[Hefty9's Offseason Plan

Arbitration-eligible (with projected salaries from MLBTR):

Write "tender" or "non-tender" after each of the following names (note: you can trade before or after tendering a contract):

• Tyler Flowers, $3.5M (Yes)
• Avisail Garcia, $2.3M (Yes)
• Nate Jones, $900K (Yes)
• Zach Putnam, $800K (Yes)
• Dan Jennings, $800K (Yes)

Explain the toughest calls if necessary:

Contract options (pick up or buy out)

• Alexei Ramirez: $10M for 2016 or a $1 million buyout (Buyout for $1M, You'll see why later)

Explain in a sentence or two, as it could be divisive:

Impending free agents (re-sign, let go, or qualifying offer?):

• Jeff Samardzija: $15.8M qualifying offer (QO, hopefully someone else takes him off of our hands for a sandwich pick)
• Matt Albers: Made $1.5M in 2015 (No)
• Gordon Beckham: Made $2M in 2015 (Absolutley NO!)
• Geovany Soto: Made $1.5M in 2015 (No)

Elaborate if needed:

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:

No. 1: Matt Weiters, C, 4/$40M. Everyday catcher that can be rotated out with Floweres on a regular basis. This would be great for Tyler as well

No. 2: Ryan Madsen, RP, 3/$24M. Excellent bullpen arm for the 8th, also weakens the Royals.

No. 3: Neal Cotts, RP, 2/$6M. Lefthanded arm to take the place of Duke.

Trades

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

No. 1: Trade Chris Sale, Frankie Montas, Avi Garcia and Matt Davidson to Colorado Rockies for Nolan Arenado, Carlos Gonzalez and draft considerations. I know this probably isn't popular, but if we could get two All-Star caliber everyday players I'd we willing to trade Sale and Montas to the pitching starved Rockies. If I had to include another minor league arm (Adams), I would.

No. 2: Trade Jose Abreu and Micah Johnson to the Miami Marlins for Dee Gordon, Justin Bour, Tom Koehler and more draft considerations. Another trade that probably wouldn't be popular, but another way to remake the roster.

Summary:

Roster:

1. Adam Eaton - CF

2. Dee Gordon - 2B

3. Nolan Arenado - 3B

4. Carlos Gonzalez - RF

5. Justin Bour - 1B

6. Matt Wieters - C

7. Melky Cabrera - LF

8. Adam Laroche - DH

9. Tyler Saladino - SS

C- Tyler Flowers

OF - Trayce Thompson

OF - JB Shuck

INF - Carlos Sanchez (backup for Saladino and Gordon)

SP - Jose Quintana

SP - Carlos Rodon

SP - John Danks

SP - Erik Johnson

SP - Tom Koehler (If not, could always go young with 5th starter spot or sign someone else)

RP - Nate Jones

RP - Zach Putnam

RP - Neal Cotts

RP - Dan Jennings

RP - Jake Petricka

RP - Ryan Madsen

RP - David Robertson

Payroll would come in around $130-$140M depending upon arbitration for some guys. With Danks, LaRoche coming off the books next year, an extension for Arenado would be in the works, obviously. I think this would remake the roster to get a little more speed on the base paths and lead to more aggressive base running (something i've been harping on for years). We wouldn't have to gut our farm system, and with big contracts coming off the books in the short term, I think this could position us to be aggressive in future years when the FA pool is a little deeper.

Let me have it!