PREAMBLE
I have cheated this year. Not purposefully. I always like to have my thoughts in order and pen to paper within a couple of days after Jim unleashes the hounds on the OPP. But I, like many of you, have been checked out. I know that Getz is now in charge and that he is decided to decline options on everyone we cared about. But I have allowed the doldrums of everyday life to wash over me and leech away the 2023 MLB season from my consciousness. The emptiness I now find in its wake remains. I find no enthusiasm for 2024. Why, then, am I here? Why am I using precious minutes and hours of my life to devout to such a task as to assemble a 26 man roster for a team that will only continue to beat ceaselessly against the bottle of 2005 hoping there is a little spark of lightening left for this current iteration? It is because of you, dear reader. As the chairman pays us lips service about contending, the actions of the front office have forever dangled the carrot of success in front of coaches, players, and fans alike. Yet only we remain. And we will still be here long after Reinsdorf is gone. And it is in light of those future, better, burgeoning days that we find comfort and in our fellow fans and friends warmth.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Dylan Cease: $8.8M Tender
not that we get to see him on the Southside again...
- Andrew Vaughn: $3.7M Tender
I am in the minority, but I still think Vaughn has more potential. He was rushed, like many, to the majors. I hope he finds his home run stroke.
- Michael Kopech: $3.6M Tender
Even if he is nothing more than a 5th starter, we still need someone to round out the rotation.
- Touki Toussaint: $1.7M Tender
See Kopech. MLB teams need not only 6th men in the rotation, but 7th and 8th. He was just below league average which will be more than serviceable for this 2024 club.
- Trayce Thompson: $1.7M Nontender.
- Garrett Crochet: $900K Tender
And stretch him out? If not now, then when?
- Clint Frazier: $900K Nontender.
I have been pining for Frazier since he was traded to the Yankees from Cleveland. I got that one wrong.
- Matt Foster: $740K Nontender.
CLUB OPTIONS
- Tim Anderson: $14M ($1M buyout) Decline.
Not what I would have done, but just like literally everyone else in the world beside Getz, Jerry did not interview me for the GM position.
- Liam Hendriks: $15M ($15M buyout, paid $1.5M annually over next 10 years) Decline.
What a ridiculous clause. I would likely have kept him and tried to rework a new two year deal allowing him to rehab in house and prepare for 2025.
MUTUAL OPTIONS
- Mike Clevinger: $12M mutual option ($4 million buyout) Takes Buyout.
Hopefully Getz has more sense than Hahn when it comes to free agents.
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- Yasmani Grandal (Made $18.25M in 2023) Let go.
It’s a shame. All of it. We should have been better than we were when Yas was here.
- Elvis Andrus ($3M) Let go
I understand the idea of having a competent veteran especially with TA gone, but I will look elsewhere.
- Bryan Shaw ($720K) Let go
Is that contract almost $1,000 per appearance in 2023?
- José Ureña ($720K) Let go.
Who? Joking! I watched every one of his *checks notes* 5 starts...
FREE AGENTS
An aside – after my first pass at this, my total salary for the team was only at $137 million. So, I added No. 4 and 5 after that fact. They are way too optimistic, but if the budget is actually $185 million and Getz is authorized to try and put some level of competitive baseball out there, this is the only way I can see it happening.
No. 1: Jung Hoo Lee (four years, $75 million). The White Sox under the last regime did not dive into the international market from across the Pacific. This is how Getz starts to distance himself from them and make a big splash that should help stabilize RF for a potential contender in 2025 and beyond.
No. 2: Victor Caratini (two years, $7 million). A veteran presence to pair with Korey Lee. No reason to not let Lee catch 100 games and see what you have in him this year. Caratini allows you to do that.
No. 3: Erick Fredde (one year, $6.5 million with club option at $11 million/$1.5million buy out). The Merrill Kelly flavor of the month after the Diamondback’s success this last year finds Fredde coming back to the states and coming to a team that clearly needs help in the rotation, guaranteeing him innings and $8 million.
No. 4: Josh Hader (four years, $78 million with a fifth-year mutual option at $20 million/$2.5 million but out). We need a closer now. Getz goes to the top of the market to continue the White Sox tradition of paying for relief pitchers. This contract almost crosses the $100,000,000 threshold!!!
No. 5: Aaron Nola (five years, $130 million). This is how Getz proves he is different from the previous regime. A 100 million dollar man arrives at 35th and Shields for the first time ever.
TRADES
As always, I rely on trade simulators. I apologize to anyone that offends.
No. 1: Three team trade Cease to Orioles. White Sox receive Jorge Mateo and Cade Povich from the Orioles and Graham Ashcraft and Chase Petty from the Reds. Reds receive Coby Mayo from the Orioles. I don’t really like the idea of trading Cease, I just don’t see how you can put together a roster without doing it. Mateo can hold down shortstop while Montgomery finishes his development. You hope that Ashcraft can continue to be at least a middle of the rotation starter and you continue what Hahn started at the deadline stock piling AA starters looking for someone that can help the rotation in 2025 and beyond.
No. 2: White Sox receive Tyler Black and the Brewers get Moncada, Colas and $22 mil in 2024. The Brewers we need to take a swing this offseason to stay competitive with the Cubs. That is the only way I am talking myself into this trade from their perspective. Taking a risk on Moncada finally staying healthy is an upgrade to their whole infield. Colas likely spends time in AAA for them but the Brewers seem to maximize players’ abilities better than most (Maybe that changes with the departure of Counsel). The White Sox get their opening day second baseman by paying to get younger.
SUMMARY
I started off with little hope. I am not sure that there is much here despite a rather massive shift in the roster. This still relies heavily on unproven talent (especially in the starting rotation) and rookies at key positions of catcher and 3rd base. What this does provide is what fans get the most excited for (with the exception of “Cash Considerations”) future roster flexibility! There are slots in the rotation available should any of the AA/AAA arms prove they can live up to their potential, shortstop is ready for Montgomery in 2025, and all of the “off roster payments” I have noted come off the books but Liam, Crochet, and Nastrini. That’s another $36 million to spend next offseason if the budget stays where it is. There are too many “ifs” to make this team a contender even in the AL Central, but at least the offseason would be fun!
| Starting Pitchers: | Salary |
| Ashcraft | $ 770,000.00 |
| Touki | $ 1,700,000.00 |
| Fredde | $ 6,500,000.00 |
| Kopech | $ 3,600,000.00 |
| Nola | $ 26,000,000.00 |
| Relief Pitchers: | |
| Banks | $ 740,000.00 |
| Bummer | $ 5,500,000.00 |
| Cronin | $ 770,000.00 |
| Garcia | $ 770,000.00 |
| Hader | $ 19,500,000.00 |
| Lambert | $ 770,000.00 |
| Peralta | $ 770,000.00 |
| Santos | $ 770,000.00 |
| Catcher: | |
| Lee | $ 770,000.00 |
| Caratini | $ 3,500,000.00 |
| Infield: | |
| Vaughn | $ 3,700,000.00 |
| Romy | $ 770,000.00 |
| Black | $ 770,000.00 |
| Ramos | $ 770,000.00 |
| Mateo | $ 2,200,000.00 |
| Sosa | $ 770,000.00 |
| Outfield: | |
| Benintendi | $ 17,100,000.00 |
| Robert | $ 12,500,000.00 |
| Hoo Lee | $ 18,750,000.00 |
| Sheets | $ 770,000.00 |
| DH | $ 770,000.00 |
| Eloy | $ 13,833,333.00 |
| Off Roster payments | |
| Clevinger | $ 4,000,000.00 |
| Leury | $ 5,500,000.00 |
| Abreu | $ 1,000,000.00 |
| TA | $ 1,000,000.00 |
| Liam | $ 1,500,000.00 |
| Crochet (minors) | $ 900,000.00 |
| Nastrini (minors) | $ 770,000.00 |
| $$$ to Milwaukee | $ 22,000,000.00 |
| Total | $ 181,803,333.00 |
