Introduction
If we're being fair, the White Sox will not be spending more than $140 million this offseason. The Sox will most likely break their free agent spending records set with Robert and Abreu, but we're not getting Gerrit Cole or Anthony Rendon. With that in mind, I wanted to put together an offseason plan that's realistic but could still land the White Sox 20 wins. How can we get there? Based on last year’s Fangraphs’ WAR values, I'll explain...
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Alex Colomé, $10.3M – Tender
- Yolmer Sánchez, $6.2M – Non-tender
- James McCann, $4.9M – Tender
- Carlos Rodón, $4.5M – Non-tender
- Leury García, $4M – Tender
- Evan Marshall, $1.3M – Tender
- Josh Osich, $1M – Non-tender
- Ryan Goins, $900K – Non-tender
CLUB OPTIONS
- Welington Castillo: $8 million/$500,000 buyout – Buyout…please!
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- José Abreu (made $16M in 2019) – Re-sign, 4 years/$52 million
- Iván Nova (made $9,166,167 in 2019) – Free agent
- Jon Jay (made $4M in 2019) – Free agent
- Hector Santiago (made $2M in 2019 on split contract) – Free agent
FREE AGENTS
- Zach Wheeler – 5 years/$125 million. This will have to get the deal done on the open market. Spotrac has his projected salary around $23.5 million. This will be the biggest contract the Sox hand out this offseason and their largest ever. This move adds 4.5 fWAR.
- Wade Miley – 3 years/$30 million. Miley plugs another lefty into a righty-heavy rotation. He can pitch 150+ innings per season and add 1.7 fWAR.
- Travis d’Arnaud – 2 years/ $4 million first year with a second year player option. The Sox need catching depth. Although I believe Yasmani Grandal should be their TOP priority this offseason on an open market, realistically, they are looking for a platoon with McCann, since he had a good 2019. d’Arnaud is a good, cheap option and adds 1.2 fWAR. He can fill in the DH hole, as well.
- Howie Kendrick – 2 years/$10 million. Kendrick adds some much-needed depth to the infield, especially with Yolmer gone. Kendrick can fill in at 2B and 1B when needed. He can also handle 2B until Madrigal comes up. Even if Madrigal struggles right away, Kendrick can take some reps there and fill in for Abreu on occasion at 1B. He can also handle the DH spot when both Abreu and Madrigal are in the lineup. Kendrick adds 1.8 fWAR.
TRADES
- The White Sox trade Dane Dunning, Jimmy Lambert, Micker Adolfo, Blake Rutherford, and Thyago Vieira to the Cubs for Kris Bryant. This is my outrageous request for the White Sox. The Cubs need to replenish their farm system and they need some arms. This would help both teams out. PLUS, Bryant only has 2 years of arbitration-eligible seasons left on his deal. I would see him getting around $20 million for 2019, but I believe the Sox could extend him beyond 2021. I got A LOT of flack on Twitter for my post about this. Read here: https://ontapsportsnet.com/2019/10/17/the-white-sox-should-trade-for-kris-bryant/. I don’t think it’s as out of the question as people say so. If Epstein is smart, he’s going to listen for trades on Bryant, even from the Sox. He’s not going to hold an asinine grudge from 2 years ago. This move adds 5.5 fWAR and Bryant fills in a hole in right field.
25-Man Roster:
Rotation
- Lucas Giolito
- Zach Wheeler
- Wade Miley
- Michael Kopech
- Dylan Cease
Bullpen
- Aaron Bummer (CL)
- Alex Colomé (SU)
- Evan Marshall
- Jimmy Cordero
- Reynaldo López
- José Ruiz
- Jace Fry
- Ryan Burr
Lineup
- Tim Anderson – SS
- Yoan Moncada – 3B
- José Abreu – 1B
- Kris Bryant – RF
- Eloy Jiménez – LF
- Luis Robert - CF
- James McCann – C
- Howie Kendrick – DH
- Nick Madrigal – 2B
Bench
Travis d’Arnaud, Adam Engel, Leury García
Minor League Depth
Zack Collins, Danny Mendick, Seby Zavala, Matt Skole, Ryan Cordell, Luis Basabe, Daniel Palka
TOTAL PAYROLL: ~$139 million~
Conclusion
The Sox said they need a DH, right fielder, and two starting pitchers. Given that Welington Castillo would be getting an insane amount of money for the value he provides, they need a catcher, too. I did that. Although the Bryant trade is definitely the least likely of these to happen, the others are very realistic. I used a payroll of $140 million as a cutoff, so who knows if they will even go that high, but it’s not very easy to fill all of those needs and stay under that threshold. This is how the roster will look after Madrigal and Robert are brought up. This team wins 90 games. Get it done, White Sox!
