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Jimbo's Offseason Plan

Jimbo’s Offseason Plan

Arbitration-eligible (with projected salaries from MLBTR):

  • Todd Frazier, $13.5M Tender
  • Brett Lawrie, $5.1M Non 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

Explain the toughest calls if necessary:

Lawrie has too much of an injury riddled history, has below average defense and doesn’t do enough for me to justify keeping him. I can better allocate that money somewhere else. Could tender and then trade but I decided not to after what happened with Viciedo. Garcia and Shuck were both easy calls, not much really needs to be said there. Webb could have gone either way. He’s just above league minimum and either way would be depth in Charlotte. I opted against it as we have a pretty good idea what Webb is by now and I would rather give some more intriguing options in the minors a look if insurance relief help is needed before Webb.

Contract options (pick up or buy out)

  • Matt Albers: $3M for 2017 or a $250,000 buyout

He’s fat. He’s like a cat. But there’s no way I’m picking up this option.

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

  • 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, although he signed during the season. Let Go

Free agents

No 1. Brett Cecil (3 years, 13M)

A pretty obvious hole on the roster since the departure of Zach Duke is a lefty in the pen. Cecil is a pretty solid fit for this need.

No 2. Michael Saunders (3 years, 30M)

I have mixed feelings about Saunders but at the end of the day I think he’s a fit. He’s someone with an injury history and years of not great OBP. But at the same time, his All Star year last year showed he could finally live to his potential. It also gives the Sox a left handed power threat that they haven’t had in some time. This also allows me to move Melky to DH.

No 3. Greg Holland (1 year, 4M plus incentives)

What do the last 3 AL pennant winners all have in common? Being in the AL Central and dominant bullpens. Holland is certainly a guy with risk obviously since he hasn’t pitched in over a year coming off TJ surgery. But this could be huge for the pen if it works out, definitely worth the risk.

No 4. Nick Hundley (1 year, 3M)

I was tempted to go Castro but ultimately I think he is more of a commitment than I want. Hundley is a one year deal, cheap, and will be paired with a player about to be acquired behind the plate.

Trades

No. 1: Trade Chris Sale to the Boston Red Sox for Andrew Benintendi, Michael Kopech, Henry Owens, and Blake Swihart.

I love Chis Sale, but this is the ideal time to trade him. Still a few years on his deal, cheap, and no injury concern. Trading with Boston makes sense- they have a lot of good young chips and they desperately want another premium arm in their rotation (this is a team that started Clay Buchholz in an elimination game). I love the skill set of Benintendi at the plate and would slate him in center field. Kopech is a flame thrower that could be a top of the rotation guy in a couple years. Owens is an intriguing arm that could be a back of the rotation guy now. Swihart is a guy that is seemingly in the doghouse in Boston. I’m a fan of his and I think changing his Sox will do him a lot of good.

No. 2: Trade David Robertson to the San Francisco Giants for Aramis Garcia.

Catching depth/ cutting costs. A total of 5 different catchers saw action on the big club last year, and considering there is extremely poor catching depth, there were some pretty poor results. Garcia is a guy that could help change that but he’s still a couple years away. Also, the Sox are able to shed Robertson’s contract to a team that desperately needs bullpen help (if you saw the NLDS you know what I am talking about).

Summary

I think that this both gives 2017 a chance of contending will adding key young players for the future without subtracting any prospects. Losing Sale is a tough pill to swallow but there is a nice outlook for the future of the staff (After Q- Rodon, Fulmer, Kopech, Hanson, and Adams are all 23 or younger!). A potential star outfielder is added to the core and hopefully to beginning of a better future behind the plate. All of this is done while saving a good amount of money (payroll is roughly 100M), which surely will make Jerry happy and giving flexibility depending on how things go.

Lineup

Anderson SS Min

Eaton RF 4M

Abreu 1B 12.16M

Cabrera DH 15M

Frazier 3B 13.5M

Saunders LF 10M

Benintendi CF Min

Swihart/ Hundley C 3M

Saladino 2B Min

Bench

Swihart/ Hundley C Min

Davidson 3B/ 1B/ DH Min

Tilson OF Min

Sanchez 2B/ SS/ 3B Min

Rotation

Quintana 7M

Rodon Min

Gonzalez 2.6M

Owens Min

Shields 10M

Bullpen

Jones 1.9M

Burdi Min

Cecil 4M

Jennings 1.2M

Petricka 0.9M

Putman 0.9M

Holland 4M

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