PREAMBLE
Well here we are gentlemen, having to concoct a bunch of madness because this team crapped the bed again. I'm sure most of you were hoping we'd need minimal changes to the 2022 roster because we kicked ass and took names. We all gave Rick Hahn the "cupie eyes" at the parade and have deemed him king of the winter carnival. Welp, none of that happened. Whether you're blaming Tony, the players, the front office, the owner, none of it worked this year.
Get ready to see some absolute ridiculousness this offseason (or so I hope). I want anarchy, I want tomfoolery. I want to see them scrap and yell. Maybe burn some bags of dog poo? They need to look a little outside the box and put together a contender while we still have SOME pieces. Rick said we'd need to be aggressive on the trade market as we're not in the market to make too many (if any) free agent adjustments. Challenge accepted you complete waste of space. I'm gonna do this with a payroll significantly under the $190 million goal as well, as I think $160-$175 will be the baseline.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Lucas Giolito: $10.8M TENDER
- Dylan Cease: $5.3M TENDER
- Reynaldo López; $3.3M TENDER
- Adam Engel: $2.3M NON-TENDER, NOT WORTH KEEPING AROUND ANYMORE
- Michael Kopech: $2.2M TENDER
- Kyle Crick: $1.5M NON-TENDER
- José Ruiz: $1M TENDER, A MILLION BONES IS WORTH KEEPING HIM AROUND
- Danny Mendick: $1M TENDER, HE WAS LOOKING GOOD UNTIL THE INJURY. SHOULD BE IN THE MIX AT 2B IF HEALTHY
CLUB OPTIONS
- Tim Anderson: $12.5M ($1M buyout) PICK UP - OBVIOUS NO BRAINER
- Josh Harrison: $5.625M ($1.5M buyout BUYOUT - HEALTHY MENDICK, ROMY, SOSA, TOO MANY PIECES THAT CAN DO WHAT HE CAN.
PLAYER OPTIONS
- AJ Pollock: $13M ($5 million buyout) — EXERCISED - I DOUBT THERE'S ANY CHANCE HE LEAVES THAT SCRATCH ON THE TABLE
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- José Abreu (Made $18M in 2021) THANK YOU MY FRIEND, FOR EVERYTHING. ENJOY SAN DIEGO/HOUSTON/WHEREVER YOU LAND
- Johnny Cueto ($4.2M) ANOTHER THANK YOU MY FRIEND. HE TRIED HIS DAMNEDEST TO PROP US UP AS THE CLASS OF THE DIVISION
- Vince Velasquez ($3M) BYE
- Elvis Andrus ($14.25M) UNLESS THEY INTEND ON MOVING ON FROM TIMMY, HE'S GONE. HE'LL GO PLAY SS IN MINNESOTA OR ONE OF THE OTHER TEAMS THAT LOSE OUT ON THE BIG FISH
MANAGER
I want Espada, but I think the Astros are gonna win, Dusty is going to retire and Espada takes over there. My guess as to why we haven't had a hire yet is exactly that. We're waiting it all out. I'm going with Kevin Long as the next White Sox manager. I don't buy the Ozzie stuff at this point and Long will get these bats moving and hopefully him and Katz will do their best Wonder Twins impression in the form of a World Series ring.
FREE AGENTS
Rick said trades are going to be the method of getting together a contender. I think they'll probably bring some pieces in on camp deals or minor league deals. Mostly some random starting pitchers (hope to strike lightning Cueto style), and catching options (Kevin Plawecki/Jason Castro/Robinson Chirinos types, someone that could possibly fill the backup role to Seby, in case Yaz continues to be REAL bad and they cut him). Outside that, I'm going to throw in one smallish calculated addition:
Kolten Wong (one year, $8 million w/ player option for 2024 @ $7 million) - I want all the lefty bats!!!! Not as great with the glove as he once was but will be a nice addition.
TRADES
Let me start by saying I used that baseballtradevalues.com site to build values on deals. I only did deals where the MTV coming to Chicago is 10% or more less than what's going out.
- Andrew Vaughn, Yoelqui Cespedes & Lucas Giolito to the Marlins for Jesus Luzardo & Jesus Sanchez - This may be the only time you're gonna hear me say I need more Jesus in my life. Luzardo is the main event here for me. He's a big armed lefty that really started coming into his own last season. He would make for a terrific #2 in this rotation in front of Lynn and Kopech. Katz is foaming at the mouth on this one. I desperately want this team to have an athletic outfield that's competent defensively and Sanchez gives us an option for that. Solid guy that can play all 3 spots. Obviously his bat wasn't there in 2022 but he can turn it around. Also another lefty bat! Why does Miami do this? Outside Jazz, their lineup is in shambles. They really need bats and I think Vaughn still has the potential to be a special bat. Giolito could use a change of scenery and this could be a good landing spot and a pitcher's park that may work well for him.
- Colson Montgomery, Garrett Crochet, Brian Ramos, Nerge Vera to the Pirates for Bryan Reynolds - Lets go get us an all-star, boys! The 100 loss Pirates moving more good players for prospects. This will give the White Sox someone that can camp out in left or right (or center when Robert inevitably gets hurt again) for the next 3-4 years, hit well and play solid defense. Oh, switch hitter too! I know the price seems steep but Reynolds is a bad man.
- Liam Hendriks to the Dodgers for Ryan Pepiot - Well here's our fifth starter. Dodgers add another huge arm for their pen and we get another arm to develop with the other youngsters. This was the one that I thought may not be altogether logical, but something of this ilk for Hendriks would be ideal. Young controllable arm.
SUMMARY
Breakdown of the roster:
STARTING PITCHING
Cease 5.3
Kopech 2.2
Lynn 18.5
Luzardo min
Pepiot min
I think it's an upgrade from 2022. Giolito to Luzardo alone improves this roster. A healthy Kopech and Lynn are key again this year, which obviously isn't a given but we're gonna have to hope they (and many many many more on this roster) give us more innings than this year. We also have Davis Martin & maybe even Lambert to fill in starts here and there.
PEN
ReyLo 3.3
Graveman 8
Kelly 9
Bummer 3.75
Diekman 3.5
Ruiz 1
Lambert min
Dart min
Obviously not nearly as shiny as it was in 2022. I fought with moving Hendriks and while I ultimately don't believe they will, we need to move pieces with value to get pieces to fill in the gaps. ReyLo or Graveman will close and hopefully Kelly and Bummer will give us a whole hell of a lot more than they did in 2022 (back to the importance on health).
CATCHER
Yaz 18.25
Seby min
I have no faith that Yaz will get back to even a major league form, let alone the all-star caliber form of 2021. As I mentioned under the free agent end of things, he'll probably be cut if he can't get his crap together in spring. Carlos Perez will get a look as the backup obviously and we'll have a few more guys in there to sprinkle in.
INFIELD
Wong 8
Sheets min
Burger min
Moncada 17.8
Mendick 1
TA 12.5
As you can see, I'm going with Sheets as the every day first base. I'm also thinking that they can hopefully teach Burger to be a serviceable 1B platoon partner for Gavin. With a new manager, hitting coach and approach, both should do well in the role. I also feel like if they don't pan out, finding a 1B is a hell of a lot easier to do than other positions. Just like Hendriks, Vaughn has the value necessary to bring back the pieces we need to fill the gaps. I have Mendick there as the utility, but I'm not certain he'll be healthy to start the season. They'll bring Leury in to see what he's got (if anything) and he'll have the opportunity to regain his role as the utility guy. Moncada we're stuck with, for better or worse. Just like with Gavin and Burger, new coaching, maybe he'll pick something up that'll bring the stick back.
OUTFIELD
Robert 9.5
Colas/Sanchez min
Pollock 13
Reynolds 6.75
Most of all, I wanted to piece together an upgrade in the outfield. I think Reynolds gives them so much to work with. Such a versatile awesome piece. Colas and Sanchez will compete for the spot in one of the corners with Pollock serving as the 4th outfielder/platoon partner.
DESIGNATED SUPERSTAR
Eloy 10.33
'Nuff said. Eloy is a golden god. If I see him in the outfield next season, that is why we fail.
*I calculated the payroll at $152 million plus whatever all the minimum contracts are. It'll give the team some flexibility to add some pieces to the pen and maybe 1B at the deadline.
LINEUP
SS Timmy
RF: Reynolds
DH: Eloy
CF: Robert
1B: Sheets/Burger
LF: Colas-Sanchez/Pollock
3B: Moncada
C: Seby0
2B: Wong (2nd leadoff hitter, baby!)
It's a minimum 120 win team I've built here. When you see me in the 108 next season, you can reward this brilliance with ALL the elotes. No really, it's difficult to figure out what this team can do to improve without going balls out in free agency. I think I've improved this team defensively and made solid additions to the rotation. Those two, plus some better approaches at the plate, maybe we'll get away from being utter failures?
Oh hey, lets get and stay healthy too, right? Get a staff together that isn't going to turn this team's hamstrings into goo! Maybe they should consider getting a testosterone boost from Nugenics? I bet she'll like it, too!
