PREAMBLE
The White Sox are entering the most important offseason in the rebuild so far. The 2020 season is the first make or break year for the organization, so one would think Jerry Reinsdorf would open up his checkbook and spend whatever it takes to take this team from a 72 win team to a 95 win team. Unfortunately, that will most likely not happen and the White Sox will sign a few pieces to get close to winning, but it will be up to the staff to manufacture wins with the talent given. Making a 23 win improvement seems like a lofty goal, but keep in mind a full season of September Eloy could put up an all-star season and then Luis Robert will be infinitely better than anybody the Sox used in right field in 2019. The name of the game for the offseason is to add pieces that fit into not just the 2020 team, but also the 2021 team and so on. 1 year deals can help the future of the team by signing veterans who can teach the young players how to be successful big leaguers.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Alex Colomé, $10.3M (Tender) He converted 91% of his saves and regardless of other numbers being worrisome, he is able to get the last three outs.
- Yolmer Sánchez, $6.2M (Non-Tender) See below
- James McCann, $4.9M (Tender) Easy answer here
- Carlos Rodon, $4.5M (Tender) Basically like a post trade deadline addition
- Leury García, $4M (Tender) Utility man who can cover most positions is very necessary especially in the postseason (Marwin Gonzalez in 2017 and Brock Holt in 2018)
- Evan Marshall, $1.3M (Tender) Great year and a cheap bullpen arm
- Josh Osich, $1M (Non-Tender) See below
- Ryan Goins, $900K (Non-Tender) Had a good few weeks, but no thanks
As much as I’ve loved watching Yolmer play great defense and being the spirit of the team, $6.2 million for a utility infielder who can’t hit seems like a waste of money. Thank you Josh Osich for filling the useless innings in non competitive games, but in a season where every game will matter (hopefully), there is no need for Osich.
CLUB OPTIONS
Write “pick up” or “decline” after the option.
- Welington Castillo: $8 million/$500,000 buyout Buyout- I will personally pay $20 of Beef’s buyout so we can get rid of him sooner.
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
Try to retain, or let go?
- Jose Abreu (made $16M in 2019) Retain and sign for 2 years and $25 million
- 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 but sign a minor league deal later in the offseason as insurance and a veteran presence for the organization
FREE AGENTS
No. 1: JD Martinez (3 years, $75 million ). Who knows if Martinez will opt out or not, but if he does the consensus is that the White Sox are a serious contender for him. We can offer a nice pay increase and address our DH problem with a potent middle of the order bat.
No. 2: Dallas Kuechel (2 years, $28 million with mutual option/buyout for third year). I would love the Sox to go after Madison Bumgarner and be a left handed work horse, but he will likely be too expensive. Kuechel has a solid year in 19 starts this past season and has proven he can eat innings and be a solid starter.
No. 3: Alex Wood (1 year, $3). Wood can be the guy he has been most of his career. A backend starter to eat innings. If things go right with our young starters, Wood is a great swingman in the pen and a viable option to make a spot start to give our young arms an extra day of rest down the stretch. He also adds a left handed arm who can face multiple batters which will come in handy with the new 3 batter minimum rule.
No. 4: Jason Kipnis (1 year, $6 million). We all know Nick Madrigal is in line to be the second basemen of the future, but signing Kipnis works on multiple levels. Kipnis is a solid veteran (from the area doesn’t hurt either) who can play second until Madrigal is ready and is then there to mentor Nick into the solid major leaguer everybody projects him to be. Also, Kipnis began playing the outfield in Cleveland in recent years, so he could also platoon in the outfield if needed.
No. 5: Martin Maldonado (1 year, $2 million) With the 26 man roster, there is a comfortable spot for a 3rd catcher. Maldonado offers insurance for an injury, but is also a key veteran presence for the young pitchers. Also, having a third catcher allows Zack Collins to catch some, but also get
TRADES
Propose trades that you think sound reasonable for both sides, and the rationale behind them. A good example of a bad idea:
No. 1: Trade Jonathan Stiever, Luis Basabe, and Gavin Sheets to the Cincinnati Reds for Jesse Winker. It is no secret that the White Sox need a right fielder and a left handed bat. Thus, we have Jesse Winker. He is under team control through 2024, so he can be the right fielder through the rebuild. He has had issues staying on the field, but when on the field, he has produced above league average offensively in each of the three seasons he has been in the big leagues. Because of the extended amount of control, Winker will not come at a cheap price so we optimize the high stock on Stiever as the headliner. I, personally, have never been a huge fan of Basabe, and Sheets is blocked by Abreu and Vaughn.
No. 2: Trade Jimmy Lambert for Keone Kela. Kela is a proven controllable bullpen piece that is signed until 2021. He has been proven to be able to get high leverage outs at the end of games. Lambert is an expendable piece assuming the Sox add starting pitching depth and has had a good amount of success in the minor leagues.
SUMMARY
Starting Lineup
CF- Luis Robert
3B- Yoan Moncada
DH- JD Martinez
LF- Eloy Jimenez
1B- Jose Abreu
RF- Jesse Winker
SS- Tim Anderson
C- James McCann
2B- Jason Kipnis (Madrigal once promoted)
Bench- Zach Collins, Danny Mendick, Leury Garcia, Martin Maldonado
Starting Rotation
- Lucas Giolito
- Dallas Kuechel
- Reynaldo Lopez
- Dylan Cease
- Michael Kopech
Bullpen
CL- Alex Colome
SU- Aaron Bummer
RP- Kelvin Herrera
RP- Keone Kela
RP- Evan Marshall
RP- Jace Fry
RP- Jimmy Cordero
Swing Man/Spot Starter- Alex Wood
The payroll ends up coming to about $122.3 million. That is slightly over the proposed $120 million, but realistically if the front office wants to be able to contend, the money should be spent. Think about all the money that has been saved over the past few years from the rebuild. That money is most likely sitting in a bank account doing nothing, so we might as well use it. I would love to see the White Sox make these signings and trades, but baseball is a business, so who knows what the team will actually do. The White Sox need a left handed bat, a DH, a right fielder, starting pitching help, and a bullpen arm. I added a left handed hitting right fielder, a power hitting DH, 2 pitchers who can start, and a late inning bullpen arm. The ultimate goal is to add about 23 wins from the 2019 team to the 2020 team. Adding together the players from free agency signings and trades, that should add about 10-12 WAR, so among the rest of the team, they need to produce an extra 10 WAR. While that seems lofty, a full season of actual major league pitchers will help the whole team. A full season of September Eloy, plus Luis Robert and Nick Madrigal, it is not that hard to see things going well and this team contending for a division title for the first time in 12 years. Things are on the rise, but the question will always be, are the White Sox willing to spend the money?
