PREAMBLE
The Sox pulled off something this year that might suggest a divine power was behind it all, but really it was Chris Getz and his staff. Thankfully, they listened to almost none of my OPP ideas from last year. I predicted 5/9 starting position players, 0/4 bench players, 2/5 starting pitchers, and only 1/8 of the bullpen (Grant Taylor). With this year's core established, I feel confident that I will be able to name more than 30% of the 26-man roster for 2027. Also, I believe that we might even settle in around 50 players total playing in Chicago next year!
With that in mind, my goal is to find some ways to thoughtfully add to the roster without burning too much of it down. On the position player side, there are too many interesting players developing in Chicago along with a few ready to arrive, that keep me from acquiring anyone that can block others. The pitching side, however, needs more dependable starter innings that can also allow some of our young arms time to develop or heal.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Miguel Vargas: Tender
- Brenton Doyle: Tender
- Joey Bart: Tender
- Huascar Brazobán: Non-tender
- Jordan Leasure: Non-tender
- Chris Murphy: Non-tender
Vargas is a no-brainer. Doyle is a real CF on a 1st division club. Bart makes sense as a backup with a RHH platoon compliment for Kyle Teel. Brazobán's work history is a great 1st half, followed by turning into a pumpkin. For $1.6M, we use him in the 1st half and trade him to the next sucker at the deadline.
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- Sean Newcomb
Nuke might be hard to retain, but I'd try for 2 yrs/$18M.
Fedde's turning 34, and I feel like we could sign him to a cheap contract last-minute if we need him in the Spring. Same with Trevor Richards. Grichuk did a nice job, but his AAV is far too high to mess with considering that Bonemer is coming soon.
FREE AGENTS
No. 1: Hiromi Itoh (3 years, $50M). Here's where we start leveraging Mune. He's the top SP out of Japan. A diminutive 29 yr old right-hander that can touch 96, he has command of 7 pitches and averaged 180 IP the past 3 years with a K/BB rate over 5. On a scale of 1 to 10, this one is a "hundred"!
No. 2: Tyler Mahle (2 years, $20M). Dependable RH SP that threw 149 innings last year for San Franciso and Atlanta. Between Mahle and Itoh, they give us a deeper starting pitching foundation that allows us to develop one of the Schulz/Smith/Taylor hydra.
No 3: Ryan Yarbrough (1 year, $3.5M). I'm recycling one of my better ideas from last year. He's a dependable, 2 inning lefty for Will Venable. If we lose Nuke or Schultz/Smith turn into starters, he is a good backfill.
TRADES
Luisangel Acuna and Jonathan Cannon to Sacramento for AA LHRP Will Johnston. I think at this point, these two are superfluous for us and are out of options. Sacramento has a lot of holes in their starting pitching staff and might be able to give Cannon a longer shot. Luisangel provides speed and a great glove at SS to improve their bench. Johnston is a AA lefty starter-turned-reliever who was rated by Longenhagen as the A's 24th best prospect with a "death ball slider" and nasty splitter who could be a possible future lefty specialist. Well over 10K/9 in his MilB career but with a 16% BB rate. He's Rule 5 eligible, so Bannister would need to be sure.
SUMMARY
I feel confident that I'll guess at least 60% of this year's lineup, but that reflects a lot of players who have established themselves on the roster, or at least need a longer look. Starting pitching has much more depth to play with, and there are options for starting among Castillo, Smith, Schultz, and Taylor in the bullpen.
My prediction: Caleb Bonemer will be up by late May/early June, and he will take RH DH at-bats and give platoon spells for Antonacci, Murakami, and Vargas. It might push Tanner Murray back to Charlotte (he has options).
Overall payroll should run between $130-137M.
Position Players (lineup): ($40M)
LF Sam Antonacci L
3B Miguel Vargas R
C Kyle Teel L
2B Chase Meidroth R
1B Munetaka Murakami L
DH Andrew Benintendi L
CF Tristan Peters L
RF Braden Montgomery S
SS Colson Montgomery L
Position Players (bench): ($7M)
OF Brendan Doyle R
C Joey Bart R
INF Tanner Murray R
INF/OF Brooks Baldwin S
Starting Pitching: ($40M)
RHP Sean Burke
RHP Davis Martin
RHP Hiromi Itoh
RHP Tyler Mahle
LHP Anthony Kay
