PREAMBLE
The goal should be to make the playoffs, whether that's winning a relatively weak Central or earning a wild card spot.
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS
- Miguel Vargas: Tender
- Brenton Doyle: Tender
- Joey Bart: Non-tender
- Huascar Brazobán: Tender
- Jordan Leasure: Non-tender
- Chris Murphy: Tender
A better backup catcher is needed.
OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS
- Randal Grichuk
- Sean Newcomb
2 years $17M for Newcomb, 1 year $9M for Grichuk
FREE AGENTS
#1 Clay Holmes (3 years, $45 million)
#2 Tyrone Taylor (1 year, $8 million, if no Grichuk)
#3 Adrian Morejon as SP, if no SP trade (4 years, $80 million)
TRADES
#1 Trade Billy Carlson, David Sandlin, George Wolkow, and Rikuu Nishida to the Angels for Reid Detmers. Detmers and Holmes together would elevate this rotation. I picked Carlson as the main piece, with Sandlin presumably the second most valuable, as Colson M. is a good enough SS and Roch is coming through the system. From the Angels' side, Carlson can be their SS for half a decade if the bat comes along, allowing Nimmala to play 3B as he fills out physically. Nishida could possibly fill a hole at 2B, while Sandlin would fill the back half of their rotation. Wolkow is a wild card but has pop in his bat.
#2 Give Benintendi to the D-Backs and pay 1/2 (aka $7.5M, go up to $10M if necessary) of his remaining year's salary. Bonemer essentially takes his spot, with Grichuk coming back or being replaced by T. Taylor. Give them Anthony Kay as well since they need pitching.
SUMMARY
Money wise we're looking at around $115 million, if I remember correctly, as I calculated this about a week ago. I didn't mention this earlier, but I would extend Vargas, buying out his arb years and adding let's say 3 years of free agency, with an option for a 4th. I would also extend Detmers upon acquiring him, as I wouldn't want to lose him after giving up the aforementioned package to acquire him.
I'm big into defense and pitching, so my number one and two priorities were starting pitchers. While this doesn't really fix the swing and miss problem the team showed against Cleveland, it does improve the defense by getting Antonacci out of LF for Taylor, while keeping the offense at a high level by cutting the Benintendi experience short by a season. Bonemer should provide a spark, as will Cholowsky when he's ready. Even if Murakami leaves, this team will be in a great position to compete. Also, if things are looking sketchy at the trade deadline, I'd offload Murakami to whoever offers the best return package.
Starters: Detmers Burke Holmes Martin Castillo/Schultz
Bullpen: Murphy Davis Smith Hicks Hudson Brazoban Newcomb Taylor
Position players: Teel, Bart, Murakami, Meidroth, Antonacci, C. Montgomery, Bonemer, Vargas, Acuna, Peters, Doyle, B. Montgomery, T. Taylor
