PREAMBLE
Rick Hahn promised us that the money will be spent. This offseason will see that come to fruition. 4 A-listers sign with the South Side and a couple trades are made as well. The best teams tend to be strong up the middle (C, SS, 2B, CF). The 2020 White Sox will be no different.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Alex Colomé, $10.3M tender
- Yolmer Sánchez, $6.2M non-tender
- James McCann, $4.9M tender
- Carlos Rodon, $4.5M 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 Decline
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- Jose Abreu (made $16M in 2019) Re-sign at 2 years, 30M. 15M/year. Club option for 3rd year at 12M.
- Iván Nova (made $9,166,167 in 2019) Let go
- Jon Jay (made $4M in 2019) Let go
- Hector Santiago (made $2M in 2019 on split contract) Let go
FREE AGENTS
No. 1: Yasmani Grandal (4 years/80M). The White Sox add a catcher great both offensively and defensively. A great leader that always has a high OBP, he and James McCann will form arguably the best catching platoon in baseball.
No. 2: Madison Bumgarner (4 years/60M). Bumgarner is everything the White Sox could want. He's a lefty, is arguably the best post-season pitcher of all time, and brings a fiery attitude that would fit perfectly on the South Side. I can't think of a better mentor to help the young staff through any potential growing pains.
No. 3: JD Martinez ( 3 years/75M w/ player option for 4th year for 22M). The White Sox continue to bolster their offense by adding an elite offensive force in Martinez. He'll hit for power, average, and get on base at a high clip.
No. 4: (for good measure) Will Smith ( 3 years/27M) Will Smith is arguably the best reliever in a thin market so his price could easily end up being more than this. But in this scenario, Smith joins his old teammate Bumgarner in Chicago. He, Alex Colome, and Aaron Bummer form a scary 3-headed monster in the bullpen.
TRADES
No. 1: Trade Dane Dunning and Blake Rutherford to Seattle for Mitch Haniger. The Mariners sold off a bunch of pieces last year, and if they are smart, they'll continue shipping off assets. In 2018 Haniger was an All-Star RF. This year he suffered from a ruptured testicle (woof) and missed the majority of the year. The White Sox get a starting RF with huge upside, who will enter his first year of Arbitration in 2021. The Mariners get a potential middle-of-rotation arm and a versatile RF of their own.
No. 2: Trade Kelvin Herrera and Zack Collins to Texas for a low-level prospect. I really don't want to pay Herrera 8.5M to suck for the White Sox. Instead I attempt to ship him off to Texas. They had one of the worst bullpens in baseball this year, and he can't get any worse can he? Collins is the reason Texas does this deal. the young catcher is versatile (can play 1B and DH as well), has 25 HR potential from the left side, and will give you a professional AB. With Grandal and McCann, I just don't see a reason to keep Collins around longterm. Texas can buyout Herrera after the 2020 season for 1M, and the White Sox can save 8.5M this year.
SUMMARY
I'm not totally sure how salaries for pre-arb players work, admittedly. So a lot is just me using last year's numbers for that to at least get somewhat close.
Lineup (once Robert and Madrigal get the call)
Robert- CF (550K)
Moncada- 3B (575K)
Martinez- DH (25M)
Jimenez- LF (2.3M)
Abreu- 1B (15M)
Grandal- C (20M)
Anderson- SS (4M)
Haniger- RF (590K)
Madrigal- 2B (550K)
Rotation
Giolito (573K)
Bumgarner (15M)
Cease (555K)
Kopech (555K)
Lopez (580K)
* Rodon (4.5M)
Bullpen
Fry (569K)
Bummer (555K)
Smith (9M)
Colome (10,3M)
Marshall (555K)
Fulmer (555K)
Hamilton (550K)
Bench
McCann (4.9M)
Garcia (4M)
Mendick (555K)
Engel (571K)
Total Payroll- 122,138,000
If my math is right for once, the payroll comes out to just over 120M. The offense looks strong from top to bottom, and the bullpen looks like it could be dominant. The starting pitching admittedly worries me. Kopech will be on an innings limit and there's no guarantee he'll be as promised as he works back from injury. Cease has to take a big step forward from what he showed this year, and Lopez has to be much more consistent. If they can all be at least solid and not an automatic loss every 5th day, this team could make some serious noise. For a bench, McCann obviously will catch Giolito and will probably be behind the plate twice a week in total. Leury is valuable in that he can essentially play anywhere. Mendick adds some needed infield depth, especially off the bat as Madrigal probably won't be on the Opening Day roster. Engel is one of the better defensive outfielders in baseball and can be a huge asset in late-game situations.
Not only does this look like a very good team, it also seems pretty realistic from a financial standpoint for the most part. Make it happen Rick. Soxtober awaits.
