonzalez, MLB ranks as the 5th best 2nd base prospect in baseball but the 2nd best in the Pirates system behind potential phenom, Temarr Johnson. Gonzalez’s 60 hit skills, 8-12% walk rates in the minors and adequate defense could make him a long term solution at 2nd base for the Pale Hose. Along with Vaughn, we will send a minor-league arm: Sox #13 prospect Jared Kelly; we ask, in return, that they take on AJ Pollock, too, though the Sox would send $3 million to cover part of the buyout portion of his $13 million owed this season. I’m not keen to send Vaughn packing, but a promising hitter at 2nd and 10 million in salary relief to pursue other difference makers who are not 1st baseman/DH-types makes it worth the risk.
Trade 2: Sox trade Kendall Graveman, Yoequi Cepedes & Jake Diekman to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Jose Ramos
The Dodgers bullpen needs revamping; Graveman is a solid, if somewhat overpaid set-up man; the Dodgers have money so that overpay is mostly irrelevant to them; they can have Gravemen, if they take Diekman off our payroll ledger. Yoequi is almost 4 years older than Ramos but may be closer to contributing to a big league club and comes with an MLB ready last name. That’s another 11.5 million of Hahn’s bad deals off the books.
Trade 3: Joe Kelly, $2 million and Jose Rodriguez (Sox # 7 prospect) to Seattle for minor league outfielder Zach DeLoach
Ms will likely let Adam Frazier go via free agency and don’t have a second basemen in their top 20 system prospects. Ms could use Kelly, if for nothing else, to drill Houston Astros hitters and mock their reactions to being drilled to further intensify the rivalry with their division rivals who swept them out of this year’s postseason. That’s another $7 million off the books.
FREE AGENTS
Xander Bogaerts: 7 Years $178 million (Player opt outs after Years 4,5 &6 ) ((22, 27, 30, 27, 27, 25, 17))
Bogaerts becomes our new shortstop for at least the next 2 seasons; he could move to third once Moncada’s contract is up; Bogaerts allows TA to move to right field— with the hope that playing outfield will be easier on his legs so the Sox can have his bat in the lineup for more than 135 games for the first time since 2018. Bogaerts gives us another .300 hitter with high OBP and combines for 50+ homers and doubles a season; he’s still a plus defender at shortstop (1.8 WAR higher than TA o defense alone, last year) and a new leader, with Abreu departing.
Willson Contreras: 5 years $100 million (Player opt outs after years 3 &4) ((16, 22, 22, 20, 20)
As evidence by his tearful goodbyes at the trade deadline, Contreras doesn’t want to leave Chicago; the Sox should bring him to the South Side. The idea that Grandal’s legs will recover enough for him to be the primary catcher in 2023 seems very unlikely. He could still have worth offensively as a dh/1st basemen platoon with Sheets. If this franchise is serious about contending in 2023, they cannot plan on running a degraded Grandal and Seby out as our staring catchers. And even with Seby’s nice development in 2021 starting him in 125 ball game is asking to be mired in mediocrity. So, I think the Sox should sign the best catcher available: Contreras, like Bogaerts, is another leader-type who has won a title and who could help infuse the rebuild core with a better understanding of what it takes to be a championship caliber club. If by years 4 and 5 he is only catching 81 games and then getting starts at 1st base and DH, it will still be a good signing if we get the parade Hahn liked to pre-brag about.
Jose Quintana 2 Years $20 million (8.5 and 11.5)
Welcome back old friend: wouldn’t it be nice if he could get massive run support for the next two seasons with our Sox and win 15+ per year to make up for past no-decisions and to make this contract a steal?
Note: These free agent deals start with a lower cost first year to keep us at a $190 payroll this year and then go up as next year, Grandal & Giolito come off the books, freeing up an additional $30 million in payroll.
Closing thoughts:
On the whole, this plan is designed to give our club a chance to do something special and exciting the next three years. If Bogaerts and Contreras make more than they’re worth in 2026 or 2027, that is fine by me. As long as these next three years are about winning and giving our fans the kind of magic memories that Phillies and Padres and Astros fans have been able to enjoy this October.
Contreras and Bogaerts and Gonzalez could be three additions to the lineup of guys with 9 to 12% walk rates. Our defense up the middle should be much better with Contreras behind the plate Bogaerts at shortstop and, we hope, a healthier Luis Robert in Center.
Sure, if Moncada and Grandal don’t bounce back to justify hitting in the top 5 slots, again, the top of the lineup is righty heavy, but a top 5 of very good righty hitters worked ok for the 2017 Astros.
And if my plan fails, well, the White Sox will still be making headlines in October in year two or three of my regime when fans get to show up in the parking lot north of the ball yard whilst I sit on a stool in a dunce cap (emblazoned with names like Jeff Keppinger, Adam Dunn, Adam LaRoche, Kelvin Herrera, Dioneer Navarro, Emilio Bonifacio, Derek Holland, et al,) and get bombarded with white socks dripping with rotten egg yolk.
