PREAMBLE
2026 is unlikely to be a winning year, but concrete investment in winning can't be delayed.
COACHING STAFF
- Hitting coach: [Left blank]
- Pitching coach: [Left blank]
I don't follow the industry enough to make an informed decision here, nor am I convinced of its value enough that I feel it's worth my time to look into it, so I'll abstain from choosing.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Mike Tauchman: Tender
- Steven Wilson: Tender
- Derek Hill: Tender
Given the absence of viable outfielders in their system, the release of Julks and Fletcher, and the lack of financial resources to pursue any really worthwhile options, I don't see a reason not to bring back Tauchman and Hill for a combined $4.5 million. Tauchman was one of the team's best hitters, and I intend to mitigate his health issues by bolstering the team's depth options. As for Hill, outside of Luis Robert, the team is woefully short of center field options, so at a minimum Hill is a much needed defensive backup. As for Wilson, he's an unexceptional reliever being paid an unexceptional amount of money, so no reason not to run it back again.
CLUB OPTIONS
- Luis Robert Jr.: Buy out for $2 million
- Martín Perez: Buy out for $1.5 million
I intend to bring back Luis Robert, Jr., but on a restructured deal to try and free up some salary space in 2026. As for Perez, I just don't see a reason to commit an additional $8.5 million to him and would prefer to take a chance on the market for considerably less. If he can be had for, say, $4 million, maybe I'll bite.
FREE AGENTS
No. 1: Luis Robert, Jr. (1 year, $15 million plus vesting player option year at 130 games played for $24 million with a $6 million buyout, option automatically vests if traded). I'm no longer looking at La Pantera as a midseason trade candidate, so my goal here is to try to squeeze a few million more into the 2026 budget at the expense of the 2027 budget, which I assume will be significantly higher. Robert is the only real every day center field option on the team and this restructuring guarantees him at least an extra million in his bank account over the current team option while giving him the possibility of a pretty significant 2027 payday if he's able to stay healthy. If he makes the option, the overall commitment is actually a million less than he'd make if both of his current team options are exercised, but with it being a player option and given his shaky value as a free agent by that point without a monster season, I think this layout could be enticing enough for him.
No. 2: Pete Alonso (5 years, $130 million, vesting option for sixth year at $30 million if 1000 PAs reached in years 4 and 5 combined). It feels kind of stupid to invest this much in first base, but I consider it less an investment at the position and more an investment in the lineup. While Colson Montgomery's offensive breakout has been welcome, there is still a distinct lack of dangerous bats, and adding a 35+ homer threat at a position where, quite frankly, none of their current options has a strong enough bat to really be worthwhile, seems like a sound move. After decades of All-Star production at the position, I don't want to see it slide back to the levels that Andrew Vaughn and Gavin Sheets sank it to. This is well below what Spotrac has his value at, but I'm guessing that there will still be muted pursuit of him like there was last offseason. Still, if you gotta guarantee that sixth year, do it.
Alternative option: Kyle Schwarber for 4/100.
No. 3: Jordan Montgomery (1 year, $3 million). A pretty decent pitcher before injuries derailed him in 2024 before TJS put him on the shelf for 2025, Montgomery is a buy-low bounce-back gamble coming who, while unlikely to be a star, should be available at the beginning of the season and, ideally, can at least be a placeholder until Schultz/Smith arrives, with a small chance for something more.
No. 4: Rafael Montero (1 year, $1.5 million). The results haven't been spectacular, but Montero still has a fastball and slider that rank as average or even plus and he closed out the season strong with Detroit. The White Sox could use a veteran relief arm and he's as good as any who can be had in this price range.
TRADES
Trade Korey Lee to Tampa for Colton Ledbetter. While I like having Lee as depth at what is turning out to be a strong catching position, he's the clear third stringer behind Teel and Quero and his small 2026 sample is the only time in four abbreviated big league seasons he's been able to stay above water in WAR. With him being out of options and not wanting to break up the Teel/Quero pairing, I'm shipping him to catching-needy Tampa for some outfield depth. Ledbetter isn't a premium prospect, but he can cover all three outfield positions and has a little bit of power potential. He looks poised to start the season in AAA with an eye on making the majors midseason, so he refills some needed depth out there.
Trade Lenyn Sosa and Owen White to the Athletics for Denzel Clarke. I kept trying to envision a way to keep Sosa in the mix and I just couldn't do it. While there's still potential in the bat, he has proven a defensive liability in a way that is hard to cover up, there are better defensive options everywhere in the infield, and 1B/DH are going to be tied up, so he's kinda the odd man out for me. The Athletics are going to remain cheap as ever they were, but their 2B/3B production in 2025 was an absolute house of horrors, so they could certainly use some infield help, even if it comes with subpar defense. I'm adding White as a throw in to the deal just to give them a modicum of pitching depth (such as he is), because Clarke is a pretty good return here. A freak athlete with plus raw power and speed, he's a plus defender at a minimum who still has to overcome questions about his contact. But with an outfield crowded by Lawrence Butler, Tyler Soderstrom, Brent Rooker, and JJ Bleday, it's possible the A's will be willing to pull the trigger here to improve elsewhere on the diamond without expanding their budget. I expect Clarke to start out in AAA just to give him some work, but if anything happens to any of their outfielders he has a direct line to the majors for some starting work.
SUMMARY
STARTING LINEUP
C - Kyle Teel ($800k)
1B - Pete Alonso ($26m)
2B - Chase Meidroth ($800k)
SS - Colson Montgomery ($800k)
3B - Miguel Vargas ($800k)
LF - Andrew Benintendi ($17.1m)
CF - Luis Robert, Jr. ($15m)
RF - Mike Tauchman ($3.5m)
DH - Edgar Quero ($800k)
Three players with 30+ homer power seems like a pretty big step forward here, though there's plenty of question marks throughout, particularly when it comes to health. I would prefer not to have Benintendi on the roster at all but I can't fathom another team taking on his contract and even trading for another bad contract would leave me short at the position I consider of greatest need, so for now he stays. At least his bat has recovered to be useful, so there's that, though he's so bad in the field I would put him at DH if not for needing to get Quero as many reps as possible.
BENCH
UT - Brooks Baldwin ($800k)
OF - Derek Hill ($1m)
IF - Curtis Mead ($800k)
CIF/COF - Bryan Ramos ($800k)
A weak bench, to be sure, but at least there's some okay defense sprinkled in there. Probably the only head-scratcher is Ramos, but with him out of options I'm fine with rolling him out as the last man on the bench on the off chance he figures things out, otherwise there's other guys we can bring in for that position if need be.
ROTATION
SP1 - Shane Smith ($800k)
SP2 - Davis Martin ($800k)
SP3 - Sean Burke ($800k)
SP4 - Jordan Montgomery ($3m)
SP5 - Yoendrys Gomez ($800k)
Shouldn't be any huge surprises here, though one could easily pencil in Jonathan Cannon in the SP5 spot over Gomez. Personally, until Cannon can get his ground ball rate back over 50%, I'm not sold on him at all. While this unit is in place to start the season, I leave as an open question whether Wikelman Gonzalez or Grant Taylor can be converted back to starting, but consider them both depth arms along with Noah Schultz, Hagen Smith, Jairo Iriarte, and the returning Drew Thorpe and Ky Bush.
BULLPEN
CL - Jordan Leasure ($800k)
RHP - Steven Wilson ($1.5m)
RHP - Mike Vasil ($800k)
RHP - Rafael Montero ($1.5m)
|LHP - Brandon Eisert ($800k)|
LHP - Tyler Gilbert ($800k)
RHP - Grant Taylor ($800k)
RHP - Wikelman Gonzalez ($800k)
While there are no established big time relievers here, there are at least a few arms with definite plus stuff, particularly Taylor, Leasure, and Gonzalez. It would not surprise me if a few of these guys can't hang for the season, but I expect at least a couple of them to take steps forward that will cement their place on the roster. I'd expect they can put Taylor and Gonzalez on multi-inning and/or opener duty to keep them stretched out and ready if needed for the rotation.
TOTAL PAYROLL: $83,000,000 plus $1,500,000 for Martin Perez's buyout.
Kinda surprised I came in under budget after signing Alonso, but with only 8 players on the roster making over the pre-arb minimum and only three of them over $3 million I guess I shouldn't be. I guess I could easily throw a million or two at a guy like Alex Verdugo or Jose Quintana, but I'll keep that powder dry for now and hope one of the newly acquired outfield prospects can enter the mix quickly. Sure, payroll is still atrociously low, but the focus is kept on internal development while adding an elite bat to generate some excitement and fill in a roster need moving forward. The hope is that there's enough improvement among incumbents that with the addition of Alonso the team can be closer to 90 losses than 100.
And hey, IF they can get breakouts from the likes of Montgomery, Teel, Quero, Schultz, and Smith, maybe they can make a run at .500. Sure, that's not much to write home about, but on a roster full of pre-arb players with so little payroll committed? That would be an awesome jumping off point for 2027.
