PREAMBLE
The White Sox window is officially open. Last year the White Sox had a nice offseason, but left some glaring holes on the roster which became even more evident as the season progressed. That included: RF, SP, and DH (though they did throw 10 million at Edwin) but, well....we all know how well that worked out.
Anyway, after last offseason, White Sox GM Rick Hahn was asked about his feelings on the team after the winter he had and this was his response:
“We had a nice winter...but in terms of feeling we’ve accomplished something, ask me after the parade.”
Well Rick, winter is coming, the White Sox window is officially open and it’s now time to finish the job so that we can talk about the satisfaction with the team after the parade in 2021. So how do we get there? Here’s the plan:
Free Agents:
RF: Joc Pederson : 1 years/$14 million, with a mutual option of 16 million for 2022.
Ideally? George Springer is roaming RF for the 2021 White Sox. But he’s going to be on the wrong side of 30 and will probably be looking at a contract north of $100 million.
Unfortunately, i don’t believe Jerry Reinsdorf will pony up for that. So I’ll stay in my lane and add a lefty hitter with some nice pop in the form of Joc Pederson. The last 5 years before 2020 he’s averaged a 119 wRC+ he’s good for 20+ home runs, and can at least handle RF, or you can even DH him.
SP: Marcus Stroman : 4 Years/$75 million, with a vesting option of 20 million for 2025 if he has 320 IP between 2023-2024.
For some reason White Sox fans don’t like Marcus. Maybe it has to do with the spat he had with Tim Anderson? (They’ve hashed that out since). Maybe because of rumors about his attitude? I don’t know. It’s silly in my opinion. The dude is a ground ball machine, constantly works at his craft and is a 3+ fWAR pitcher consistently. Sign me up.
SP: Jose Quintana: 1 Year/$6 million
Old friend alert. I’ll be non-tendering Carlos Rodon and Gio Gonzalez. The team will need some depth to cover in case of injury. The ties are obvious, he’s a lefty, he suffered through the nonsense early in the 2010’s, It only makes sense.
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 (Trade: See Below)
- 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 Non-Tender
CLUB OPTIONS
- Edwin Encarnación: $12M – Decline
- Gio González: $7M ($500K buyout) – Decline
- Leury García: $3.5M ($250K buyout) – Pick Up
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- Alex Colomé (Made $10,532,500 in 2020) Let go. Not worth the money it will take to bring him back. I think a lot of teams will be courting him for his services. Teams will be cutting payroll and the Sox will be able to find some good arms for cheaper in my opinion. Not to mention the young guys they already have bringing heat.
- James McCann (Made $5.4M in 2020) Let go. I love James McCann’s game, he plays a role, and boy does he play it well. However, this team, with this owner and his payroll restrictions, can’t afford to pay a back up catcher $10 million + to sit on the bench knowing that Grandal (the second best catcher in the game per fangraphs) has to basically play every day.
- Jarrod Dyson (Made $2M in 2020) Let go.
COACHING STAFF
- Manager: I think the choice will be A.J. Hinch, the ties there are too obvious. Previously drafted by the White Sox, manager with recent championship experience (see Rick Hahn’s recent comments on what he’s looking for in a manager), Went to Stanford (cough Kenny Williams cough) and he’s analytically inclined. He paid for his crime, did his time, let bygones be bygones bring him in and lets ride.
- Pitching coach: I believe Matt Zaleski is the guy, i think they go internal here and he’s got a relationship with a lot of these young guys. Though Hinch might want to bring his own guy with him.
TRADES
No 1 (and only): Dylan Cease, Reynaldo Lopez, and Blake Rutherford to the New York Mets in exchange for Brandon Nimmo.
You down with OBP? Brandon Nimmo’s OBP from 2017 thru 2020: .379, .404, .375, .404. I’ll take a lefty RF, that plays decent defense and gets on base more than 37% of the time ALL day. Now, I know some will say “DYLAN CEASE?! AND YOU’RE ADDING ++ ARE YOU NUTS?!” Look, I love Cease, but I’m not sure if he will ever be anything more than a really good reliever, can you sit here and say you’ll trust him in your rotation next year over some of the other options?? I’m not so sure. The Mets do have a new owner coming in, but I don’t believe they’ll be married to Brandon Nimmo especially if Cohen is going to be willingly throwing cash around. If they can get two power arms and a RF flyer for Nimmo I think they’ll take it. In turn the Sox will add a lefty bat who is an on base machine, which they so desperately need. This is the move for me.
SUMMARY
Total Payroll: Approx. $135 million
LINEUP AFTER SERVICE TIME MANIPULATION:
SS: Tim Anderson
3B: Yoan Moncada
1B: Jose Abreu
LF: Eloy Jimenez
C: Yasmani Grandal
DH: Joc Pederson
CF: Luis Robert
RF: Brandon Nimmo
2B: Nick Madrigal
BENCH: Leury Garcia, Adam Engel, Andrew Vaughn, and Zack Collins
Rotation:
SP: Lucas Giolito
SP: Dallas Keuchel
SP: Marcus Stroman
SP: Michael Kopech
SP: Dane Dunning
Bullpen:
- Cody Heur
- Aaron Bummer
- Jimmy Cordero
- Matt Foster
- Evan Marshall
- Jace Fry
- Jose Quintana
- Sign a closer on a minor league deal or another arm and make Bummer the closer.
Talk to you after the parade.
