PREAMBLE
Gone are the days of trading stars for mega-prospects. Even if Moncada does not pan out, the Sox need to start acquiring realistic players that can get this team closer to .500 and start to build a winning culture for those prospects for when they come up. I don't have the Sox plunking down big money on pitching or relief in this plan. And, no, we are not going to get Manny Machado or Bryce Harper, but I am going to suggest we can trade for a position player that will be part of the next core of White Sox teams.
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 Non-Tender (Comes down to Palka over him)
- Leury Garcia, $1.9M Tender
- Danny Farquhar, $1.4M Non-Tender (Best wishes for him and his family).
CLUB OPTIONS
- Nate Jones, $4.65 million/$1.25M buyout Pick Up (and flip later)
- James Shields, $16 million/$2M buyout Buyout (See below)
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- Miguel Gonzalez (made $4.75 million in 2018) Gone
- Hector Santiago (made $2 million in 2018 — added) Gone
FREE AGENTS
No. 1: A.J. Pollock 4 Years (64 million)
This is my major risk of the off season. When healthy, Pollock is a massive upgrade over Adam Engel. When banged up, he is still probably a better player than Adam Engel. Even if he only played in 100 games, it would still lead to more wins next year than an entire season of Adam Engel. He also has enough power to shift to right field down the road if needed. Health is the issue, but this price doesn't handcuff the Sox around the time some prospects will need new deals.
No. 2: Mike Moustakas 2 years (20 million, 3rd year club option for 12)
I like Yolmer Sanchez, I really do, but he has not shown in the last two years that he is an everyday starter. Moose gives you exactly what you expect: 25 dingers, close to 100 RBI, and actually did have a higher OBP than Yolmer last year. However, he is also a player who doesn't have to stay at third long-term, and can move to first or DH after a year if Jose departs or other signings happen (Arenado/Reyes).
No. 3 Gio Gonzalez 2 years (18 million)
We know Hahn is going to add some short-term pitching. Giving him the second year gets it done, and also keeps him around in 2020 assuming Kopech isn't ready to come back from injury.
No. 4 James Shields 1 year (6 million)
Again, you know what you are getting: innings eater that will implode every 5th start or so.
No. 5 Joakim Soria (or comparable reliever) 1 year (5 million)
We have a lot of young relievers and they will struggle. Soria and Jones both in the bullpen prevent the Sox from throwing the wrong guys into the fire, especially in closer situations.
TRADES (Now hear me out...)
No. 1: Trade Luis Robert, Dane Dunning, Blake Rutherford, and Wellington Castillo to the Miami Marlins for J.T. Realmuto.
Imagine if the Sox had parted with some prospects for Christian Yelich a year ago?What could have been. I have seen a lot of plans that have the Sox sailing an aircraft carrier of money up to Manny Machado/Bryce Harper's mansions. Instead, I have us acquire a star player who finally takes A.J.'s place in a position which Hahn has failed to lockdown. Many may gasp at the fact that he only has 3 years of control left. However, if the Sox are supposed to be winning by 2022, then convincing him to stay shouldn't be an issue, and we also have the cap space to do it. Realmuto is one of the best hitting catchers in baseball and is decent enough defensively to not hinder the development of our young pitchers. In return, Miami gets 3 top 80 prospects and a catcher that would cost them a similar amount of money for the year. I don't know if this trade beats out another team (I'm perfectly willing to throw Zack Collins/Carson Fulmer in to seal the deal), but it doesn't cause Jeter to slam the phone down in disgust either.
SUMMARY
SS - Anderson
CF - Pollock
1st - Abreu
3rd - Moose
DH - Palka
C - Realmuto
RF - Garcia (flip at deadline or walk away after one year)
LF - Jimenez (after April 15)
2nd - Moncada
Bench - Sanchez, Garcia, Narvaez, Rondon
Pitching -
Rodon
Lopez
Shields
Gio
Giolito (one more year to figure it out)
Bullpen - Soria, Jones, Hamilton, Fry, Minaya, Burr, Covey
This team does two things: gets us closer to .500, and adds players that can be here during playoff runs or depart as younger players are ready. The real cherry is Realmuto, because if the Sox don't have at least a couple of players to attract FA, then any 2019 plans that include Arenado/Reyes are as much a joke as Machado/Harper are now. This puts the Sox in a position to make a run at them and leave a handful of holes (RF, DH, possibly 1st base) that can be better filled by our prospect pool.
