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- Tender
- Danny Mendick: $1M- Tender
CLUB OPTIONS
- Tim Anderson: $12.5M ($1M buyout) Pick up
- Josh Harrison: $5.625M ($1.5M buyout Decline
PLAYER OPTIONS
- AJ Pollock: $13M ($5 million buyout) — EXERCISED
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
Try to retain, extend qualifying offer, or let go?
- José Abreu (Made $18M in 2021) Sadly let go
- Johnny Cueto ($4.2M) let go
- Vince Velasquez ($3M) let go
- Elvis Andrus ($14.25M) let go
MANAGER
At the time of typing this… Pedro Grifol is expected to be announced next week soon. At least it’s not Ozzie. I will be cautiously optimistic but… I thought there were better options by a long shot.
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 Sign Sean Meanea: Giving him a 2 year 28 Mil with a club option for 2022. See if Katz can fix him. Worst case scenario, he has another bad year but can be let go after 23. Best case scenario he bounces back to how he was in Oakland and solidifies the back of the rotation and eats innings.
No. 2 Andrew Benitendi: 4 years for 50 million with an opt out after season 1 and 2
No. 3 Sign Kolton Wong to a 2 year 23 million to solidify 2B.
(Sign Tyler Naquin if Pollock opts out for 1 year and 9 mil)
In addition to this there’s minor league contracts or non roster invitees extended to Andrew Heany and Aaron Sanchez for depth in Charlotte because boy do they need it.
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 Liam Hendriks and Seby Zavala for Anthony Santander. I expect Baltimore to compete next year so why not solidify their bullpen with an elite closer in the AL East and give them some comfort while also solving RF for the Sox. It also gives Baltimore a younger and good backup for Adley Rustchman.
No. 2 Trade Gavin Sheets and Jonathon Steiver to the Blue Jays for Danny Jansen. It gives them a platoon lefty bat that they can find a way to make work.
SUMMARY
All in all, given the restricted budget, I think there’s still a lot to like on this roster and it stays under the payroll they rolled out last year, if I didn’t have this horrible feeling about Pollock staying it would be better because it would have given me room to give a cheap contract for Jackie Bradley Jr to take over Adam Engel’s role with a minor league deal. I think the rotation is the 2nd best in the division, the bullpen is good enough and they have some depth with Davis Martin in AAA if someone gets hurt or DFA’d. IF TA, Eloy, and Robert can stay healthy along with a bounceback from Yoan, and a hitting coach that emphasizes HITTING THE BALL IN THE AIR there’s no reason the Sox can’t win the division again. Adding Jansen improves the defense and allows the Sox to cut ties with Yaz if he continues to suck by early June without feeling terrible plus they have Carlos Perez in AAA and they can always strike at the deadline if need be. After all that the payroll stays relatively the same unless Pollock opts out which would bring it down to $180 million and in which case they could and sign a Jackie Bradley Jr for cheap 4th OF. So with Pollock it’s $193 million and without it is $180-187 million.
