Munizzi23’s Offseason Plan
Arbitration-eligible (with projected salaries from MLBTR):
• Todd Frazier, $13.5M - Tender
• Brett Lawrie, $5.1M - Tender
• Avisail Garcia, $3.5M - Non Tender
• Miguel Gonzalez, $2.6M - Tender
• Dan Jennings, $1.2M - Tender
• J.B. Shuck, $1M - Non-Tender
• Jake Petricka, $900K - Tender
• Zach Putnam, $900K - Tender
• Daniel Webb, $600K - Non Tender
There has been plenty of time for Avisail Garcia to figure out Major League pitching, and it looks like a lost cause at this point. If no one else signs him, bring him back on a minor league deal just because of how young he is but anything more than a minor league contract for him is unreasonable.
Contract options
• Matt Albers: $250,000 buyout
Impending free agents
• Austin Jackson: Made $5 million in 2016 - Let Go
• Alex Avila: Made $2.5 million in 2016 - Let Go
• Justin Morneau: Made $1 million in 2016 - Let Go
Albers fizzled after his ridiculous start, which now looks like luck and none of the impending free agents made enough of an impact to warrant another look. Let them walk, and try to find better players elsewhere.
Free agents
No. 1: Josh Reddick - 3 Years/ $30 Million
Adding Josh Reddick to play LF would allow the Sox to use Melky at DH. Milky's defense is serviceable at best and Reddick is an upgrade defensively in left, and adds some LHH power to a lineup that has none.
No. 2: Jason Castro - 2 Years/ $12 Million
Jason Castro will give the Sox an improvement upon what is already a strength, the pitching. Castro’s pitch framing skills will help a pitching staff that was forced to throw to Dioner Novarro for most of 2016. He also still hits righties decently, and if they minimize how often he faces lefties his offensive production could check out to slightly below league average for a catcher.
No. 3: Neftali Feliz - 2 Years/ $10 Million
The Sox obviously need to help the bullpen, and Feliz can be a late offseason sign even after a strong year. The market for top relievers will eat up a lot of available cash, and the White Sox can reap the benefits if Feliz is still available after the initial signings in the offseason bullpen market.
No. 4: Neil Walker – 3 Years/$30.9 Million
Here is the biggest addition for my offseason plan, and it is contingent upon Walker being healthy and not having a qualifying offer attached. If the Sox were closer to contention, I’d have no problem forfeiting a draft pick for a top FA but they are too far into a gray area for me to be comfortable with that. Walker has been a solid 2B for a while now, and that should continue. He provides some solid power from the position and gets on base, which is something the Sox lacked again in 2016. Walker’s on-base skills and power would be a great addition to the middle of a lineup that had some power, but struggled with consistency.
Trades
No 1. David Robertson to the Yankees for Jordan Montgomery
The Yankees have had an interest in re-aquiring Robertson for a while now and he is still a solid big league closer. He had a few horrible meltdowns, but aside from those 4 or 5 he has been very good for the Sox. Montgomery finished the season as the Yankees 19th ranked prospect after their haul of prospects from the deadline. He finished 2016 by moving up to AAA and a 2.13 ERA in 139 innings across 2 levels. He would slide into a long relief role nicely while potentially sliding into the Rotation if Shields falters, which we all think he will.
Rule 5 Draft
Select C – Victor Caratini from CHC
This is my wild-card to the 2017 offseason plan. Caratini has been a solid minor league catcher and should be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this year. I feel as if the Cubs won’t protect him because of how many young players that are big league ready they need to protect. At 23, he slashed .291/.375/.405 for an OPS of .780 in 115 AA games. While he is most likely a long way from matching that production in the AL Central, he has some promise and can also play a few other positions. He seems to be a lot more polished than Adrian Nieto was when the White Sox employed him as their back-up after selecting him in the Rule 5 Draft.
Summary
The final line up with their 2016 WAR in () according to fangraphs.
C – Jason Castro (1.1 WAR)
1B – Jose Abreu (1.6 WAR)
2B – Neil Walker (3.7 WAR)
SS – Tim Anderson (2.4 WAR)
3B – Todd Frazier (2.4 WAR)
LF – Josh Reddick (1.2 WAR)
CF – Charlie Tilson (N/A)
RF – Adam Eaton (6.0 WAR)
DH – Melky Cabrera (1.6 WAR)
Bench
IF – Brett Lawrie (0.9 WAR)
IF – Tyler Saladino (1.2 WAR)
IF – Matt Davidson (N/A)
C – Victor Caratini (N/A)
Rotation
SP – Chris Sale
SP – Jose Quintana
SP – Carlos Rodon
SP – Miguel Gonzales
SP – James Shields
Bullpen
RHP – Zack Burdi
LHP – Dan Jennings
RHP – Nate Jones
RHP – Neftali Feliz
LHP – Jordan Montgomery
RHP – Jake Petricka
RHP – Zach Putnam
This leaves the payroll at roughly $120 million and would project to be a much deeper team that has a higher likelihood of contention and holding up over 162 games. Taking a chance leaving Tilson in CF, but he has shown a good approach in his minor league career, and if he isn’t working out, Adam Engel is a potential replacement.
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