ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Jose Abreu, $16M TENDER
- Avisail Garcia, $8M TENDER
- Yolmer Sanchez, $4.7M TENDER
- Carlos Rodon, $3.7M TENDER
- Matt Davidson, $2.4M TENDER
- Leury Garcia, $1.9M TENDER
- Danny Farquhar, $1.4M NON-TENDER
CLUB OPTIONS
- Nate Jones, Pick up $4.65 million option
- James Shields, $2M buyout
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- Miguel Gonzalez (made $4.75 million in 2018) LET GO
- Hector Santiago (made $2 million in 2018 — added) LET GO
FREE AGENTS
No. 1: James Shields (one year, $10 million). Shields ate innings for us and didn't complain. He's not worth his option, but he brings veteran innings-eating value and mentoring to an otherwise young staff.
TRADES
No. 1: Package Leury Garcia and Nate Jones to whatever team will give us a lottery ticket prospect for them. Leury would have value to a contender who needs a versatile 25th man. Jones is a veteran high-leverage reliever signed to a cost-controlled contract.
SUMMARY
Sox fans starved for success will hate my roster, because even with the addition of Eloy at some point, it is almost guaranteed to lose 90+ games again in 2019. But we will learn a whole lot about the value of all of these players, separate the wheat from the chaff, and given development at all levels of the organization will enter the 2019-2020 offseason with much clearer ideas of where our strengths and weaknesses are. We'll also have strengthened our system with the #3 draft pick in 2019, and probably will have another Top 5 pick in the 2020 draft.
OUTFIELD/DH:
LF: Delmonico (to be replaced by Eloy when "defense is acceptable")
CF: Engel
RF: Winner of Spring Training competition between Cordell and Tilson
DH: Palka (v. RHP), Avi Garcia (v. LHP)
INFIELD:
1B: Abreu
2B: Moncada
SS: Anderson
3B: Yolmer (v. RHP), Davidson (v. LHP)
C: Castillo, Narvaez
UT: Rondon
STARTING PITCHERS:
Rodon
Lopez
Giolito
Shields
Winner of Spring Training competition among Adams, Stephens, Guerrero
BULLPEN:
Hamilton
Burr
Fry
Frare
Bummer
Covey - long relief, 1X through the lineup, max effort every third day
Fulmer - long relief, 1X through the lineup, max effort every third day
Davidson - emergency/mop up reliever
NOTES:
Davidson, Yolmer, and Avi, all are put in positions to maximize their platoon splits, while Garcia - who will get some RF starts as well - has a reduced injury risk. This will maximize their respective trade value in July should the Sox determine that they are not part of the long-term future.
Shields and Castillo are candidates for mid-season trades.
While Delmonico is subpar in LF, our RF and CF defense will help our young pitchers.
I would specifically direct Renteria not to make mid-inning pitching changes with any of the relievers. He should not be managing to win an individual game like it's Game 7 of the World Series; these pitchers need to learn to get outs regardless of the handedness of the hitters they are facing. If he's going to make his hitters hustle for playing time and bunt in game situations to see what they can do, then it's only logical for the pitchers to be given an opportunity to see what they can do as well, particularly in a year when we aren't going to compete anyway.
