PREAMBLE
Down but not out. 2018 was bad for the rebuild, there’s just no sugar coating it. The ‘year early’ hope has been moved to 2020. The best thing the White Sox can do is to give their young talent as many opportunities as they can. My offseason plan centers around plugging holes the Sox need to field a 25 man roster while being opportunistic as Hahn would say about acquiring talent with an eye on long term success.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Jose Abreu, $16M Tender
- Avisail Garcia, $8M Non-Tender
- Yolmer Sanchez, $4.7M Tender
- Carlos Rodon, $3.7M Tender
- Matt Davidson, $2.4M Tender
- Leury Garcia, $1.9M Non-Tender
- Danny Farquhar, $1.4M Non-Tender (Re-sign Minor league deal for $1.0M; It’s a good story)
CLUB OPTIONS
- Nate Jones, $4.65 million Pick up
- James Shields, $2M buyout Buy out
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
Try to retain, or let go?
- 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 $5M w/ Club option for second year). The White Sox need people to eat innings during what is going to be another rebuilding year and Shields is a natural fit. Any “mentoring” aspect is a bonus
No. 2: A.J. Pollock (3 years $42M w/ Club option for 4th year). A popular pick for good reason. If the White Sox are going to compete in 2020 they need a decent OF to bridge the gap white the A/A+ prospects mature. He would play CF in 2018 and can move to a corner if a better option makes its way in
No. 3: Kelvin Herrera (2 years $17M w/ Club options for 3rd and 4th years at $10M and 12M). A former dominant reliever with injury history just sounds like the most White Sox thing ever and the chance to flip a trade piece at the deadline
TRADES
*Inspired by a recent Jim Margulis article…
Trade Carlos Rodon and Luis Alexander Basabe to Cincinnati for Homer Bailey, and Nick Senzel. This may be a stretch, but The Red’s top position players play the only positions Senzel can play. What’s more they should be desperate to dump Bailey’s contract to be competitive in Free Agency. As much as it would suck to lose Rodon I really think his value within the Sox competitive window doesn’t match up with when the Sox are due to be competitive. If we are going to declare our window to be 2020-2025 then we need to double down on players to contribute as much as possible within that window. Rodon fits Cincinnati’s needs and window and they need to unload Bailey’s contract in order to be. In return the White Sox get a top prospect in a position that needs depth.
SUMMARY
Lineup:
C- Narvaez
1B – Abreu
2B – Moncada
3B – Sanchez à Senzel (Something something service time excuses)
SS – Timmy
LF – DelmonicoàJimenez (I predict his defense will improve substantially come mid April)
CF – Pollock
RF – Palka
DH – Davidson
Bench:
OF – Engel
C – Castillo
UT – Rondon
Rotation:
SP – Lopez
SP – Shields
SP – Giolito
SP – Bailey
SP – Covey
…I’m so so sorry
Bullpen:
Cl – Herrera
SU – Jones
SU – Burdi
MI – Hamilton
MI – Burr
MI – Frare
MI – Fry
Lg – Minaya
Where does this leave us?
Jimenez, Senzel, and Pollock will hopefully take the Sox a long way towards being a competitive team on offense, but this team is built with an eye on 2020. The rotation is rough to look at, but Cease and Dunning are waiting in the wings as is Kopech more long term. This roster might be tough to watch on opening day, but with any luck this could be the last half season of bad baseball that Sox fans have to watch in a long time.
