It's unclear whether Dylan Cease will remain a White Sox into the 2024 season -- and I'll have a post about that Friday morning -- but he and the White Sox agreed to next season's salary, and it's not going to hurt his stock any.
Cease and six other other arbitration-eligible White Sox struck one-year deals for 2024 ahead of this evening's deadline. Lump in the contract Matt Foster signed back in November, and the Chris Getz administration won't be taking anybody to a hearing in its first year.
Which makes sense, because when comparing their 2024 salaries to their MLB Trade Rumors projections, the White Sox already came out ahead.
| Player | Projected | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| Dylan Cease | $8.8M | $8M |
| Nicky Lopez | $3.9M | $4.3M |
| Andrew Vaughn | $3.7M | $3.25M |
| Michael Kopech | $3.6M | $3M |
| Michael Soroka | $3M | $3M |
| Touki Toussaint | $1.7M | $1.3M |
| Garrett Crochet | $900K | $800K |
| Matt Foster | $740K | $750K |
| Total | $26.34M | $24.4M |
Of course, part of the reason they're paying less than projected is because the White Sox performed worse than expected. Half the list was decent and the other half disappointing (or injured), but nobody forced a revision of their salary trajectory with incredible numbers. It's nice to save a couple million on incumbent players if it reduces the urge to cut spending elsewhere, but the Sox are technically getting what they're paying for.
The only discrepancy that isn't negligible is Cease, because he's the lone player who isn't expected to be part of next year's team. Whether he's making $8 million or $9 million doesn't matter to the White Sox, but it could make a difference to a team that's treading close to the luxury tax threshold.
With these salaries settled, we can open up Spotrac and set a more accurate base White Sox payroll for the upcoming season:
- Already under contract (10): $87.03M
- Avoiding arbitration (8): $24.4M
- League minimum (8): $5.92M
- Dead salary/buyouts: $10.5M
- Deferred salaries: $2.5M
- Total base payroll: $130.35M
The White Sox opened the 2023 season with a $181.2 million payroll according to USA Today, so that's a considerable amount of slashing. The number could go lower still if they find a taker for Cease, especially if they get a rookie right fielder in return.
