BeefLoaf’s Fix the Position Players and Assemble the Worst Starting Pitching Staff this Century Off-Season Plan!!

PREAMBLE

The White Sox have entirely too many weaknesses to address in a single off-season, so in my plan I shoot for improving the position player side with a combination of good defensive adds and longer term deals that will improve the power base. I expect an active off-season (I wrote this before Chris Getz assembled all of Atlanta’s misfit toys for Aaron Bummer) and with that many new faces in the fold.  On the pitching side, I gamble on a make shift bullpen based on incumbents and farm hands and push the starting staff into many lottery tickets.  I expect there to be 15-20 different White Sox making starts on the hill in 2024.

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)  DECLINE
Liam Hendriks: $15M ($15M buyout, paid $1.5M annually over next 10 years) DECLINE

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) RETAIN
• Bryan Shaw ($720K) RETAIN
• José Ureña ($720K) LET GO

FREE AGENTS

Victor Caratini C 2 years $12 Million – Caratini does basically nothing well or poorly, he has a diverse set of skills that include a totally palatable on-base percentage (.318 for his career, .327 in 2023).  He’s also the youngest of the free agent catchers at 31, so I’ll go with switching hitting guy that can do a bunch of stuff to plug this hole for now until one of the kids or a better trade / free agent comes along.

Rhys Hoskins 1B / DH 3 years $45 Million – The Sox are dying for thump and walk rate and Hoskins has both.  He’s not a great defender at the cold corner, but in order to get some proper on-base on this team, we’ll need to accept a few spots that aren’t Tom Emanski approved.

Teoscar Hernandez RF 3 years $39 Million – Teoscar combines league average right field defense and an absolute fuckton of power with more strikeouts than you can imagine.

Elvis Andrus SS / 2B 1 year $3 Million – We are going to take some chances on this roster and I need some veteran stability and Elvis is that guy.  He was still playing harder and better than Lenyn Sosa in September, which is why he stays and…

FREE AGENTS (CONTINUED)

Sean Manaea SP / RP 2 years $24 Million – Manaea had a pretty  decent year last year despite the up and down results, he also pitched in every role imaginable and for a team who’s pitching is in a bit of flux, that feels like a guy the White Sox could make good use out of.  I expect the Sox to use A LOT of starting pitchers, so he’ll begin as one of them.  He’s as mid as this explanation.

Luis Severino SP 1 year $10 Million – I imagine Severino going somewhere with lots and lots of starts available, so nobody gets cute with him throwing him in the bullpen and using his high velocity.  I also don’t think he’s taking more than a 1 year prove it deal to re-establish value / health.  So here he is.  He’s been great, he’s been bad, he’s been hurt, let’s see if he can bounce back now.

Frankie Montas SP 1 year $4 Million with an option for year 2 at $12 Million or a $1 Million buyout – Old Frent Frankie’s shoulder was fucked, so this is his redemption tour.  He came back for an inning plus with that Yanks before 2023 ended, but this is another fresh start.  Lottery ticket SZN.

Bryan Shaw RP 1 year $1.5 Million – MEME SZN

TRADES

TRADE #1 – Andrew Vaughn 1b and Lenyn Sosa 2b to San Diego for Jake Cronenworth 2b and Korry Howell OF

The Padres are tryna chop some payroll and they also have Cronenworth misaligned as a 1b currently, this gives them salary relief and a true 1b profile.  Howell is a glove first outfielder with tons of speed that I need for this White Sox teams bench.

TRADE #2 – Ryan Burrowes SS to Tampa for Ian Seymour SP and Kameron Misner OF

This is the White Sox tryna take advantage of the Rays having way more good players than they can fit on their 40 man roster.  Burrowes is far away from needing protection and the White Sox gots lots and lots of room on their’s so I made this trade to gather up two players that could possibly help by mid-season and into the future.

TRADE #3 – Dylan Cease SP to Baltimore for Joey Ortiz SS, Dylan Beavers RF and Trace Bright SP

It’s time to trade Cease and get our shortstop of the future.  No more hoping and praying that Colson Montgomery can be a 162 game shortstop.  We got the guy and now Colson can play short 20 times a year and Third Base the rest of the time and focus on hitting.

The Final Roster, including 40 man and salaries

-BeefLoaf

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