Shaggy65’s Offseason Plan

This team should be built like a World Series contender, because it is.

ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS

  • Nomar Mazara: $5.6M | $5.9M | $5.7M  –  TENDER.  Did he under-achieve? Yes. But it was a weird, short season, he was revamping his swing, and he looked better as time went on. He’s still young and has a ton of potential. Plus I don’t see any options available in free agency that I like any better. George Springer? We don’t need to spend a bunch of money on another righty bat. Joc Pederson? His 2020 was almost as bad as Mazara’s.
  • Carlos Rodón: $4.5M | $4.5M | $4.5M  –  NON-TENDER.  I could go either way, but his slider isn’t what it once was and ultimately I don’t trust that he can stay healthy.
  • Lucas Giolito: $2.5M | $5.3M | $2.5M  –  TENDER.  I expect to see him sign for around $3M.
  • Reynaldo López: $1.7M | $2.2M | $1.7M  –  TENDER.  He should still have his option intact after only spending a week away from the team in 2020. We can experiment with him in the bullpen or keep him behind glass in AAA in case of rotation emergency.
  • Evan Marshall: $1.3M | $1.9M | $1.4M  –  TENDER.  He should be the 7th inning guy instead of the 8th, but he’s still good.
  • Adam Engel: $1M | $1.4M | $1M  –  TENDER.  Ideal back-up center fielder and a good platoon partner with Nomar.
  • Jace Fry: $800K | $1M | $800K  –  TENDER.  He still misses a lot of bats and is in his “prime”. He’s solid bullpen depth now, and if he could only improve his control he could be genuinely good.
  • Yolmer Sánchez: Uncertain  –  TENDER.  The contract won’t be anywhere close to last year’s $5M estimate.  Depth is essential on championship teams. Cheap, gold-glove defense from a beloved personality who puts together professional at-bats? Yes, please.

CLUB OPTIONS

  • Edwin Encarnación: $12M  DECLINE.  !!!!!!!!
  • Gio González: $7M ($500K buyout)  DECLINE.  He didn’t do anything that we can’t have younger, cheaper players do.
  • Leury García: $3.5M ($250K buyout)  PICK UP.  Sweet Leu provides depth at so many different positions and he surprised me by playing a credible shortstop in 2020. Also, his hitting style is different than anyone else in our lineup and I like the added versatility.

OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS

  • Alex Colomé (Made $10,532,500 in 2020)  RETAIN. (2yr/$22M + $10M team option) He’s been dependable and the team knows him. I like that his style is a tad different from the typical flame-throwing closer and even if he loses a mph as he ages I think he can still be effective. While some of our younger guys could potentially finish games, I’d rather start seriously pursuing a World Series with a proven guy at closer. I don’t see any better options out there in free agency.
  • James McCann (Made $5.4M in 2020)  LET GO.  I’d love to bring him back but he deserves to be a starter somewhere.
  • Jarrod Dyson (Made $2M in 2020)  LET GO.  I wouldn’t mind getting him for free again at the trade deadline because he does fill a pinch runner need on our roster, but when you begin a season you need bench options that could actually start some games.

COACHING STAFF

  • Manager:  AJ Hinch – Championship-caliber. Young and forward-thinking. He seems genuinely contrite about allowing the cheating to happen on his watch. He made a mistake and paid the one-year penalty. And I’m a big believer in leaders that have learned from mistakes. He’s got some bad experiences in Arizona and Houston to learn from.
  • Pitching coach:  Everett Teaford – The Sox’ current Pitching Coordinator (the same role Coop held before becoming the MLB Pitching Coach) is perhaps a little green to be named to such a prominent role, but he’s been promoted basically every year he’s been with the organization.  He has a modern, data-driven approach, gets rave reviews from players, and has shown a knack for daily tips and game preparation.

FREE AGENTS

No. 1: Trevor Bauer (1yr/$31 million) The fit here is too perfect. Traditionally the White Sox have shied away from giving lengthy contracts to free agent pitchers and Bauer is willing to sign for one year. We should have plenty of starter depth in the coming years so I don’t want to pay anyone long-term, but in the short term Game 3 proved that we need another topline guy in the playoff rotation. I’m a little leery of the personality but willing to take a chance on a man coming off a Cy Young season.

No. 2: Michael Brantley (2yr/$26 million) Wanted: Another competent left-handed bat. Plan A would be for Brantley and Jimenez to split time in LF and at DH. Both of them have had injury problems and it might be nice to have ways to keep them both off their feet from time to time. Brantley is more of a line-drive hitter than a masher, which again adds versatility to our lineup. He doesn’t need to be subbed out with a lefty on the mound, so we can keep Engel’s platoon with Mazara intact.

No. 3: Tyler Flowers (1yr/$3 million + 1yr option) It’s time to bring back our old friend! The Braves don’t need him any more and he looks to me like the best back-up catcher on the market. He’s obviously in his decline but he still calls a good game and frames well, he still gets on base, and he still has a little pop in his bat. I would rather Collins gets starting catcher reps in AAA, and Zack and Tyler could still form a good lefty/righty tandem if Grandal misses time.

TRADES

None, although I’d listen to high value offers if anyone thought Lopez, Engel, or Collins was a starter.

SUMMARY

LINEUP

  1. SS Anderson
  2. LF/DH Brantley
  3. DH/LF Jimenez
  4. 1B Abreu
  5. 3B Moncada
  6. CF Roberts
  7. C Grandal
  8. RF Mazara
  9. 2B Madrigal

I like Brantley’s contact and OBP in the #2 spot. “The Book” says that your best hitter should be at #4 because they come up in the most clutch situations–that’s Jose Abreu. Grandal is a good hitter, especially for a catcher, but Ricky had him hitting too high in the lineup.

BENCH

  • UTIL Garcia
  • INF Sanchez
  • OF Engel
  • C Flowers

ROTATION

  1. Bauer
  2. Giolito
  3. Keuchel
  4. Cease
  5. Dunning

BULLPEN

  • CL Colome
  • LH-SU Bummer
  • RH-SU Heuer
  • RH Marshall
  • RH Foster
  • RH Cordero
  • LH Crochet
  • LH Fry

First Guys Up from AAA:

  • Hitter – Mendick
  • Catcher – Collins
  • Starter – Kopech
  • Reliever – Lambert

Honestly, looking at the lineup, rotation, bullpen, and depth listed above–I feel like each one could stack up with the best in baseball.

Total payroll comes out to $159 million, mostly because they break the bank to sign Trevor Bauer. That is high for our team historically, but still a very reasonable dollar amount for a team with genuine championship aspirations. Come on, Jerry, don’t work for five years to build this team and cheap out now!

(Apologies for posting this on both SSS and SoxMachine, but since this is clearly the perfect plan I thought as many people as possible should read it.)

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