MS22'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
• Avisail Garcia, $2.3M
• Nate Jones, $900K
• Zach Putnam, $800K
• Dan Jennings, $800K

Explain the toughest calls if necessary: No tough calls here, tender all of them

Contract options (pick up or buy out)

• Alexei Ramirez: $10M for 2016 or a $1 million buyout

I'd pick up Alexei's option. Tim Anderson is at least a year away, Tyler Saladino is better suited as a utility infielder, and the other options on the FA market don't really offer anything better than what 1 year of Alexei offers

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

• Jeff Samardzija: $15.8M qualifying offer Offer the QO and let him walk
• Matt Albers: Made $1.5M in 2015 Bring him back, 1y/$2.5M
• Gordon Beckham: Made $2M in 2015 Sorry Gordon, I'll burn my #15 jersey in effigy
• Geovany Soto: Made $1.5M in 2015 Re-sign 1y/2.5-3.0M, whatever gets it done

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:

This is where things get a little dicey. I don't see the Sox going after any of the marquee names on the FA market to upgrade the team. Heyward is going to cost large coin, as will Upton and Cespedes. There are some options out there but I'm going to go waaaay outside the box with this one:

Chris Davis, 4y/$68M

I don't think the idea of signing Davis is too radical, he's a LH power hitter that the Sox need. My idea with Davis is going to attempt to kill two birds with one stone.....He'll be my starting 3B. This is going to be a big risk but he has filled in for Manny Machado before. He's not a great defensive 3B but I think his bat will make up for it. He also offers some insulation if/when Adam LaRoche fails to bounce back as he can take over as the 1B/DH if the Sox cut bait.

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: Avi Garcia to the Phillies for Deivi Grullon, Catcher. I think Avi can still be productive but this team doesn't have the time to let it happen. He's a defensive liability and his bat hasn't developed like we hoped it would. Grullon will be 20 y/o when spring training starts and at this stage appears to be a glove first catcher with the ability to develop some pop. At worst he looks like he could be a good back-up catcher and adds some depth at the position in the minors. Philly also has 2 catchers in their system ranked higher.

No. 2: Francellis Montas, Yency Almonte, Michael Ynoa, and Micah Johnson to Colorado for Carlos Gonzalez, OF. CarGo had a nice, healthy year this past season and is both a + hitter and + fielder. The Rockies get three pitchers who throw hard who shouldn't be affected by the high altitude so much. They also get a bench bat/runner in Johnson who's skills might play better in the NL.

Summary

I left the pitching staff intact. No need to fix what ain't broken. With CarGo and Davis the Sox now have to potentially top-flight LH power bats that can add instant offense. CarGo is also a + defender and Davis should be adequate with the glove.

Rotation: Bullpen

Sale Robertson

Quintana Jones

Rodon Putnam

E. Johnson Duke

Danks Jennings

Albers

Line Up: RHP Line Up: LHP

Eaton CF Eaton CF

CarGo RF Abreu 1B

Abreu 1B Davis 3B

Davis 3B Melky DH

Melky LF CarGo RF

Alexei SS Alexei SS

LaRoche DH Thompson LF

Flowers C Flowers C

Sanchez 2B Sanchez 2B

Bench

Soto C

Saladino IF

LaRoche

Thompson OF