Sox_Fan2008’s Offseason Plan (World Series Time!)

Preamble

For the last 3 years it hasn’t been easy for me to be a Sox fan, but here we are, the Sox ready to contend, and trying to make the leap to the World Series. What I am trying to do is to get more proven players and also keep the young pieces the Sox have. Here we go!

Arbitration-Eligible Players

• Nomar Mazara:
  • $5.6M – Tender
• Carlos Rodon:
  • $4.5M – Non-Tender
• Reynaldo Lopez:
  • $1.7M – Tender
• Lucas Giolito:
  • Contract Extension: 7 Yrs. – $100M
    • Year 1 – $5,000,000
    • Year 2 – $7,000,000
    • Year 3 – $10,000,000
    • Year 4 – $15,000,000
    • Year 5 – $18,000,000
    • Year 6 (Club Option)- $21,000,000
    • Year 7 (Club Option)- $24,000,000
• Evan Marshall:
  • $1.4M – Tender
• Adam Engel:
  • $1.4M – Tender
• Jace Fry:
  • $1M – Tender
• Yolmer Sanchez:
  • Non-Tender – Doesn’t matter but if he signs with another team and gets cut, I might bring him back for a 1 year – $600,000 deal.

There is still untapped potential in Mazara and Lopez, and I believe that the Sox will some how tap into both of their potential. This is what happened to Giolito for the first few years, but then, “Surprise!”, he turned into a Cy Young Candidate. Speaking of Giolito, I extended him for 7 yrs. – $100M since this is probably a cheaper version of a contract he is going to get when/if he hits free agency. I tendered Marshall, Engel, and Fry because they deserve it and we have money, so who cares? We don’t need Sanchez since Madrigal came up, but if he does get cut (by another team) I will be happy to welcome his glove back to the Sox. Carlos Rodon still has potential but doesn’t really deserve $4M after 2020, leave it to Cleveland to make him a superstar.

Club Options

• Edwin Encarnacion:
  • $12M – Decline
• Gio Gonzalez
  • $7M – Buyout ($500,000)
• Leury Garcia
  • $3.5M – Pickup

As much as I love the parrot, Edwin has to go, $12M is simply too much for him. Gonzalez finally got to wear a White Sox uniform, but has performed very badly because of that I’ll just buy him out. Leury is a good utility player, which the Sox could use as a trade chip, (*wink*). After declining and buying out Edwin and Gio, the Sox have cleared up $19M, which they could use in free agency.

Other Impending Free Agents

• Alex Colome
  • Let go (Made $10M in 2020)
• James McCann
  • Let go (Made $5.4M in 2020)
• Jarrod Dyson
  • Let go (Made $2M in 2020)

I love Alex Colome and McCann, but they are going to be too expensive going forward. Colome is gonna get paid big-bucks, and James deserves a starting job, so I’m going to let them go. Jarrod hasn’t done that much and made $2M last year so I’m just going to let him go.

Coaching Staff

• Manager: A.J. Hinch
• Pitching Coach: Matt Zaleski

These are the most likely candidates to fill in the jobs. A.J. has championship-pedigree and also developed many of Houston’s star players. Even though the sign-stealing incident has ruined his resume, he’s the best possible hire. The Sox are probably going to do an internal hire for the pitching coach, and most likely that will be Matt Zaleski.

Free Agents

1. Trevor Bauer
   • 2 yrs – $50M (Extra Incentives for Cy Young finishes)
2. Joc Pederson
   • 2 yrs – $20M (Player Option on 2nd Year)

I signed Bauer because of the White Sox’s pitching depth and he would be a great 2 in the rotation. He also gives the Sox more reliabilty after Giolito, and Keuchel. Trevor signs 1-year deals a lot but, he might be willing to do a 2 year deal because of the pandemic. We would get a Cy Young candidate for around $25M which is nice. Pederson would be a great pickup for the White Sox. Rick wanted him the previous two offseasons, but didn’t make a deal for him. Now that he hit free agency, this is the time for the Sox to jump on him. He also fits a positional need in right field (moving him from CF), I know that I tendered Mazara, but Joc can compete with him for the spot. Lastly he also brings a left-handed bat in a righty heavy lineup.

Trades

1. White Sox trade: SP Reynaldo Lopez, CF/2B/SS Leury Garcia, and 2021 third-round pick to the Milwaukee Brewers for: CL Josh Hader, and 2021 fourth-round pick

This is the only trade that I’ll make, but it’s an impactful one. The Sox trade away Reynaldo and Garcia to the Brewers for Hader. Lopez has plenty of potential left and the Brewers could use a starting pitcher. They also need some help in the infield and Leury can fill one of those holes for them. They also get a third-round pick that they can use on some more starting pitching. Meanwhile the Sox get a wipeout closer after losing Colome and also get a fourth-round pick back. I think that Lopez, Garcia and a third-round pick is enough to get one year of Hader and a fourth-round pick. This fills both teams’ needs and also isn’t too unrealistic. Last offseason Milwaukee was looking to deal Hader for good value, and now that he has only one year left on his contract, this is probably the best deal they can get. Overall a great trade for both teams. (Mostly the Sox though, tell me what you think in the comments.)

Summary

I think the payroll is around $130M which is not too less but not a lot either. In my offseason we picked up some superstar players and also filled in positional needs, while keeping the young pieces. Overall I got Lucas Giolito an extension, to keep him with the Sox until 2027, got Bauer for 2 years, Pederson for 1 year (2 years if you count the player option), and also traded for Josh Hader. This fills in the needs of starting pitching, closer, and right field. After all of this, the White Sox look like a championship team, that have plenty of room for more contracts, and also have their core locked up for many years to come. Below you can find the roster for the Sox. Tell me what you think of all the pickups in the comments (also give me suggestions)! Thanks, Sox_Fan2008.

Projected Lineup

C – Yasmani Grandal

1B/DH – Jose Abreu/Andrew Vaughn

2B – Nick Madrigal

DH – Jose Abreu/Andrew Vaughn/Nomar Mazara/Joc Pederson

3B – Yoan Moncada

SS – Tim Anderson

RF/DH – Nomar Mazara/Joc Pederson

CF – Luis Robert

LF – Eloy Jimenez

Projected Rotation

1. Lucas Giolito
2. Trevor Bauer
3. Dallas Keuchel
4. Dylan Cease/Dane Dunning/Michael Kopech
5. Dylan Cease/Dane Dunning/Michael Kopech

Relief Pitching

• Codi Heuer
• Matt Foster
• Garrett Crochet
• Jimmy Cordero
• Jace Fry
• Evan Marshall
• TBD (Whoever loses the SP job)
• Josh Hader

Bench

C – Zack Collins

SS/2B – Danny Mendick

OF – Adam Engel

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