Kyle321n’s “ALL IN” Offseason Plan

PREAMBLE
As GM I am going to walk into Jerry Reinsdorf’s office and let him know that while that $170m figure is good, I’m going to need an extra $10m to finish out this team. I will say that this is the “ALL IN” approach and that if we had used this money in 2015 we would have been a playoff team. This is a more complete roster and I think this could be a pennant contending team. If I cannot get the extra money then my 5th free agent option is going to be gone.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS

These weren’t too difficult Lopez is going to be my 7th starter/long reliever, Engel is my 4th OF and Cordero is one of my middle relievers. We’ll get to Giolito later…

• Lucas Giolito: $7.9M  – Tender/Extend
• Reynaldo López; $2.8M – Tender
• Evan Marshall: $2.3M- Non-Tender
• Adam Engel: $2.2M- Tender
• Brian Goodwin: $1.7M- Non-Tender
• Jimmy Cordero: $1.2M- Tender
• Jace Fry: $1M- Non-Tender

CLUB OPTIONS

I love that Rick Hahn was aggressive at the trade deadline. The deals didn’t work out as we hoped, and frankly I’m really hoping the Kimbrel trade doesn’t look like James Shields in 5 years. These folks are gone.

• Craig Kimbrel: $16M ($1M buyout)  -Decline
• César Hernández: $6M -Decline

OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS

This is the toughest spot for me. I’m thanking Leury for his services, but I would guess he would get around $5-6 million and I just don’t have that in the budget. Rodon will be gotten to later. Tepera is picked up and in the Free Agent section.

• Leury García (Made $3.5M in 2021) – Good bye!
• Carlos Rodón ($3M)- We’ll see.
• Billy Hamilton ($1M)- Good bye!
• Ryan Tepera ($950K)- See Free Agents

FREE AGENTS

No. 1: Starling Marte (3 years, $45 million) This is solving an issue we’ve had for a while. Marte can play both CF and RF so if we have an injury in the outfield he can cover either position. He will start in right, with Robert in center and Engel as our fourth outfielder. For his career he has a 51.1% GB Rate so that’s a little concerning, but STEAMER has him projected to slash .270/.333/.426

No. 2: Roberto Perez (2 years, $5 million)  Back up catcher. He’s a solid defensive catcher, he’s a good enough bat. Projected .206/.290/.362 slash line. I think he can play about 70 games at catcher to spell Grandal and we can play Grandal at first for about 30 games to get him around 120 games played.

No. 3: Ryan Tepera (3 years, $15 million) I honestly have no idea what his value is, but I want to keep him. I feel like an increase of 5 times his salary is fair, and he would be my highest paid reliever not named Hendriks.

No. 4: Lucas Giolito (5 years, $111 million) Ok so this isn’t really a free agent. It’s an extension. I’m buying out his Arb years at $12.5 million for the next 2 seasons. Then I’m putting a 3 year, $81 million extension at the end of that. I’m also going to put some team options on the back end with a buy out. He’s guaranteed $111 million, but could potentially get $174 million. Here’s how I’m structuring it:
2022: $12 million
2023: $13 million
2024: $27 million
2025: $27 million
2026: $27 million
2027: $34 million ($5mil buyout)
2028: $34 million ($1mil buyout)

This is where I need Jerry’s approval to go over budget. If I can’t do this, Kopech slides from SP#6 to SP#5 and Lopez slides from LR/SP#7 to LR/SP#6

No. 5: Carlos Rodon (4 years, $66 million) This is another one where I get creative with the accounting. First of all, he’ll only be making $12 million this year, but there will be heavy incentives tied to starts and innings pitched. He could make up to $17 million if he makes 27 starts and pitches 135+ innings. In year 2 he’ll have the same incentives package, but the base salary raises to $16 million. The contract will then vest if he has 55 starts combined in 2022 and 2023 and he’ll earn $18 million. There will be a mutual option at the end of the contract or year 4 for $20 million, if the option is declined by the team there is a $5 million buyout. Guaranteed $28 million for 2 years, if he stays healthy, it’s $61 million for 3 years or $76 million for 4.

TRADES

I’m honestly terrible with trades. I’m not offering any. Maybe Arte Moreno would like to pick up the full $16 million on Kimbrel and I can get a B tier prospect from the Angels AA? I’d rather decline the option than try to find a suitable trade partner.

SUMMARY

In conclusion this team is at $180 million dollars with Rodon and $168 million without him. You may have noticed at no point did I address second base. Romy Gonzalez and Danny Mendick will be splitting the time there and I might have to make another midseason acquisition to fill that hole if that doesn’t work. Here’s how the team lines up.

C- Grandal           $18.25
1B- Abreu            $19.67
2B- Gonzalez      $0.58
3B- Moncada      $13.80
SS- Anderson      $9.50
RF- Marte            $15.00
CF- Robert           $6.00
LF- Vaughn          $0.58
DH- Jiminez         $7.33

Util INF- Mendick             $0.58
4th OF- Engel     $2.25
Backup C- Perez $2.50
LH Hitter- Sheets              $0.58

SP- Giolito           $12.00
SP- Lynn               $18.50
SP- Rodon           $12.00
SP- Cease            $0.58
SP- Keuchel         $18.00

CL- Hendriks        $13.33
SU- Tepera          $5.00
SU- Crochet        $0.58
LMR- Bummer    $2.50
RMR- Codero     $1.20
MR -Ruiz              $0.58
LR/SP- Kopech    $0.58
LR/SP- Lopez      $2.75

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