PREAMBLE
The Sox just had the worst season in franchise history, so a normal club would do anything they could to be respectable this coming year. Not Jerry’s White Sox though – I fully expect him to cut payroll significantly, citing poor attendance and declining broadcasting revenue, so I’m using Josh’s “Extreme Difficulty” setting of $80 million. It actually wasn't that difficult when I have zero expectations for the team and front office to begin with.
MANAGER
Grady Sizemore – I’ve flipped this so many times based on all the reports that have come out. First choice was Ecker, then I figured it would be Schumaker because of the TLR link. Then we got the financial considerations report, and with his prior managerial experience, I don’t see Skip settling for less. Getz is afforded the Hahn treatment, overruled on his own manager of choice, and we get a sad press conference where he tries to make it seem like Sizemore was his first choice all along because of….reasons.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Andrew Vaughn: $6.4M tender and trade. For what it’s worth, Spotrac’s market value has Vaughn at 5 years, $55 million.
- Nicky Lopez: $5.1M tender. Who else are they going to get to be the every day SS? That would be too much effort with all the other moves Getz has to make.
- Garrett Crochet: $2.9M tender and trade
- Gavin Sheets: $2.6M non-tender
- Enyel De Los Santos: $1.7M non-tender
- Jimmy Lambert: $1.2M non-tender
- Justin Anderson: $1.1M tender
- Steven Wilson: $1M tender
- Matt Foster: $900K non-tender
CLUB OPTIONS
- Yoán Moncada: $25M ($5M buyout) decline
- Max Stassi: $7M ($500K buyout) decline
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- Michael Soroka (Made $3M in 2023) 1 year, $2 million, otherwise thanks for the memories
- Chris Flexen ($1.75) let go, ST invite
- Mike Clevinger ($3M) no way in hell
FREE AGENTS
Let’s be honest – no good players are going to want to come to the Sox after the season we just had, and with all the bad press coming from the clubhouse/ownership. Getz will have to shop in the bargain bin AND offer more money. These guys won’t be commanding multi-year deals anyway. I’m looking for hitters that are not defensive negatives, and can also get on base at least 30% of the time.
I have no clue about foreign players, so those won’t be included in this plan, even if Getz may have an affinity for them.
No. 1: Wilmer Flores (2 years, $13 million). Team option on second year for $7 million, $1 million buyout. Had a rough year due to injuries, but we can give him every-day ABs and need someone to play first base with Vaughn and Sheets gone. Don’t ask him to play any other positions though.
No. 2: Manuel Margot (2 years, $11 million). Team option on second year for $6 million, $1 million buyout. He’s the starting CF until he gets hurt. Perfect replacement for Robert, and allows Fletcher to stay in RF where he is best.
No. 3: Kiké Hernandez (1 year, $5 million). He’s not a great regular season player, but a contender will give something up at the deadline for his playoff bat. Can cover all positions fairly well, perfect utility guy. Dodgers would probably love to have him back, but he won’t be their first priority. Sox can swoop in quick with a bigger offer.
No. 4: Daniel Hudson (1 year, $4 million). Bring him home. Made just $2 million this year, so we can offer a sizeable bump as well as the undisputed closer role, then trade him to a contender at the deadline.
TRADES
No. 1: Trade Garrett Crochet to Philadelphia for Taijuan Walker (and $12 million), Justin Crawford (#3 on MLB.com), Starlyn Caba (4), and Griffin Burkholder (8). Phillies got knocked out early and feel pressure to win now. Crochet is cheap and controllable during the Phillies window. The Sox replace Crochet with Walker, who will be on a palatable two year, $24 million deal to soak up innings. Taking on a contract in return gets us three prospects (yes, three), all up-the-middle hitters, because Getz should at least hold out for that. None will be pushing for MLB promotion this year, which fits with the Sox timeline. The only reason Crochet wasn’t dealt at the deadline was because of innings restrictions. He made it through an entire season unscathed, threw 146 innings, and has two years of control, so I’m not taking any lowball or all-pitching offers.
No. 2: Trade Luis Robert to Arizona for Ryan Waldschmidt (4) and Gino Groover (9). I understand wanting to hang on to Robert until the deadline to help him rebuild his trade value. However, I have no faith that he can stay healthy for that amount of time, so we trade him now. Corbin Carroll is miscast as a CF, and Arizona likely moves on from either Gurriel or Pederson, creating a need. Robert is less expensive from a prospect standpoint coming off a down season, and Arizona can try him out this year before deciding on the team options. Sox get two more hitters to help replenish the farm system. Both have defensive questions, but Waldschmidt can really hit, and Groover came back from a wrist injury and put up decent numbers, so you know the Sox will be interested in that profile. Again, neither one will be close to the majors this year.
No. 3: Trade Andrew Vaughn to New York Mets for Mike Vasil (18). This assumes that Pete Alonso goes somewhere else in free agency, and the Mets try to replace him in the aggregate. Vaughn hits lefties fairly well (career .270/.335/.436), and a smart team can get him in good situations. Sox get back a starting pitcher that hit AAA last year, but his control unraveled. He provides rotation depth, which is about all the Sox can garner in return for Vaughn at this point.
SUMMARY
Lineup - $44.2 million
Lopez – SS
Benintendi – LF
Flores – 1B
Margot – CF
Sosa – 2B
Ramos – 3B
Vargas – DH
Quero – C
Fletcher – RF
Bench – Lee, Kiké, Colas, Baldwin
Quero starts with the big club because the upside is too great, both in his bat and PPI. Vargas starts in a platoon with Colas at DH, because both need success to build on. Kiké can platoon with Fletcher in RF, and fill in all over. Baldwin learns how to be a utility guy from one of the best.
Staff - $26.1 million
Taijuan Walker
Drew Thorpe
Jonathan Cannon
Sean Burke
Davis Martin
Daniel Hudson
Prelander Berroa
Steven Wilson
Justin Anderson
Fraser Ellard
Gus Varland
Michael Soroka
Jairo Iriarte
The hope is that Walker can get back to his pre-injury level, allowing the younger arms to come along slowly. I toyed with Schultz in the rotation, but with the innings limit they put on him in 2024, he won’t be ready to throw a full season in the majors. Plenty of minor league depth for the rotation, as well as Soroka and Iriarte, who will start in the bullpen. Iriarte takes the typical Sox path of bullpen to rotation, as I don’t think he has anything left to prove in the minors. Everyone else acquitted themselves well last year, or is Steven Wilson. Great note on the podcast that he’s still very controllable and cheap, and you don’t get rid of that unless you have to. Relievers are volatile, so I’d rather keep him around than hope a new, more expensive replacement has a good year.
Other salary - $9.5 million
Moncada - $5,000,000
Stassi - $500,000
Brebbia - $1,500,000
Abreu/Hendriks - $2,500,000
Total - $79.8 million
