PREAMBLE
The White sox are a bloody trainwreck and sadly will be one until said Bozo sells the team. However, for this the goal is to not set a new record for loses in 2025 (who knows maybe improve by 20 games and still lose 101) but get in the lottery for #1 pick, see if we can buy Holliday out of going number 1 overall, sign tradable veterans to flip at deadline, develop our young players (I have no faith they can), sign a superstar and try to be worst case scenario in 2026 the 1999 kids can play white sox and best case the 2022 orioles setting up fan excitement for 2027 only to be dashed by our dumbass owner and his 29 pals when they lock out the players.
MANAGER
Well they need (1) someone from tampa/balt/lad to take over the hitting side of things, (2) someone from the nyy to figure out how to get guys that can't get outs anywhere else and turn them into actual relievers and (3) a manager. Since no one has been hired yet, it is someone from the dodgers, and I would also go that route as the dodgers at least have a clue and maybe with Bozo is out with TLR he can get things done.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Andrew Vaughn: $6.4M--tender--I don't think he gets this but I'm trading him anyways
- Nicky Lopez: $5.1M non
- Garrett Crochet: $2.9M tender (they should sign him 4 years 100 as he'd be a free agent at 29 but Bozo will not)
- Gavin Sheets: $2.6M non--let balt or tampa fix his swing
- Enyel De Los Santos: $1.7M non
- Jimmy Lambert: $1.2M tender--give him 800k if he says no then cut him.
- Justin Anderson: $1.1M tender and flip
- Steven Wilson: $1M same as above
- Matt Foster: $900K non
CLUB OPTIONS
- Yoán Moncada: $25M ($5M buyout)
- Max Stassi: $7M ($500K buyout)
buyout both and watch Yoan stay healthy with the Marlins and Hahn comes out of hiding to say told you so
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- Michael Soroka (Made $3M in 2023)--if he wants to come back as a reliever offer him 3 mil
- Mike Clevinger ($3M) see ya
- Chris Flexen ($1.75) see ya
FREE AGENTS:
No. 1: Juan Soto 10 years 550 million. I know this is not going to happen, but here is why it should. He is 26 a superstar that hits lefthanded and plays the outfield....checks a lot of boxes. Will he sign with this franchise, probably not as I see the Mets going after him but I give him 55 a year with an opt out after 5 and see what he does. He if signs in 2026 his face is on every flippin billboard in Chicago and on the north side it says major league baseball played 8 miles south. He will sell jerseys, tickets give this franchise credibility and with the sox gonna suck in 2025 he can too and no one will care (maybe the bozo signing the checks will). This is the kind of move they need but it will cost me a draft pick and I will address that later, but he is worth losing a pick.
No 2. Sign Trevor Bauer 1 year 800k with bonuses built in (I'm trading at deadline). I know most people hate this move and this player, however the sox keep on signing them and he will be a hell of a lot better than Clevinger was. Let's not forget he was found not guilty and maybe into weird stuff but was found not guilty. Take the PR hit for the winter and move on. Watch him pitch like an ace and trade him at the deadline.
No. 3: Sign Walker Buehler 1 year 8 million with escalators--yes trading him too. This is a tough as he is always hurt so I'm not sure what his value is. 8 million could be way too much or not enough, but this is where I start and I add in 500k with innings. He comes here works his way back into shape and gets traded at deadline
No. 4: Sign Jansen to 1 year 10 million deal. I'm overpaying him to trade him at the deadline. I'm hoping to get the chapman return in June/July and I need to over pay him to get here (but in theory I'm stacking wins until July).
No. 5: Sign a boat load of non roster guys like Nick Burdi, Carson Fulmer and others and hope they can be fixed by Bannister and flipped at deadline, this allows the young guys to start in the minors can come up when needed.
TRADES
No. 1: Trade Garret Crochet to Milwaukee for Cooper Pratt, Jacob Misiorowski, Eric Bitonti and a comp draft pick. I don't think Baltimore is trading Holliday, Coswer or Mayo in any deals and quite frankly you need at lease one of them for Crochet. I think the Phillies are interesting as trader Dave may trade 2 of their top 3 to get the deal done and the Reds have some sneaky prospects but I did not want to build around the SS they got from Seattle. I went with Milwaukee as the central is getting tougher (reds/pirates) and they seem to do everything right. They need an ace, and this gets them one. The draft pick seals the deal for me as I'm getting two lefty young hitters and a pitcher to go along with some salary relief.
Trade 2 Robert to Pittsburg for Konner Griffin, Wyatt Sanford and a comp draft pick. I just signed Soto to the largest deal ever given to someone in Chicago but I still report to Bozo so I have to cut salary. I'm not sure what Robert's market is right now. When healthy he is a super star, he's jut not healthy. Maybe the Phillies come calling but Pittsburgh is in the Skeens window (I hope in 2026 the sox are in the smith/schultz window) and they need offense. They will not be able to sign a superstar, but they could trade for one. With Skeesn winning rookie of the year and their extra draft pick they roll the dice on Robert (I betting their training people ask why did the sox have you do that, fix the issue and he stays healthy) and have a legit 30/30 guy for the next 3 years to capitalize on the Skeens window.
No. 3 Drew Thorpe and Nick Nastrini to Balt for Dylan Beavers, Jud Fabian and a comp pick. I don't see Baltimore ever trading their A prospects but the b/c one's I do. The sox have too many pitchers that pan out to be best case number 3 starters but more likely number 5. I think in Baltimore with a big left field and an actual defense Thorpe's stuff plays better than in Chicago. I don't think he is going to be anything but a #5 and the sox have a lot of them, so I'm selling high and to a team that needs pitching. I also believe they convert Nick to a reliever and he figures out how to throw a strike with his fast ball. I get two OF that may just be platoon players (I think Beavers could be what they hoped Fletcher would be and what Benintendi was before the sox signed him) and Fabian has power and the sox need power. The comp pick is the true prize.
No 4. Andrew Vaughn to Arizona for a comp pick and Blake Walston. I think the 5 million for a righthanded "slugger" appeals to Arizona with Walker leaving. This allows them to hit him 6th or 7th and spend elsewhere. We get a comp pick and former number one pick left handed starter that Bannister can get his hands on.
Trade number 5 Lenyn Sosa to Tampa for Cole Wilcox. Sosa just feels like a guy Tampa would want and turn into a useful player only to trade when he makes money. Wilcox has not found it yet but I've liked him for years and he joins our AAA team.
SUMMARY
I debated on trading Benintendi but I'm crossing my fingers his 2nd half carriers over to the 2025 and I can trade him at the deadline and not pay so much down on the contract. So I signed a superstar and traded for a lot of picks in the draft. The first thing I do I go to Boras to see if 10.5 or 11 million would get Holliday at 10. If it is much more than 11 I pivot and draft a boat load of high school bats instead; either way I set this up nicely for the draft (if it works when Soto opts out I have the next superstar waiting to replace him in Holliday). I traded for a lot of young infielders (hoping Pittsburgh fixed Griffin swing as I know the sox can't) and with all these young bats IF (a huge if) the sox can develop I can trade some of them like the Padres for actual good players in 2027. I'm not trying to stay under 100 loses in 2025 but I signed enough guys to flip to maybe stay in the 95-99 range. I'm betting everything on drafting and developing with this plan as 2027 is the go for it year to push the chips in. Hopefully this plan makes the sox watchable, not good, just watchable.
So my salary is 90 million for 4 players with 2.5 deferred with about 17.6 for everyone else (I rounded up to 800K as I can't remember the min salary), as I'm just over 110 million with eyes on lowering at come August.
