PREAMBLE
No one wants to experience another season like the White Sox had last year. With that being said...there needs to be changes to the one time "CORE" of this team. We need to add position players who either have power, ability to get on base via the walk or play great defense. For pitchers...we need guys who will be durable and THROW STRIKES! Enough with all these walks. Ohh and at least one lefty starter would help. I titled my plan "Trick or Treat because I was unsure on which route I wanted to take so I combined both: Spend money on older players and also get younger MLB or close to MLB ready players.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Dylan Cease: $8.8M - Tender & Trade
- 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 - Tender
CLUB OPTIONS
- Tim Anderson: $14M ($1M buyout) - Pick-Up & Trade.
- Liam Hendriks: $15M ($15M buyout, paid $1.5M annually over next 10 years) - Buyout unfortunately.
MUTUAL OPTIONS
- Mike Clevinger: $12M mutual option ($4 million buyout): Takes Buyout
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- Yasmani Grandal (Made $18.25M in 2023) - Let Go
- Elvis Andrus ($3M) - Let Go
- Bryan Shaw ($720K) - Retain (1 yr. / $750K)
- José Ureña ($720K) - Let Go
FREE AGENTS
No. 1: Jordan Montgomery (4 Years, $80M). Lefty starter who can lead a younger staff and has playoff experience as we are seeing this Post-Season. Might get much more $ than this now. I would go 5 Yrs. / $100M but we know Sox will not.
No. 2: Jorge Soler (2 Years, $28M). Power hitting DH/RF from Cuba whou would fit in well right behind Robert in the line-up.
No. 3: Luis Severino (2 Years, $22M). I see a HUGE bounce back year for Severino and I think Bannister helps him with that.
No. 4: Jordan Hicks (2 Years, $9M). I am optimistic we can compete in this divison with the team I put together so we need a closer since Liam is gone.
TRADES
No. 1: SP Dylan Cease ($8.8M) to the Cardinals for INF Brendan Donovan ($750K), OF Dylan Carlson ($1.8M), SP Gordon Graceffo (#6 Prospect; $720K) & SP Michael McGreevy (#12 Prospect; $720K):
White Sox - Cease is a boras client and we know we are not signing him to a long term deal.
Cardinals - They desparately need starting pitching and they have the type of guys the White Sox need and they can afford to deal.
No. 2: DH Eloy Jimenez ($13.9M) to the Red Sox for RF Alex Verdugo ($9.2M) & RP Garrett Whitlock ($3.5M)
White Sox - They need to break up their "CORE" members and I think Eloy would benefit from a change of scenery especially hitting in Fenway Park where he will not have to run hard when he hits the ball off the Green Monster.
Red Sox - Cora does not seem to get along with Verdugo who I also think will benefit from changing Sox colors. Red Sox can take a chance on a power hitting bat like Eloy. Whitlock was a throw in to make this deal work on MLB Trade Values website.
No. 3: SS Tim Anderson ($14M), SP Ky Bush (#9 Prospect; $720K) & OF Terrell Tatum (#19 Prospect; $720K) to Mariners for SS/2B Ryan Bliss (#14 Prospect; $720K) & RP Prelander Berroa (#15 Prospect; $720K)
White Sox - Similar to Eloy, they need to mix up the clubhouse. With Montgomery coming up soon, I just do not see a fit here with TA. I wish him the best of luck but I think his time on the south side is OVA...as Hawk would say. In this deal, they pick up a young middle speedy infielder who stole 55 bases last year in the minors and can play at SS until Montgomery is ready. If Bliss is not ready, he can compete with Sosa. (Who knows...maybe Bliss becomes the INF Scott Podsednik?) Also, Sox pick up a young bullpen arm.
Mariners - They can use more hitting and flashiness. If TA is TA...he would fit that bill. He would be a great fit ahead of Rodriguez in the line-up. I am sure they will do much more. I could see TA playing 2B with the Ms and him and Crawford would make a strong up the middle combo.
No. 4: Two TBA Prospects to Royals for C Salvy Perez ($20M)
White Sox - Honestly, I felt obligated to put this trade in my plan because I feel like it is a done deal to have Grifol's favorite here on the Southside to be the leader of this clubhouse. Perez still has value to an MLB clubhouse but I am not sure how much more games he can handle behind the dish.
Royals - Although Salvy is a fan favorite in KC...I think the time has come to finally go younger and let the young guys get most of the starts behind the plate. Not sure what they would get from the White Sox in return so I kind of left that blank.
SUMMARY
I went into this plan guessing the Sox Payroll would be at $175M for 24'. With that being said...all my moves in my plan came out to $173M. I know the starting pitching staff looks less than to be desired but apparently Bannister works miracles so we will see if we can with this rotation. However, I very stongly believe in a HUGE bounce back year from Severino. I was very excited with the position players I added via trade and through FA. I think I added a little bit of Power (Soler), ability to get on base (Donovan) and the defense I think will be stronger with Verdugo in RF and by subtracting some of the players such as TA from SS.
Line-Up
1.) Donovan - 2B (Lefty)
2,) Moncada - 3B (Switch)
3.) Robert - CF
4.) Soler - DH
5.) Perez - C
6.) Verdugo - RF (Lefty)
7.) Vaughn - 1B
8.) Benintendi - LF (Lefty)
9.) Bliss (Until Montgomery is ready) - SS
BENCH
Lee - C
Sheets - Lefty Power Hitter off the bench
Carlson - OF replacement late in games or an injury pops up.
Gonzalez or Remillard - Whoever wins the final roster spot.
ROTATION
1.) Montgomery
2.) Severino
3.) Kopech
4.) Toussaint
5.) Graceffo or Nastrini (Whoever wins the job)
BULLPEN
Closer - Hicks
RH Set-Up - Santos (Hopefully his arm is okay after being out late last season)
LH Set-Up - Crochet
RH Mid-Relief - Whitlock
LH Mid-Relief - Bummer
RHP - Berroa
RHP - Foster
Long Relief: McGreevy
Will the White Sox win the division with this roster? Maybe not...however, I can guarantee this year they will show up at 7:10 ready to kick the other team's A**. Right Pedro?
*I wanted Pedro fired but we know that he is safe.
Enjoy my Sox off-season plan and leave a comment with your thoughts!
