PREAMBLE
The White Sox just lost 121 games thanks to an atrocious lineup, leaky defense, and a bullpen that converted only 35% of their save opportunities. The Sox should focus on acquiring young position players to develop in 2025, while also trying to achieve the status of being a “respectable organization.” I would set a goal of not losing 100 games for the third year in a row, which would require an improvement of 22 wins (GULP).
My plan focuses on acquiring a couple of young players who could be long-term pieces at weak positions in the organization (2B & RF). The Sox have plenty of plate appearances to go around, so I want to give them and guys like Ramos/Baldwin/Sosa (and I guess Vargas) plenty of opportunities to develop at the plate. Since the Sox have a lot of young pitchers to sift through and guys like Montgomery/Quero/Elko should be in Chicago at some point in 2025, I focused on filling other holes with budget-friendly stop-gaps who could be flipped at the deadline if things break right. To convince some of these players to join this wonderful organization I paid a little extra “Sox Tax,” in case the contracts seem pricey.
MANAGER
I am pro-Will Venable. He was part of a coaching staff that won the World Series (and isn’t the Royals) and competent organizations wanted to interview him last year. Good luck Will, you’re going to need it!
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Andrew Vaughn: $6.4M Non-tender
- Nicky Lopez: $5.1M Non-tender
- Garrett Crochet: $2.9M Tender (see below)
- 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
I think the White Sox will actually tender Vaughn an offer. It’s a no for me, dawg. That is too high of a price for a first baseman who was worth 0.2 bWAR last season. Anderson is a nice, cheap reliever and I’ll pick Wilson as my bounce-back reliever candidate.
CLUB OPTIONS
- Yoán Moncada: $25M ($5M buyout) Decline
- Max Stassi: $7M ($500K buyout) Decline
I think no explanation is needed here.
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
Try to retain, extend qualifying offer, or let go?
- Michael Soroka (Made $3M in 2023) Retain
- Mike Clevinger ($3M) NOPE
- Chris Flexen ($1.75) Let go
I would not be opposed to retaining Flexen to eat innings every fifth day in an otherwise youthful rotation, but I’ll opt for a vet with more upside. Do you know what Soroka’s K/9 was out of the bullpen in 2024? FIFTEEN. Hopefully he sticks around on a 1 year/$4M deal, with the potential to be a deadline commodity.
FREE AGENTS
No. 1: Hye-Seong Kim (4 years, $44 million). I think this is the best opportunity for the Sox to find a quality regular who could be a long-term piece. The Sox are not spending on big name MLB free-agents, so let’s place a strategic bet on an international player who it seems will be posted this year. He will be 26 next season, has won gold gloves at second and short in the KBO, rarely strikes out, and is a threat on the basepaths. We would have to see how well he does these things at the Major League level, but where else are the Sox finding a young second baseman with upside? [I also calculated a $12.7M posting fee which I am counting against my budget. Sorry, Jerry]
No. 2: Jose LeClerc (1 year, $7 million). A bullpen of Ellard/Varland/Soroka/Berrora/Anderson/Shuster should offer an improvement over the bullpen mess of the first half, but adding a veteran who lowers the leverage rung for everyone should help prevent another 120 loss season. His ERA jumped to 4.32 last year, but he still ranked in the 96th percentile in whiffs and hard-hit rate. He should regress back towards his 3.48 FIP line, giving the Sox a dependable high-leverage reliever.
No. 3: Carlos Santana (1 year, $7.5 million). A left-handed hitter who consistently hits 20 homers, walks 10% of the time, and is one of the best defensive first-basemen? Yes, please. DH can then be a platoon, getting Benintendi off the field against righties, and Lenyn at-bats against lefties.
Other free agents who require less explanation:
Austin Hedges, C 1 year/$2M: The glove-first catcher the Sox were hoping Maldonado would be. He will be aggressively pinch-hit for.
Joe Ross, SP 1 year/$3M: The Sox need a veteran starter to provide innings in an otherwise youthful rotation. Ross generates whiffs and is one of the highest upside options in this price range.
TRADES
No. 1: Trade Sean Burke to Cleveland for Jonathan Rodriguez (RF).
Trading a young starter who just made his major league debut is a bit of a zag, but the White Sox have a plethora of young pitchers and a need for someone, anyone with some pop. The Guardians need more starters, and Burke is very affordable and flashed a 1.42 ERA in his September audition. Rodriguez seems pretty blocked with Steven Kwan and “Big Christmas” in the corners and top Guardians prospect Chase Delauter ahead of him in prospect rankings. The Sox should try to take advantage of this and offer Burke (or Davis Martin) to add a young RF with plus power who has the potential to be a long-term piece.
No. 2: Trade Garrett Crochet to Los Angeles (NL) for Josue De Paula (OF), Zyhir Hope (OF), Joendry Vargas (SS), Maddux Bruns (LHP)
I put the least amount of thought into the most consequential move of the offseason. This is my rough draft of a Crochet trade. Teams have been hording top position prospects, but Crochet led the league in xFIP and was fourth in xERA among P with > 140 IP. He’s an elite talent with team control. Teams will need to cough up high-end position players to acquire him. Don’t screw this up, Christopher.
SUMMARY
Lineup:
2B Hye-Seong Kim
DH Andrew Benintendi
CF Luis Robert Jr.
1B Carlos Santana
3B Bryan Ramos
RF Jonathan Rodriguez
LF Dominic Fletcher
C Austin Hedges
SS Brooks Baldwin
Bench: Korey Lee, Lenyn Sosa, Jacob Amaya, Miguel Vargas
Rotation: Jonathan Cannon, Joe Ross, Davis Martin, Drew Thorpe, Ky Bush
Bullpen: Jose Leclerc, Fraser Ellard, Gus Varland, Michael Soroka, Prelander Berroa, Justin Anderson, Jared Shuster, Steven Wilson
Team Payroll: $80.96M
Total Expenses (Kim’s Posting Fee, Buyouts, etc): $103.16M
Summary: I might have accidentally recreated the defensively-fixated actual White Sox plan from last offseason, but I will argue that Kim/Santana/Rodriguez have offensive value (or the potential for it). They also don’t block anybody important coming down the prospect chute and Santana/Ross/LeClerc/Soroka could be flipped at the deadline. Hopefully, Montgomery and Quero are in Chicago by the summertime, which should help push this lineup closer to respectability and offer a glimmer of hope for the future.
