This Team is Exhausting
PREAMBLE
This team is terrible. No trade or free agent signings are going to turn an overpaid 100 loss team into a contender. It’s pathetic and embarrassing that the owner thinks it is reasonable and we are certainly doomed to another season of mediocrity. That being said, this is the insane offseason that would make me feel comfortable about the direction the team would be taking going forward.
However, I fully expect the White Sox to sign a few mid-tier free agents and make a couple of inconsequential trades. They will then surely go on to feed us some lines in spring training about how excited they are about Jose Rodriguez at second base and how much Gavin Sheets has improved in right field. This team is pathetic.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Dylan Cease: $8.8M – Tender
- Andrew Vaughn: $3.7M – Tender
- Michael Kopech: $3.6M – Tender
- Touki Toussaint: $1.7M – Tender
- Trayce Thompson: $1.7M – Non-tender
- Garrett Crochet: $900K – Tender
- Clint Frazier: $900K – Non-tender
- Matt Foster: $740K – Non-tender
CLUB OPTIONS
- Tim Anderson: $14M ($1M buyout) – Pick up
- Liam Hendriks: $15M ($15M buyout, paid $1.5M annually over next 10 years) – rework: 2 years 25M (10M in ‘24, 15M in ‘25)
MUTUAL OPTIONS
- Mike Clevinger: $12M mutual option ($4 million buyout) – Buyout
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- Yasmani Grandal (Made $18.25M in 2023) – Let go
- Elvis Andrus ($3M) – Let go
- Bryan Shaw ($720K) – Offer: 1 year $1M he eats innings and that’s all we need.
- José Ureña ($720K) – Offer: Minor League Contract. Again, we need people to eat innings and last season he was… alive? I guess. So, that works.
FREE AGENTS
No. 1: SP Lucas Giolito – 1 year $15M (2nd year player option: $18M)
I imagine this will be a popular option for this year’s offseason plan project. Giolito probably isn’t going to get the kind of multi-year offer he’s looking for this year and will be looking for a Noah Syndergaard / Carlos Rodon type of one year prove-it deal. Syndergaard and Rodon got 20+ million but that was because of their injury concerns. Giolito on the other hand has been healthy the last two years, just not particularly good. He’s had success with the Sox so if he can reclaim some of that he’ll be traded to a good team at the deadline and have an opportunity to compete and improve his free agent stock pitching in the playoffs. If not, he’ll have a player option going into 2025. He should take this. I’d offer the same deal to Jack Flaherty and whoever calls me back first gets it.
No. 2: SP Seth Lugo – 3 years $36M
He was pretty solid for the Padres last year. He’s 34 so he may be looking to go to a winning team but if he’s just looking to secure the biggest payday the Sox may be able to offer that. He was a reliever for a long time so his arm is a gamble, but for $36 million it’s a gamble I’m willing to make. Will he break down with the new workload of a starter or will he have plenty left in the tank because he has so few innings under his belt? IDK, but I guess we’ll find out.
No. 3: RP Dylan Floro – 1 year $3M
This guy eats innings in the bullpen and we can guarantee him a major league roster spot. We have a LOT of roster spots to fill.
No. 4: OF Eddie Rosario – 1 year $12M
I’m guaranteeing him a starting spot and $12 million. I think he takes it. He’s a veteran that’s been on good teams so he can help with our CULTURE. Why not?
No. 5: OF Adam Duvall – 2 years $15M
Again, he’s been on good teams and I can guarantee him a spot in the lineup (almost) every day. He’ll help with our CULTURE! I LOVE CULTURE!
No. 6: C Victor Caratini – 1 year $5M
He’ll be our backup catcher but we need depth. Guaranteed ML roster spot with a decent chance at being traded to a contending team midseason.
No. 7: Minor League Contracts with Invites to Spring Training:
SP Johnny Cueto – he was good for us in ‘22. Might want to come back?
SP Eric Lauer – This is an easy place to get a starting gig
SP Zach Plesac – He’s still young and was good before. He knows the division too
TRADES
I used baseballtradevalues.com to simulate these trades. Total value is listed in each trade:
No. 1: Trade SP Dylan Cease (50.5) to Houston Astros for C Yainer Diaz, SP JP France and OF Luis Baez (45.1)
Apparently the Astros really wanted Cease at the deadline. If you can get a starting catcher, a solid #4 or #5 starter and an interesting 18 year old prospect for him DO IT! I get the appeal of holding him till the All Star break and hoping he has an amazing first half, but if you can get this deal now I say we should take it. Both sides are taking a little bit of a risk. If Baez develops into a top prospect it’ll look like an overpay from Houston. If France and Diaz regress in Chicago and Baez fizzles out while Cease has a great two seasons in Houston, the Sox will look back on this trade poorly.
No. 2: Trade 3B Yoan Moncada, RP Gregory Santos and $10M (6.8) to Arizona Diamondbacks for OF Jorge Barrosa and IF Blaze Alexander (8.7)
The Diamondbacks could use a solid 3B for next season. If they don’t get Matt Chapman in free agency they may look to the trade market. Moncada had a solid few months at the plate to end the season and is always solid fielding 3B. He’ll be making about $25M next year which is a bit steep, but, coming along with him is a reliable (cheap) RP in Gregory Santos and $10M to help soften the blow. In this deal the Diamondbacks only have to part with their #15 and #16 prospects (according to MLB.com.) Both are major league ready but are blocked both in the major leagues and by other prospects so they seem like easy trade targets. Barrosa has 70 grade fielding and Alexander has a 70 grade arm so they’ll help with defense.
No. 3: Trade DH Eloy Jimenez and $5m (-2.3) to Boston Red Sox for OF Alex Verdugo (5)
This is the only trade that is classified as “major overpay” on baseballtradevalues.com however I also think this is the MOST likely trade to actually happen. I can just imagine Eloy hitting 40+ bombs at Fenway! … which I guess would be bad for us… but it’s easy for Boston to dream on his power! They need a DH and Jimenez is only under contract for next season with two years on club options. Verdugo only has one year left and not too much power, but he’s a decent RF and that (coupled with getting Eloy out of town) is all I’m looking for.
No. 4: Trade CF Luis Robert (80.7) to the Baltimore Orioles for OF Colton Cowser, 3B Jordan Westburg, SS Joey Ortiz and OF Enrique Bradfield Jr. (82.9)
*note: Enrique Bradfield Jr. is not available on Baseballtradevalues.com so I used Dylan Beavers as a substitute
This is the big one and the trade that (from the White Sox side) signifies OFFICIALLY that this rebuild was an unmitigated FAILURE. But, from the Orioles perspective this is the trade that tells the league: “we’re here and we’re ready to spend!” They can’t afford to go out and get a guy like Ohtani (well they can but I don’t think they will) but they have the prospect capital to make a deal like this happen. Robert would be a big bat in the middle of that lineup and is under team control through the duration of their competitive window. Imagine Robert alongside Rutchman, Henderson and Holiday for the next six years in that Baltimore lineup! They’re giving up a lot of major league ready talent, but superstars are hard to come by when you’re a smaller market team. This trade moves the needle on the Sox rebuild and the Orioles plans to compete for a World Series. They’ll need to add starting pitching in free agency but they’ve added a superstar on the offensive and defensive end.
OPENING DAY ROSTER:
Lineup:
RF – Alex Verdugo
2B – Tim Anderson
LF – Andrew Benintendi
C – Yainer Diaz
DH – Eddie Rosario
1B – Andrew Vaughn
CF – Colton Cowser
3B – Jordan Westberg
SS – Joey Ortiz
Bench:
IF – Blaze Alexander
OF – Jorge Barrosa
1B/OF – Adam Duvall
C – Victor Caratini
Starting Rotation:
SP – Lucas Gioltio
SP – Seth Lugo
SP – JP France
4 & 5 – Spring Training competition between: Touki Toussaint, Eric Lauer, Michael Kopech, Garrett Crochet, Nick Nastrini; Johnny Cueto, Jose Urena, Zach Plesac and Jesse Scholtens (Davis Martin also when he returns from TJ)
Bullpen:
CL – Kopech
RP – Crochet
RP – Bummer
RP – Floro
RP – Shaw
Spring Training competition between: Zach Plesac, Jimmy Lambert, Nick Nastrini, Jesse Scholtens, Alex Speas, Sammy Peralta, Delvi Garcia, Luis Patino, Declan Cronin, Tanner Banks and Touki Toussaint
SUMMARY
2024 is going to be a terrible year no matter what. But at least this team offers what 2023 could not: something to watch. Anderson at 2B; Kopech and Crochet competing for the closing role; Cowser, Westburg and Ortiz getting plenty of playing time and hopefully coming into their own. All of these are things worth tuning in for and HOPEFULLY set us up for a competitive 2025 campaign.
The payroll came out to around $155 million which is a lot to pay for a team that will likely lose 90+ games again but there’s really no way around that. That being said, with Moncada, Jimenez and Grandal all gone maybe just maybe we can be a scrappy team that overperforms in a terrible division. Stranger things have happened.
Author
I ain’t watching this team. I know the White Sox are short on OF, but in your trades you brought in 5 outfielders on top of signing Duvall and Rosario. Where is Getz goona play all those outfielders? Rosario and Benintendi are nothing but assuring this will be the worst defensive team in the majors.
If this is a rebuild (clearly is), why bring back Anderson at 14M?
Also, we just traded in Quero which I assume to be out catcher in the future. Why trade for Diaz now?
Baez and Bradfield Jr. are at least 2 years away from the majors
Rosario and Duvall are platoon DH’s who can man the corners when needed
Anderson is to try and rebuild value to trade him. The Sox have wasted $14 mil in far worse ways
Somehow the Blue Jays have found ways to win games with two good catchers. I think the White Sox could do it too
The Sox are worse than mediocre. Not good enough for mediocrity. No, I call this a joke team. A joke team has no chance of going over .500, or higher than fourth place. Like the Rockies, Oakland A’s, Sox were fourth lowest w/L average in the majors. Keeping the manager another year shows indifference to winning and competing. No other team would keep him.
The Sox have a long history of trading quality and star players for mediocre ones, going back many decades. They are not champions with the star and they save money without him.
It looks and is stupid, but they can’t get much for a poor player. Management misjudges the stats, constantly, by thinking that talent will transfer from one league to another, or one division to another. Maybe NOT.
Did you know that the Sox had a large earnings loss in 2022? Maybe in 2023? Look it up. Reinsdorf’s finances are questionable. Is this a reason? The Bottom Line matters the most to him, not winning games.