PREAMBLE
I am tired of losing, and I think that the bulk of the fans are too, given the decline in attendance the past couple of years. I think that a good enough part of the future core is already up/ will be in 2026, for us to not sit on our hands this off-season. Rather than continuing to expose these guys to losing, I’m trying to build around and supplement what we already have in order to make it stronger.
COACHING STAFF
- Hitting coach: [Left blank]
- Pitching coach: [Left blank]
I don’t necessarily have a guy in mind. I didn’t hate Katz or Thames, but let’s get someone better for both!
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Mike Tauchman: Tender
- Steven Wilson: Non-tender
- Derek Hill: Non-tender
Tauchman was good enough to keep around. Wilson was close, but I think we can improve. +$3.5M
CLUB OPTIONS
- Luis Robert Jr.: Exercise $20 million contract
- Martín Perez: Buy out for $1.5 million
Robert Jr. would be the 3rd best outfielder on the open market. He’s still relatively young, and more valuable than people realize. Perez is solid and seems like a good influence on younger players, but the injury history is too much for me at that price tag +$21.5M
FREE AGENTS
OF Austin Hays 2 years- $15M ($7.5M/ Year)- He has a mutual option, but those are never picked up. Although he can’t play center anymore, he’s a useful right handed bat who should help extend this Sox lineup
RP Luke Weaver 3 years- $30M ($10M/ Year)- The bullpen ERA as a whole wasn’t bad, but we didn’t have a DUDE. Weaver should be that, despite falling apart in the playoffs which brings him into the White Sox price range. His Baseball Savant page is good, which makes me comfortable giving him 3 years.
SP Zach Eflin 1 year- $11M with club option ($15M, $4M buyout)- This should be a high-reward signing in theory as he’s typically a mid 3s ERA guy, but just wasn’t last year because of a sore back, which he got surgery for and should be good to go by spring training. The contract was tough to predict, but I gave my best guess
RP Liam Hendriks 1 year- $2.5M- OLD FRIEND ALERT🚨 🔔‼️. His time in Boston did not go swimmingly between being ineffective and unhealthy, but he’s another guy who should be healthy by the start of next season. The fans love him so why not?
TRADES
#1 3 Team Trade
White Sox get: 1B Tyler Soderstrom
A’s get: SP Davis Martin, RP Jordan Leasure, PIT #7 prospect SS Sammy Stafura
Pirates get: Lenyn Sosa, CWS #17 Prospect Jairo Iriarte
White Sox biggest hole is at first base, which will be filled by a very good, young, Tyler Soderstrom. The A’s biggest hole is pitching, which is filled here by 2 quality pre-arb pitchers. The Pirates simply need quality bats, and if there’s a team that can fix Iriarte, it’s Pittsburgh. This works because the A’s already have Kurtz and Rooker at 1B and DH, so Soderstrom will likely be trade bait. If the Sox need to throw in another prospect outside of the top 15 to make this happen, they do it.
#2 Padres get: C Korey Lee White Sox get: SD #27 prospect SP Isaiah Lowe
This trade is more just to show that Lee does have some value as an MLB catcher.
#3 Diamondbacks get: 3B Bryan Ramos White Sox get: OF Jorge Barrosa
Both of these players are blocked on their respective team. Barrosa will never be a feared hitter, but he is a good outfielder who can fill in in center if and when Robert gets hurt.
SUMMARY
$2.5M dead cap + $17.1M Benintendi +$20M Robert + $1.5M Perez +$3.5M Tauchman +$15.2M pre-arb guys + $7.5M Hays + $10M Weaver +$11M Eflin +$2.5M Hendriks
=$90.8M
$800K is a lot to guys like you and me, but Jerry & friends, it shouldn’t be.
Lineup
1 Meidroth R 2B
2 Robert Jr. R CF
3 Soderstrom L 1B
4 Montgomery L SS
5 Vargas R 3B
6 Teel L C
7 Benintendi L DH
8 Hays R LF
9 Tauchman L RF
Bench
C Quero S
UTIL Baldwin S
INF Mead R
OF Barrosa S
Rotation
1 Smith R
2 Eflin R
3 Burke R
4 Cannon R
5 😬 Gomez/ Taylor/ MacDougal
Bullpen: Let the dogs fight! 8 best guys
The rotation will not begin the year as a strong suit clearly, but there will be reinforcements in time. More importantly though, the lineup is much improved. Plus, when Braden Montgomery is ready, he shouldn’t have a tough time moving someone aside. There isn’t a weakness unlike last year when we had guys like Jake Amaya as our shortstop on Opening Day.
No, I did not trade Robert and Benintendi. I for one like Robert, and also find it difficult to believe that he will command a bigger package now than what Getz turned down at the deadline. Benintendi while yes, redundant with Tauchman, is still a fine hitter, but doesn’t really have the trade value to get back anything of substance, ESPECIALLY with his contract.
