ndsoxfan’s Procrastinating Plan

PREAMBLE

The moves are happening so it’s finally time to get this done.  The Sox are on the cusp.  We should all be really excited about the last two seasons.  The Astros were a bad matchup for us and our pitching didn’t perform in the postseason, but that doesn’t skew my view of how talented and close this team is to making some noise deeper into the playoffs.  Look at the Braves for cripes sake – who was picking them to win?  It takes a little more luck and some more timely performances than we received, but reinforcements will help!

ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE PLAYERS

  • Lucas Giolito: $7.9M – Tender
  • Reynaldo López; $2.8M – Tender
    • Lopez was really solid this year.  I think he can be a multi inning weapon out of the pen next year.  I’ve always been curious about why more so-so starters aren’t transitioned to the pen given the huge upside guys like Liam Hendricks and Andrew Miller have shown.
  • Evan Marshall: $2.3M – Non-tender
  • Adam Engel: $2.2M – Tender
  • Brian Goodwin: $1.7M – Non-tender
  • Jimmy Cordero: $1.2M – Tender
  • Jace Fry: $1M – Tender

CLUB OPTIONS

  • Craig Kimbrel: $16M ($1M buyout) – Pick up
  • César Hernández: $6M – Rework – 1 year 2.5 M, team option for 2023 for 5M
    • Until this season Hernandez hasn’t had an OBP below 333 since he became a full time player 7 years ago.  His BABIP was 60 points lower than his career average.  Hernandez plays Gold Glove defense and his offense will bounce back.

OTHER IMPENDING FREE AGENTS

  • Leury García Resign – 2 Years – 11M.  4M 2022 and 7M 2023.
  • Carlos Rodón Resign – 3 Years – 63M.  2 years at 19M with a 3rd year guarantee(25M) based on 320 innings pitched in the first two years.
    • Carlos is a boss.  I want as many chances as possible for a top of the rotation bona fide ace and Carlos provides that, albeit with some risks.
  • Billy Hamilton Resign – Minor league deal
  • Ryan Tepera Let go.

FREE AGENTS

No. 1: Starling Marte (4 years, 80M)  Marte will slide very, very nicely into RF.  He fills in several gaps for this team by hitting righties well and getting on base at a high clip.  He’s a 5 WAR player who is available a price the White Sox have actually been willing to pay.  Marte is a perfect fit.

TRADES

No. 1: Trade Craig Kimbel to Los Angeles for Brusdar Graterol. The Dodgers are always building an insane amount of depth and just so happen to need a closer.  They also operate with no budget constraints which makes them a good match.  Graterol is a former Twins top prospect with explosive stuff and a few issues.  I think there is still a chance he could become a starter, but for now the plan would be a flame throwing reliever.

No. 1: Trade Dallas Keuchel, Jake Burger, and Jace Fry to Seattle for Tom Murphy and Erik Swanson.  I love Jake Burger and his story, but they say the fair trades have to hurt a bit.  This stings.  The Sox need room in the rotation for Rodon and Kopech and this provides it along with some payroll relief.  Keuchel should be better in the spacious confines of T-Mobile park and he provides a veteran presence for all of their young pitching.  Burger can take over at the hot corner from Kyle Seager and provide a cost controlled option as Seattle looks to ramp up to contention.  Jace Fry is included for obvious purposes.  The White Sox get a catcher who is actually a catcher.  He is reasonably priced and alternates terrible years with good ones.  2022 is scheduled to be a good one.  Erik Swanson is from the great state of North Dakota and is known as Swanny Pops.  Isn’t that enough?

SUMMARY

  1.   SS – Anderson – R
  2.   RF – Marte – R
  3.   CF – Robert – R
  4.   1B – Abreu – R
  5.   C  – Grandal – S
  6.   LF – Eloy – R
  7.   3B – Moncada – S
  8.   DH – Vaughn – R
  9.   2B – Hernandez – S

Bench – Murphy, Engel, Leury, Sheets

  1.   Giolito
  2.   Lynn
  3.   Rodon
  4.   Cease
  5.   Kopech

Pen – Hendricks, Bummer, Graterol, Crochet, Lopez, Swanson, Cordero

This lineup is really deep and the rotation can throw out guys who are capable of pitching like an ace every night.  Finally fixing the RF black hole feels really good and Marte brings some skills that the Sox lack.  The rest of the roster has a lot of solid depth.  I am not going to move Vaughn or Sheets because I think this should be Abreu’s last year with the Sox.  My plan shakes out at right around 170M leaving just enough room for another addition – potentially to the bullpen?!  This team will win the central, get to the ALCS, and potentially farther with a little luck.

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To Err is Herrmann

This plan makes a lot of sense to me, esp. given the market as we know it and the payroll limitations.

burning-phoneix

You can save some money by dropping Leury. 5.5 mil per annum on bench guy is a bit pricey.