PREAMBLE
This may be a bad idea but I am taking Jerry Reinsdorf at his word that he wants to win next season. Let’s give it a try.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Dylan Cease: $8.8M - Tender
- Andrew Vaughn: $3.7M - Tender
- Michael Kopech: $3.6M - Tender
- Touki Toussaint: $1.7M -Tender
- Trayce Thompson: $1.7M - Non-tender
- Garrett Crochet: $900K - Tender
- Clint Frazier: $900K - Non-tender
- Matt Foster: $740K - Non-tender
CLUB OPTIONS
- Tim Anderson: $14M ($1M buyout) - Pick up
- Liam Hendriks: $15M ($15M buyout, paid $1.5M annually over next 10 years) - Buyout
MUTUAL OPTIONS
- Mike Clevinger: $12M mutual option ($4 million buyout) - Exercised but Mike declines.
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- Yasmani Grandal (Made $18.25M in 2023) - Let go
- Elvis Andrus ($3M) - Let go
- Bryan Shaw ($720K) - Let go
- José Ureña ($720K) - Let go
FREE AGENTS
No. 1: Mitch Garver C/DH (one year, $5 mil). Garver is already 33 years old for a catcher, which is not ideal but he can hit. He would rotate with Korey Lee as the back up and spend time at DH from time to time. The biggest plus with Garver is his bat and ability to get on base, which will keep the lineup moving.
No. 2: Yoshinubu Yamamoto RH SP (six years, $200). Yamamoto has been a stud in Japan and has better stats than Masahiro Tanaka did when he came to the US in 2014 for 7 years, $155 mil.
No. 3: Nick Ahmed SS (one year, $2) Ahmed is here for his defense. He would rotate in at SS with Sosa and Romy Gonzalez until Montgomery hopefully takes over later in the season.
No. 4: Lucas Giolito SP (one year, $12 mil) The White Sox know him and his favorite pitching coach is still here. Bring him back for a year to fix his career in a familiar place.
TRADES
No. 1: Trade SP Noah Schultz, OF Oscar Colas and SS Jose Rodriguez to San Diego for Juan Soto. We need to solve right field and this would do it. Unfortunately we already know Jerry won’t pay him in an extension but if somehow the White Sox could pony up 10 years, $300 mil like other teams are willing to we could really make a statement this offseason.
SUMMARY
This brings us to right around $196 million including the buyouts for Hendriks and Clevinger, which is $11 million over Jim’s payroll number.
DH: Jimenez
C: Garver
1B: Vaughn
2B: Anderson
3B: Moncada
SS: Ahmed
RF: Soto
CF: Robert
LF: Benetendi
BC: Lee
BN: Gonzalez
BN: Sosa
BN: Sheets
SP: Cease
SP: Yamamoto
SP: Giolito
SP: Kopech
SP: ?
CL: Santos R
SU: Bummer L
MR: Crochet L
MR: Lambert R
MR: Leasure R
MR: Toussaint R
MR: ?
LR: ?
There are definitely still some questions with this roster. The back of the rotation will have to be someone who is in the organization already that wins the job in spring training. Someone like Cristian Mena, Sean Burke, Jonathan Stievers or Tooki Toussaint. Of these pitchers possible 2 of them will still need to join the team as a reliever unless we can find some non-roster invites to spring training that look better.
