PREAMBLE
White Sox got their first postseason berth since 2008. The rebuild is over! Now the part where “this entire rebuild process leads to multiple championships and ends in a parade” comes into play. They got a small core and they need to make the changes to take home some hardware. My plan is gonna focus on trying to do the weirdest (and possibly the wrongest) things to get the wins and make a deep run in October 2021.
For payroll purposes, I’m going with the middle column of arbitration figures.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Nomar Mazara: $5.6M | $5.9M | $5.7M - non-tender
- Carlos Rodón: $4.5M | $4.5M | $4.5M - non-tender
- Lucas Giolito: $2.5M | $5.3M | $2.5M - tender
- Reynaldo López: $1.7M | $2.2M | $1.7M - tender
- Evan Marshall: $1.3M | $1.9M | $1.4M - tender
- Adam Engel: $1M | $1.4M | $1M - tender
- Jace Fry: $800K | $1M | $800K - tender
- Yolmer Sánchez: Uncertain - tender if right
The only player to have a significant difference for their arbitration is Giolito and you have to be 108ing the wrong way to non-tender that. López looked better coming back from Schaumburg, but his role is gonna be opener/long reliever and Marshall can still contribute. Engel had his best season serving in the role best suited for him and White Sox still need at least one more outfielder.
Mazara and Rodón are in the unfortunate place of needing to clear their lockers and hope a change of scenery works out for them. I honestly don’t know how Sánchez’s arbitration works since he got non-tendered last year and signed a minor league deal with the Giants before coming back. Sánchez is reliable as utility, but if the price is the same as last year then Sox would have to decline that.
CLUB OPTIONS
- Edwin Encarnación: $12M - Decline
- Gio González: $7M ($500K buyout) - Buyout
- Leury García: $3.5M ($250K buyout) - Buyout
Encarnación and González were nice additions on paper but didn’t meet expectations. García still provides super utility help, but the hope is that he doesn’t become a starter again.
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- Alex Colomé (Made $10,532,500 in 2020) - Let go
- James McCann (Made $5.4M in 2020) - Let go
- Jarrod Dyson (Made $2M in 2020) - Let go
Dyson is easy decision. The other two are hard. It makes me wonder what Hahn was trying to accomplish trading for Colomé for his two years. McCann would serve well as a back up catcher but he’s chasing starting job money and that can be spent elsewhere.
COACHING STAFF
- Manager(s): Mark Kotsay and Matt Quatraro
- Pitching coach: Jason Varitek
I like Renteria, but a big downside (and what I think also led to his firing) is he is stubborn about his managing style. I want openers, unusual lineups that call for the day, and best use of match ups against pitchers. I also want the White Sox to get really weird.
Mark Kotsay is an old friend and is the Quality Control Coach for the A’s and they have fielded a great team with a small budget and his contribution was preparing players against the other team. But he’s also great with the players being able to connect and communicate with them. Matt Quatraro is the Bench Coach for Rays and Rays are in the World Series for almost less than one season year of Gerrit Cole. Why two managers? Why not! Manager roles have shifted over time from being team captains. If they can establish a partnership and try to get on the same page, this can be done and can work wonders. Great films have been directed by two people. Companies and projects are accomplished with two people at the helm. It can be an uneasy alliance, but it can work out. Both these guys have great communication and have worked wonders. They’re analytics driven so it can work so well since this White Sox are taking this route. The managing duties would have to be split somehow and the perception could be odd.
Jason Varitek? The former catcher to be the pitching coach. Yep you know why? Because there are other coaches that can help with the mechanics and the angles. But being able to stop in a figure out the pitch sequence and trying to get crucial outs with a mound visit helps out a lot. The responsibilities/description would have to change, but the point is to be weird and to get any kind of edge to win games. As the season continues on, the mound visits will be important to calm the nerves or figure out how to get the outs. I think the role would have to evolve to more game planning and in game events.
FREE AGENTS
No. 1: Taijuan Walker RHP (two year, $10 million)
Walker can be a very flexible option in the backend of the starting rotation. Walker can actually be a real nice gem to pick up given his injury history, but when he plays, his stuff is good. I think he’ll fly under the radar actually, but the Sox need starting pitching depth. I’m sure Dunning and Kpech will start in minors for 2021.
No. 2: Marcus Stroman RHP (6 year, $110 million)
Stroman and Bauer’s numbers are almost identical so I’ll give the nod to Stroman and get him signed. I think starting pitching needs to have legit 5 starters and Walker and Stroman rounds it out with Cease tries to improve or having Dunning come up.
No. 3: Marcell Ozuna OF (5 year, $110 million)
The years might have to change to make this deal nice with still $22 million a year, but he will absolutely serve a great DH/OF role that we’ve been trying to plug for several seasons now (but he’s not good on defense). This would at least plug either holes the White Sox have on the lineup. When it gets to late innings and Sox
TRADES
None
Can’t really think of a decent trade that especially with no minor leagues happening. The values of players to trade like maybe López would be too low anyway.
LINEUP
Position Players
Yasmani Grandal
Jose Abreu
Nick Madrigal
Tim Anderson
Yoan Moncada
Eloy Jimenez
Luis Robert
Marcell Ozuna
Adam Engel
Danny Mendick
Zach Collins
Yolmer Sanchez - maybe
Blake Rutherford/Luis Gonzalez
Pitchers
Lucas Giolito
Dallas Keuchel
Marcus Stroman
Taijuan Walker
Dylan Cease
Reynaldo Lopez
Aaron Bummer
Jimmy Cordero
Matt Foster
Jace Fry
Evan Marshall
Cody Heuer
Zack Burdi
TOTAL PAYROLL: $134 Million (not accounting the pre-arbitration contracts)
SUMMARY
There’s a particular hole I’m not sure about and that’s catcher. Honestly I want to let the market play out with McCann and see what offers look like for him. But at this point, I need to know what Collin cans do with a full time back up role which I don’t mind putting him there. Same with other players like Blake Rutherford and Luis Gonzalez. Obviously it’s hard to hell with the limited playing time this season as with all the other minors in the system.
I was disappointed there wasn’t a whole lot of experimentation during the rebuild and doing it now with coaching/manager roles kinda seems weird. But whatever, this is serious hot take of an offseason which is probably why I won’t be GM of a major league team anytime soon.
