PREAMBLE
The White Sox have already stated that they plan to contend in ’24 and this is not a rebuild. The problem I have with this is that once you get past the guys that could demand close to or more than $100 million, the market really begins to thin out. This is where the Sox market is and it would be hard to contend while only targeting this tier of players.
Well, good thing, this is an exercise in what I would do. Last years team was lacking in way too many ways and it would be hard to improve in all of them on a budget. My plan would be to clear out a contract that is weighing down the budget and then target starting pitching. The aim here is that if the lineup only improves slightly, a strong rotation can keep us in games and hopefully help get to at least 70 wins. SIGH.
Once I have this in place, I can turn my attention to attempting to fix other areas. This would be the lineup and defense. Catching has been an interesting area the past couple years. Moments of hot offense. These moments were usually very spread out, but they did occur. The defense, however, was always lacking.
RF has been a sore spot with probably 100% of the fan base since 2016 or 2017. It’s time to change that. Let’s get someone that we can run out there everyday and not be embarrassed by their defense.
When you read through, you’ll notice I did something the White Sox have never done, not just once or twice but three $100 million contracts. This should be the year the Sox change the record if they truly want to compete.
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 – NONTENDER
- Garrett Crochet: $900K - TENDER
- Clint Frazier: $900K - NONTENDER
- Matt Foster: $740K - NONTENDER
CLUB OPTIONS
- Tim Anderson: $14M ($1M buyout) – DECLINE and Resign
- Liam Hendriks: $15M ($15M buyout, paid $1.5M annually over next 10 years) - DECLINE
MUTUAL OPTIONS
- Mike Clevinger: $12M mutual option ($4 million buyout) -BUYOUT
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- Yasmani Grandal (Made $18.25M in 2023) – LET GO
- Elvis Andrus ($3M) – Try to retain
- Bryan Shaw ($720K) - LET GO
- José Ureña ($720K) - LET GO
FREE AGENTS
No. 1: Blake Snell (6 years, $135,000,000).
I came into this exercise with a plan to improve pitching and here I’m going after one of the top pitching free agents and possible NL Cy Young award winner. Snell may have led the league in free passes with 99, but he also led the majors with a 2.25 era or an ERA+ of 182(also led MLB) and a Hits/9 of 5.75.
He was also top 10 in league in the following categories:
- WAR – 6.0
- Wins – 14
- K/9 – 11.7
- K – 234
- Games Started – 32
- HR/9 - .75
- WPA – 4.2
To put these numbers into perspective, the 2023 White Sox had 2 pitchers with an ERA+ above 100 with over 100 IP. No starter had a HR/9 below 1 or a H/9 below 7. Dylan Cease was the closest to Snell in IP and K with 177 and 214, yet he was our 3rd best pitcher according to WAR(2.4)
Even if Snell regresses closer to his 2022 numbers, that would be a big addition to this rotation that desperately needs pitching help.
The contract break down will be as below, and I will be throwing in an opt out after year 4.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6 |
| 22mil | 22mil | 21mil | 20mil | 20mil | 20mil |
No. 2: Jordan Montgomery (5 years, $100,000,000).
Montgomery is another pitcher that would have been the ace of the 2023 White Sox. He had 188.2 IP with an ERA+ of 138, HR/9 of .9, and BB/9 of 2.3. All of which would have led the team had he been on the team in ’23.
166 strikeouts would have been good enough for 2nd most on the team and appearing in 30+ games each of the past 3 years would be a big boost to a team that has had injury concerns the past few years.
While he might be able to be had for less than $100 million I do believe that the White Sox need to do all they can to convince free agents to play here. That is why I’m offering him the $20million even for all 5 years.
No. 3: Cody Bellinger (5 years, $110,000,000).
There really isn’t much needed here. The White Sox have consistently received very poor production from RF, both offensively and defensively. Whether he replicates his 2023 bat or not, his glove in RF will still be worth it considering the struggles we’ve had to watch out there lately. When you look at his slash line of .307/.356/.525/.881, only his SLG of .525 would not have led the 2023 White Sox.
The best case scenario(hope) here is that he produces similar to or better than 2023 while being an actual OF.
The worst case scenario(hope) is that he produces closer to his 2018 numbers while still being an asset in the field. In 2018, Bellinger produced 25HR, 76RBI, 69BB, and 15SB with a slash of .260/.343/.470/.813
Bellinger is only 28 and coming off a great bounce back year. He can produce with the bat and glove better than we’re used to and can play other outfield positions and 1B. He is also a lefty hitting power bat for a team that lacked in power. This would be a huge get for this lineup and defense and thus, the contract break is as follows:
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
| 23mil | 23mil | 22mil | 20mil | 20mil |
No. 4: Tim Anderson (2 years, $16,500,000 with a mutual option for the 2nd year at $10 million or $5 million buyout).
One of the faces of the franchises the last several years deserves a shot at redeeming himself. Just not at $14 million. He is a proven hitter that can kick start the offense and if he figures it out this offseason then $6 million will be seen as a steal given the current INF market. I’m also looking to test him at 2nd and possibly see what he does in the OF during spring training.
If he is just a repeat of 2023 then we try to move on by possibly trading him, a DFA, or wait until the offseason and not pick up the option.
No. 5: Lucas Giolito (2 years, $24,000,000 with a player option for the 2nd year at $12 million).
Let’s bring him back. He pitched better with us last year anyway. He led the team with an ERA+ of 118 and had 3 consecutive seasons with Cy Young votes. Last year seemed to be up and down for him, usually stemming from one bad inning. If he pitches like 2023, I view him as an acceptable back of the rotation arm. If he finds his old self and improves, then he would still be a back of the rotation guy(just a great one) since we have Cease, Snell, and Montgomery.
No. 6: Gary Sanchez (2 years, $10,000,000 with a club option for the 2nd year at $6 million).
I’m still a toss up on catchers. Garver would be the better offensive option(with fine defense) but Sanchez provides potential for some big pop out of the catcher spot. Plus his defense has been improving. He is also the cheaper option as I believe he can be had for $4 million. If he proves to be every bit that we had hoped for, then $6million for another year would be easily picked up.
He would also be able to provide some veteran presence for Kory Lee and Edgar Quero. Plus he’s got a cool nickname.
No. 7: Gio Urshela (2 years, $13,000,000 with a player option for the 2nd year at $7,000,000).
Having traded Moncada, we need to replace him and Gio is a great fit to do so. He might not have as good of a glove as Moncada, but he is average to above average defensively and should be more consistent at the plate than Yoan was.
They both had identical WAR and WPA but Gio has had a SO% below 20% in 5 of the last 7 seasons while Yoan has never been below 25%. Beyond that, the biggest reason for this signing is money.
No. 7: Elvis Andrus (1 year, $3,000,000).
Let’s get a clubhouse presence that could help mentor some of the younger guys and help provide accountability. This is also a “just incase” signing. Does TA or Sosa get hurt or underperform? Elvis is in the building.
No. 7: Drew Pomeranz (1 year, $2,000,000 minor league contract).
Hopefully the 2024 Cueto.
TRADES
No. 1: Trade Yoán Moncada and Oscar Colas to Washington for RP Kyle Finnegan and Minor League OF Robert Hassell III.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t do too much research into the trade but knew I had to get rid of that contract and would either have Colas play in Charlotte or see if he can get major league at-bats elsewhere. Both players should benefit from a new place and I get an experience bullpen arm.
I also would rather keep Moncada as I like his glove and he has the potential to be an all-star bat but based on his past, it’s too hard to justify $24 million.
SUMMARY
I went out with a plan of fixing the extremely depleted rotation and setting it up for 5-6 years of success. We cannot run out a rotation of 1 or 2 arms and claim to be competing. This was accomplished by signing Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery to somewhat long term deals. I complement this with the Lucas Giolito signing. The 5th starter will be a combination of Touki, Kopech, and Pomeranz if it comes to that. I would like Kopech to be a starter long term but he has proven to be far more effective out of the pen. If he earns the 5th spot and sticks there, then all the power to him for proving to us that last year was an anomaly.
I only changed up 3 spots in the lineup since most of the resources were aimed at the rotation arms. These spots were catcher(pop and defensive improvement), 3B(cheaper with similar or better production), and RF(vastly improved defense, big pop with potential for MVP caliber seasons).
This may be an unrealistic approach given the White Sox track record but improving the rotation and defense has to be the top priorities and yes I’m aware I did NOT improve the middle infield defense. Just don’t hit anything there.
My lineup now looks like the following:
| Lineup | |
| Tim Anderson | SS |
| Cody Bellinger | RF |
| Luis Robert Jr | CF |
| Eloy Jimenez | DH |
| Gary Sanchez | C |
| Andrew Vaughn | 1B |
| Andrew Benitendi | LF |
| Lenyn Sosa | 2B |
| Gio Urshela | 3B |
| Rotation | |
| Blake Snell | |
| Jordan Montgomery | |
| Dylan Cease | |
| Lucas Giolito | |
| Touki Toussaint | |
| Gregory Santos | CLOSER |
| Kyle Finnegan | SETUP |
| Garrett Crochet | SETUP |
| Michael Kopech | RELIEF |
| Aaron Bummer | RELIEF |
| Sammy peralta | RELIEF |
| Jesse Scholtens | RELIEF |
| Tanner Banks | RELIEF |
That's how you offseason
