Preamble
I think hitting will be the priority this year after a down year. You will also most likely see some guys get traded to shake up the core a bit. The goals should be to get better versatility, defense, and LH balance in the lineup. For this I did something that’s more realistic with guys that I still like. I would love nimmo/rodon, I but can’t see things like that happening.
Arbitration-Eligible Players
- Lucas Giolito: $10.8M tender
- Dylan Cease: $5.3M tender
- Reynaldo Lopez: $3.3M tender
- Adam Engel: $2.3M non-tender
- Michael Kopech: $2.2M tender
- Kyle Crick: $1.5M tender (Not sure about the injury timeline with him, but if he’s healthy he showed to be pretty solid)
- Jose Ruiz: $1M non-tender
- Danny Mendick- $1M tender
Club Options
- Tim Anderson: $12.5M pick up
- Josh Harrison: $5.625M decline
Player Options
- A.J. Pollock: $13M Exercised
Other Impending Free Agents
- Jose Abreu: let go (Can’t have 5 DHs again)
- Johnny Cueto: let go (Season felt fluky)
- Vince Velasquez: let go
- Elvis Andrus: let go (Would bring him back if my trade can’t get done)
Manager
I’d be thrilled with any of Kevin Long, Joe Espada, or Ron Washington. Not an Ozzie hater like some other people, but he’s not close to my preferred target. My number 1 option is Kevin Long. Sox want to improve hitting and Long has made a World Series with every team he’s been a hitting coach for. And he has experience at manager in the minors. Seems like a perfect fit.
Free Agents
Michael Conforto: (3 years, 45M: player option after each year). Being a boras client I’d expect a similar contract to what Soler got last year. Conforto would supply great LH pop and is a solid defender in RF without being too expensive. Seems like a great fit.
Jose Quintana: (3 years, 42M). Sox need a dependable guy towards the backend they can rely on. Why not bring back the former sox that just came off a great year and was stellar in the playoffs. I think the sox target a lefty SP. Other options for their realistic price range is Tyler Anderson and Andrew Heaney.
Richard Bleier: (2 yrs, 8M). Without trading the sox don’t have any bullpen spots. However, a couple of the trades I make will allow room to sign a dependable veteran lefty to go with Bummer.
Trades
Trade Joe Kelly, Bryan Ramos, and Yolbert Sanchez to the Dbacks for Ketel Marte: Dbacks are in a spot where as a small market team they have some big contracts and may look to use that money differently. Dbacks have a young 2B in Blaze Alexander who is tearing up the minors. He could slide in for Marte and his contract. Dbacks have been rumored to be looking for backend bullpen help and Kelly has some good underlying numbers still. Ketels got a contract that isn’t too steep for the sox and would fit perfectly into their lineup.
Trade Lucas Giolito to the Cardinals for Michael McGreevy and Ryan Loutos: I wouldn’t be shocked if Giolito returned to form next year, but the sox need more safety in their rotation and having Quintana over Giolito does that in my opinion. He’s got issues that could be fixed, but if they aren’t the sox pitching staff could become a huge problem quickly. And for Giolito sox get back a couple young arms in a farm system with a lack of pitching depth.
Trade Jake Diekman and Jake Burger to the Cubs for Josh Burgmann
Salary dump for a young Cubs team that could use some bullpen depth and would have potential playing time available for Jake burger with a hole at dh and no real 1B right now.
Summary
Position Players:
C: Yasmani Grandal $18.25M
1B: Andrew Vaughn $700k
2B: Ketel Marte $11M
3B: Yoan Moncada $17.8M
SS: Tim Anderson $12.5M
LF: A.J. Pollock (Colas eventually and pollock backup CF) $13M
CF: Luis Robert $9.5M
RF: Michael Conforto $15M
DH: Eloy Jimenez $10.3M
Bench:
Seby Zavala 700k
Leury Garcia 5.5M
Romy Gonzalez 700k
Gavin Sheets 700k
(Mendick could get a spot eventually, but don’t know about his timeline so not putting him here right now)
Starting Pitchers:
- Dylan Cease $5.3M
- Lance Lynn $18M
- Michael Kopech $2.2M
- Jose Quintana $14M
- Davis Martin (crochet prob gets here at some point but not sure about his timeline so I’ll leave him off) 700k
Bullpen:
Liam Hendriks 14.3M
Kendall Graveman 8M
Aaron Bummer $3.75M
Reynaldo Lopez $3.3M
Jimmy Lambert 700k
Richard Bleier $4M
Tanner Banks 700k
Kyle Crick 1.5M
Total 26-Man Payroll: $192.1M
(Mendick, Crochet, Harrison buyout): $3.2M
Total: $195.3M
Total came out to just above the cap. I thought this was close enough. If you want to take out Bleier to get the 26-man below the cap then fine. I think this plan is more realistic with what the sox target, but also gets key players at a lot positions of need to make this a great roster on paper. I thought this was the best way for the sox to get needed LH balance, versatility, and better defense. I also think the starting pitching is what needs to be dependable on this team and swapping out Quintana for Giolito does that in my opinion. If this team can just stay healthy with their improved roster and better coaching I believe the sox can at worst get to the position where they were in 2021.
