FanPost

Rebuild Offseason Plan

Petes Rebuilding Offseason Plan

Arbitration-eligible (with projected salaries from MLBTR):

Write "tender" or "non-tender" after each of the following names:

Explain the toughest calls:

Belisario isn't worth the 4 mil salary. I would offer him 1.5 mil to be a low leverage arm out of the bullpen.

Viciedo is either a non tender or trade bait. I'm not sure what the market would look like for him at this point. Seattle had interest at the deadline so maybe theres a match there.

Contract options (pick up or buy out):

Explain if you have to:

Free agents (re-sign or let go?):

Explain if you have to:

Free agents

Peruse the list of potential free agents and name two (or more) you would pursue, the max offer you would extend to them, and a brief explainer. A good bad example:

Colby Rasmus( 3yr/33 Mil)- Left handed bat with power. Rasmus hit 18 homers in only 376 at bats during a down year. Still just 28 years old he offers upside at a relatively low cost. Huge upgrade defensively over Viciedo. Capable of playing center as well when eaton gets injured. Adding to his value he will likely come with no draft pick compensation.

Mike Morse(2yr/20 mil)- With Adam Dunn retiring and no in house option someone will need to be signed. Morse would be a nice option as a full time DH who can on occasion spell at 1B or a corner outfield spot(could platoon with rasmus). Its not the sexy signing(Victor Martinez), but he will come at a cheaper cost and your not paying for ages 35-39. I think you may get 1 solid year from Martinez before he starts to decline. Morse doesn't hit for big power, but still hit at a .279/.336/.475 slash.

Ryan Doumit(1yr/2.5 mil)- Can occasional step in for flowers on off nights. I don't really care who the backup is as long as its not Phegley. Im not sure what the plan would be for Nieto, but I'm guessing he will be in the minors to start the year.

Brandon McCarthy(3yr/36mil)- Solid for the Yankees this year, gives more balance to the starting Rotation. Great K/BB ratio.

Zach Duke(2yr/8 mil)- Sox need a reliable lefty in the pen. Duke converted to relief an had 74 K's to 17 BB's over 58.2 innings with the brewers last year. I think spending a 8-10 mil a year on Miller is a huge risk especially considering his control issues and injury history.

Luke Gregerson(3yr/ 21 mil)- Extremely consist right handed reliever who could close if Petricka or Putnam stumble. His ERA has not been above 3.24(rookie year) in his 6 years in the majors. Doesn't throw hard, but his 52.2% groundball rate would do well in the home run friendly US Cellular.

Gavin Floyd- I'll give him an invite to spring training.

Trades

Propose two (or more) trades that you think sound reasonable for both sides, and the rationale behind them. A good bad example:

Trade Dayan Viciedo to the Phillies for Dominic Brown- I remember maybe two years ago or so the sox having interest in trading for Brown. Not sure if Viciedo on his own would do it, but I would throw in Sanchez if needed.

Trade John Danks to the Cubs for Edwin Jackson- Stole this from a previous post, but its perfect. It brings the sox balance in the rotation and Jackson had success for the sox in the past. Sox may have to kick in another piece to offset the additional 3.5 mil per year owed to Danks. I'd throw in Chris Beck or Trayce Thompson to make it work.

Summary

CF Eaton

LF Rasmus

RF Garcia

1B Abreu

DH Morse

SS Ramirez

3B Gillaspie

C Flowers

2B Semien

Bench

Sierra

Sanchez

Doumit

Brown

SP

Sale

Quintana

McCarthy

Jackson

Noesi

RP

Petricka

Putnam

Gregerson

Duke

Webb

Guerra

Bassitt

Bassitt gets sent down and Noesi is moved to the bullpen if Rodon is on the roster to start the year.

To close, I didn't want to spend a ton of money on free agents during a rebuilding year. Of all the big free agents I like Headley the most, but I think ultimately he will be overpaid due to position scarcity and the big market teams that will be courting his services. Gillaspie exceeded expectations with the bat, so I dont see him going anywhere this year. Hopefully Davidson will bounce back from an atrocious year as well. I shored up a young bullpen with 2 veteran relievers without breaking the bank on them. I addressed the DH position as well as a backup at 1B with Morse, and Brown gives a bit of depth in the OF. Most importantly I didn't sacrifice any future core players to win now.

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