PREAMBLE
In our competitive society, where it seems that only the strong and winners deserve to live, sport also teaches us how to lose. It forces us, in learning the art of losing, to confront our fragility, our limitations and our imperfections. It is through the experience of these limits that we open our hearts to hope. Athletes who never make mistakes, who never lose, do not exist. -Pope Leo XIV
COACHING STAFF
- Hitting coach: Lamar Johnson
- Pitching coach: Justin Verlander
Did you know that Lamar Johnson was a hitting coach after his career with the White Sox? Or that he was credited for fixing Jermaine Dye's swing when he came up with the Royals?
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Mike Tauchman: Tender
- Steven Wilson: Tender
- Derek Hill: Non-tender
The Sox could use Tauchman’s bat and additional OF depth, and he’s not blocking anyone long-term. Wilson had a respectable season in the bullpen, so let’s keep what’s working.
CLUB OPTIONS
- Luis Robert Jr.: Exercise $20 million contract
- Martín Perez: Buy out for $1.5 million
Who else to we have to play CF and burn some of Jerry's money? And I bet he plays hard for his next contract.
FREE AGENTS
No. 1: Paul Goldschmidt (1 yr/$7.5M). We could use another respectable 1B named Paul who can swing a bat. He’s near the end of his career but is still capable of playing 140 games. I think he’s year-to-year at this point, and perhaps we can sign him to mentor our kids and strengthen the lineup with another veteran bat.
No. 2: Caleb Ferguson (1 yr/$4M). Traded to Seattle at the deadline, I would sign this veteran lefthanded RP to bolster the bullpen. He’s a reliable strikeout getter from the left side with experience pitching in late inning, mid-high leverage situations.
No. 3: Ryan Yarbrough (1 yr/$3M). Another reliable lefthanded RP for the bullpen. He’s somewhat of a bulk-boy that could help eat multiple innings or when Venable wants to do an opener. Lefties hit 0.190 off him, and he really limits walks.
No. 4: Austin Slater (1 yr/$2.5M). The free agent OF market is terrible on the low end, but Slater is a known quantity that once again can be the right handed platoon for Tauchman. He can also play all 3 OF positions reliably.
No. 5: Justin Verlander (1 yr/$10M). Ok, I felt embarrassed about fielding a sub $75M payroll and added a starter. Verlander pitched 152 innings last year, and at 42 years old he’s doing 1 yr deals from here on out. If he gives us an ERA+ of 100 and 110+ innings, the wisdom he brings to our pitching staff of league minimums will be the cherry on top. He’ll also put butts in seats at The Rate. Think Tom Seaver circa 1985.
TRADES
No. 1: Trade Lenyn Sosa and Curtis Mead to the Athletics for RF Lawrence Butler. This swap of 25 year olds re-allocates somewhat redundant IF resources to shore up the OF. Butler is a solid RF who can play CF and has demonstrated 20 HR power / 20 SB speed from the left hand side (Zips projects him at ~3 WAR in 2026/27). He’s signed for 6 years on a back-loaded contract and is cheap-ish for the next 3 years. While he played 152 games and finished the season, he underwent patellar tendon repair surgery on Oct 4 and expects to be ready for Spring Training. The Athletics need a replacement for Luis Urias at 2B, and maybe Sacramento fans could embrace Lenynism in hope he becomes another Marcus Semien. Fantasysp.com actually favors the Sosa side of this trade, and I think from a value perspective it’s not crazy. If they need a kicker, they can have Curtis Mead or one of the Mighty Mites of Birmingham (preferably not Antonacci).
No. 2: Trade Korey Lee to the Padres for minor league RHP Garrett Hawkins. Lee is out of options, our 3rd best catcher and clearly blocked. The Padres need catching and inquired about Lee at the trade deadline. Hawkins is at AA and shows some promise as a late-inning reliever. He’s Rule 5 eligible, so the Padres need to protect him or swap for something of value. This gives the Sox another (cheap) bullpen option to stash in Charlotte next year.
SUMMARY
The Sox did an admirable job filling some positional holes last year. However, awkward solutions remain for 1B/LF. Goldschmidt is a 1yr rental for 1B until we figure out long-term plans. The Sosa/Butler trade provides Sosa’s offensive production in the form of an actual outfielder, and upgrades LF defense by having Tauchman switch corners. Another Montgomery looms in the 2nd half.
Benintendi is no longer an OF, and his remaining value is playing a primary DH or bench role. Robert returns and plays hard for his next contract. Ramos is out of options and gets reps at both corner infield spots.
Quero stays because he’s a valuable switch hitter and 5 years younger than Korey Lee. Like Dan Szymborski opined in a late-season podcast, I believe we should let both Teel and Quero develop– and consider a trade no earlier than next year’s trade deadline. Both catchers also can get DH and pinch hit at-bats. Overall, this offense should clear 200 HR while approaching 100 SB– a very fun team to watch!
The starting pitching continues to be a staff full of League Minimums. Verlander joins us for a year to eat innings and provide the wisdom of a Hall of Famer Baseball Person. Heck, he practically makes up for the loss of Ethan Katz.
After Smith/Martin, we go 5-6 deep in potential starters (with call-ups of Murphy and McDougal). Bannister could conceivably go with 3 conventional starters and 2 openers every turn of the rotation. All of this buys development time for Hagen Smith, Noah Schultz, and an Army of New Elbows by season’s end.
New bullpen lefties should help cut down on the 1-run losses. There are more interesting options in AA/AAA should the pen require reinforcements. And if Brian Bannister wants to grab another All-Star out of the Rule 5 draft, he can knock himself out.
Did you know?
-The Sox played 15 different players at DH last year. (some only Ted would want to know) Only 90 of 162 games (55%) had a DH in the lineup with a OPS+ >100.
-The Sox played 10 different players at 3B last year. Only 86 of 162 games (53%) had a 3B in the lineup with an OPS+ >100.
My target for both positions is 75% of games played by OPS+ >100 players.
Corner Infield/DH Concept (#games):
3B: Vargas (100) / Ramos (62) ←→ 1B: Goldschmidt (120) / Vargas (30) / Ramos (12)
DH: Benintendi (100) / Goldschmidt (20) / Ramos (20) / Others (22) mainly platooning
Position Players (lineup): ($52.7M)
LF Mike Tauchman L
2B Chase Meidroth R
SS Colson Montgomery L
3B Miguel Vargas R
C Kyle Teel L
1B Paul Goldschmidt R
DH Andrew Benintendi L
CF Luis Robert, Jr. R
RF Lawrence Butler L
Position Players (bench): ($4.8M)
OF Austin Slater R
C Edgar Quero S
INF Bryan Ramos R
INF/OF Brooks Baldwin S
Starting Pitching: ($13.9M)
RHP Shane Smith
RHP Davis Martin
RHP Justin Verlander
RHP Yoendrys Gomez (opener: McDougal/Yarbrough)
RHP Sean Burke (opener: Murphy)
Bullpen: ($12.4M)
RHP Grant Taylor
RHP Jordan Leasure
RHP Mike Vasil
RHP Steven Wilson
RHP Tanner McDougal
LHP Caleb Ferguson
LHP Ryan Yarbrough
LHP Shane Murphy
**Total payroll is around $84M, not including other obligations or indulgences from Pope Leo.
