Upnorthsox’s White Sox OPP
PREAMBLE
Another White Sox season and another year of going nowhere and getting no one.
We should be heading into a season of transition but as of now we do not have enough to transition to.
We’ll trade pitching with the notion that Schultz and Smith will be stepping up sooner rather than later.
MANAGER
Will Venable, sources.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
Andrew Vaughn: $6.4M – tender and trade.
Nicky Lopez: $5.1M – non-tender
Garrett Crochet: $2.9M – tender and trade.
Gavin Sheets: $2.6M – non-tender.
Enyel De Los Santos: non-tender.
Jimmy Lambert: $1.2M – non-tender.
Justin Anderson: $1.1M – tender.
Steven Wilson: $1M – tender.
Matt Foster: $900K – non-tender.
CLUB OPTIONS
Yoán Moncada: $25M ($5M buyout) – decline.
Max Stassi: $7M ($500K buyout) – decline.
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
Michael Soroka (Made $3M in 2023) – resign for 1 year/$3.5 million.
Mike Clevinger ($3M) – Who? I have no recollection of that name.
Chris Flexen ($1.75) – resign for 1 year/$2.5 million.
FREE AGENTS
1. Sign SP Walker Buehler to a 1 year / $8M contract with a player option for a 2nd year at $12M and $2M buyout.
I don’t know if there’ll be a run on him or not but we need at least one FA SP(or keep Crochet) and he’s my choice for the price.
Update: Buehler had a very good post season and may have earned himself a much better contract, he’s still my choice but may cost more.
2. Sign C Kyle Higashioka to a 1 year / $4.5M contract with a club option for a 2nd year at $6M and $500k buyout.
Another one who may be in bigger demand than expected, Jacob Stallings(for less) could be an alternative.
Update: MLBTR has him at 2yr/$15 mil which I think is high for a 35 yr old catcher. I would go a little higher than my original but not $15 mil
3. Sign SS/2B Amed Rosario to a 1 year / $3M contract.
I would consider Nicky Lopez at the same price.
4. Sign RP AJ Minter to a 2 year / $12M contract with a club option for a 3nd year at $8M and $500k buyout.
Our cheap(ish) Closer.
Update: MLBTR has him at 2 yr/$16 mil. Not sure I’d go that high but the need for a closer is real and there’s not a lot of options so we may need to just suck it up.
5. Sign RP Jalen Beeks to a 1 year / $2.5M contract.
This is a spot for a FA RP, it’s hard to commit on any one until everyone is available.
TRADES
Trade with Tampa: Jario Iriarte, Ky Bush, Oscar Colas, and Sammy Zavala for Brayden Taylor and Tre Morgan.
Other options: Drew Thorpe, Grant Taylor, or Mason Adams instead of Iriarte. Adams instead of Bush. Jacob Gonzalez, Jerol Perez, or Aldrin Batista instead of Zavala. I’d prefer not to trade Gonzalez or Taylor at this point.
Why the Sox: The Sox need position players and will have to trade pitchers to get them. Taylor becomes the heir apparent at 2B or could stay at his natural 3B if our other options there don’t work out. Morgan is an elite defender at 1B with ++ bat to ball skills who might still develop 1B power. Both of these guys could be ready for August callups or for 2026.
Why the Rays: The Rays are the opposite and need pitching. They’re also one of the few teams that will do prospect for prospect trades. Iriarte and Bush/Thorpe start for them in 2025. Taylor and Morgan are both blocked in their system so should be available.
Colas is the kind of player the Rays find a way of getting value out of right away and OF is not a strength in their system.
Supplement: I don’t know if it would help or hurt to get the trade done but I’d be willing to take on Yandy Diaz as part of the trade.
I’m sure the Rays would like to shed the $10 mil but they may think there’s real value there to trade. I would consider adding something small or the swap of Gonzalez instead of Zavala as enough.
TLDR, let’s just go with Iriarte, Bush, Colas, and Gonzalez for Taylor, Morgan, and Diaz.
I’d prefer not to trade Crochet but everyone including Getz seems hellbent on it. So…
Trade with Cleveland: Garret Crochet for Johnathan Rodriguez, Parker Messick, and Zach Jacobs.
Even though this is a trade within the division, I think it’s also the most realistic.
Why the Sox: Rodriguez brings legit corner OF power. Messick could be one of those Guardian pitchers you wonder where they found him when he storms on the scene in 2026. Jacobs is RP who throws strikes. We have to get a RF this off season and if it takes Crochet to do it then so be it.
Why the Guards: Cleveland works in small windows so 2 years now of a cheap Crochet is perfect for a good price in their current window. Their SP could really fall apart next season if they don’t do something. Rodriguez is not the heir apparent to anything atm. Their curret OF is set and their best prospects are OF. He’s exactly who they’d be willing to trade. Messick is one who may pop or may wither in the upper levels.
Trade with St Louis: Andrew Vaughn for Matt Koperniak.
We have to get a RF this off season and if it takes trading Vaughn then so be it.
Why the Sox: 1B is already covered by the add of Diaz and Morgan, DH is covered by Benintendi et al. Because Koperniak would immediately contend for the spot in RF. Because I’m thinking Mike Yastrzemski(and Yastrzemski costs the Giants Tyler Herb(yes that Tyler Herb)). Because they wouldn’t need to trade Crochet(even though I still do).
Why the Cards: They need a 1B. Koperniak has no spot currently and is 26, it’s now or never. This is a steal for the Cards and the more I think about it, the less I like it. So let’s just do it so I can start liking it.
Trade with Baltimore: Lottery ticket/New Draftee for Jorge Mateo
Mateo doesn’t have a lot of value but he does have some.
Why the Sox: We need a SS for at least half the year and if he has a good year we could flip him for the same price it cost us. He adds speed and can also play 2B. He has a little bit of pop which a Lopez or Amaya doesn’t.
Why the O’s: They are trading him or non-tendering him so it’s just a question of to whom and for what.
March Lineup
1B Yandy Diaz
2B Amed Rosario
SS Jorge Mateo
3B Miguel Vargas/Bryan Ramos
C Kyle Higashioka
LF Johnathan Rodriguez
CF Luis Robert
RF Matt Koperniak*
DH Andrew Benintendi*
August lineup
1B Tre Morgan*
2B Brayden Taylor*
SS Colson Montgomery*
3B Miguel Vargas/Bryan Ramos
C Edgar Quero#
LF Johnathan Rodriguez
CF Luis Robert
RF Matt Koperniak*
DH Andrew Benintendi*
Bench
UT Brooks Baldwin#
UT Miguel Vargas/Bryan Ramos
OF Dominic Fletcher*
IF Jorge Mateo/Amed Rosario/Jacob Amaya
C Korey Lee/Kyle Higashioka/Edgar Quero#
Rotation
Drew Thorpe
Jonathan Cannon
Walker Buehler
Sean Burke
Davis Martin
Chris Flexen
(Mason Adams)
Bullpen(Pick 7)
AJ Minter
Jalen Beeks
Mike Sirotka
Justin Anderson
Prelander Berroa
Fraser Ellard
Trey McGough
Adisyn Coffey
Jared Shuster
Steve Wilson
Jordan Leasure
Gus Varland
Ron Marinaccio
Nick Nastrini
Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa
SUMMARY
So it’s a young team that could get very young by August. Miguel Vargas/Bryan Ramos is the puzzle. Can Vargas hit enough to stick at 3B? Can Ramos replace him if not? If neither, then we need to know that before 2026. Either way, if Ramos hits he’ll be able to get 300+ ABs bouncing around between 3B,RF,1B, and DH.
It’s not a team that’s going to win 100 games but I think it has a good chance of not losing 100 games. Diaz, Mateo, Rosario, Higashioka, Buehler, and Beeks et al could all be available at the deadline or even keep if we are on a roll. It’s a team I might go to see a few times especially after Aug 1st. Most importantly, it transitions to a team that can begin to win and does so by keeping payroll under $100 mil.
Author
Interesting ideas with Tampa. I think Bush and Iriarte are going to be worth more to us than Morgan and Taylor. I would want more HR and 3 more inches from Morgan, but his OBP from the left side looks very nice. I think we could get more than Taylor, though.
Vaughn is a 26 year old disappointment with 4 years of big league experience. Koperniak is 26 with no call-ups. Looks like an organizational player to me.
Thanks, I don’t think Bush ever sees significant time with us and I suspect the Rays could see it the same which is why I had alternatives. Iriarte could go either way but at some point you have to be willing to trade something to get anything. I’m less interested in winning the trade than I am in getting players we can win with.
Taylor is the 3rd ranked 3B prospect and the 3rd ranked Rays prospect. You’d be hard pressed to get any other team to return your call for him, fortunately the Rays have Junior Caminero in front of him. If we could get Coby Mayo for Iriarte, Bush, and Colas I’m all for it but I think we’ll be waiting a while for the return call on that.
There certainly is an org player risk with Koperniak but that’s why he’d be available and frankly we don’t even have any org player OFs(let alone actual prospects) so it’s still a decent match.