FanPost

MikeLox Offseason Plan

I will start by saying, I, Fake Rick Hahn, have decided the White Sox will rebuild this year. The best way for the White Sox to do this is by not only trading some (the few) players who have made a positive impact for the White Sox over the last few years, but by also keeping some of the players who have not made such a positive impact. If you’re trying to lose, you might as well keep a few players who know how to do that. Let’s get started shall we?


Arbitration-eligible (with projected salaries from MLBTR):

Write "tender" or "non-tender" after each of the following names. Two notes: 1) You can trade before or after tendering a contract, and 2) we'll just assume Jose Abreu is in the fold for roughly $11 million regardless of whether he chooses the arb route.

  • Todd Frazier, $13.5M - Tender

  • Brett Lawrie, $5.1M - Tender

  • Avisail Garcia, $3.5M -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


You’re obviously going to tender Frazier so you can trade him either in the offseason, or at the deadline. Brett Lawrie is your best candidate to start at second base. A lot of people like Tyler Saladino, but let’s go all Brett Lillibridge on him here. He’s best used by the White Sox as a super-utility man. He’s damn good at it too. Avi Garcia is not good at baseball, so if you’re rebuilding you definitely want him on your team and starting in right field. Miguel Gonzalez was about the only offseason move that went right for the White Sox last year, keep him. Dan Jennings did more than fine in the bullpen last year, as did Petricka and Putnam when healthy.


Contract options (pick up or buy out)

  • Matt Albers: $3M for 2017 or a $250,000 buyout-He and Robin Ventura can ride off into the sunset together, as it was meant to be. Buyout


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.-Re-sign $3 million

  • Justin Morneau: Made $1 million in 2016, although he signed during the season.-Let go


Austin Jackson has no business getting a major league contract from anyone this offseason, and the White Sox shouldn’t consider a minor league contract for him. Alex Avila was somewhere between bad and serviceable last season. He’s fine to split time with a young guy like Omar Narvaez. Justin Morneau won’t want to be on the White Sox next season.


Free Agents:

Matt Holliday DH: Matt Holliday is the perfect candidate to DH for the White Sox. He was hurt last year and can’t play the field anymore. He still has some potential to be good, but not enough for a contender to count on him full-time. Holliday could sign a prove it contract with the White Sox in hope of them trading him to a contender at the deadline.


Brett Anderson LHP:

Anderson could be a good signing for the starting rotation. He has been oft-injured, but that might be fine for the White Sox as they hope some of their young pitchers could step up at some point during the year.


Ruben Tejada SS:

Tejada will provide the White Sox with some infield depth other than Saladino and Sanchez. He’s not going to set the world on fire at all. That’s fine though. This team just needs place-holders for now. He’ll keep a spot at 3B for now.


Alejandro De Aza:

It wouldn’t be a White Sox offseason without a reunion of a former player. Two years ago it was Gordon Beckham, not it’s time for De Aza to return as the fourth outfielder.


Javier Lopez:

Another left handed reliever would do this bullpen some good. We don’t want it to be too good though. Remember, the goal in 2017 is last place.


Trades:


Chris Sale, Melky Cabrera to Boston: I believe that if the White Sox make any offseason trade, this needs to be the one. You can trade a lot of the position players and relievers in the offseason and still get away with a haul of prospects. Look at what Cleveland and Chicago-NL gave up for Miller and Chapman. Now the White Sox don’t have a Miller or Chapman to trade away, but they can still get something at the deadline from a desperate team. The Giants won’t be making that mistake again. So trading someone like Robertson might be a better deadline move. Starting pitchers will make a bigger difference to contender right at the start. A bad bullpen can kill a contending team for sure, but a good bullpen doesn’t usually create a contender-(see the 2016 Yankees). You have to believe after what happened to Red Sox in the playoffs, they’ll want to upgrade that rotation. Sale and Quintana are both great options for them. I believe Sale though is the guy the White Sox need to look into trading now though because of his arm. Trade him before something happens.

I believe the road to Chris Sale goes through Yoan Moncada. He’s the best possible prospect the White Sox could hope to get. While this would be tough for Boston, it might actually make more sense for them as well. The other big name they’d have to consider would be Andrew Benintendi. I don’t think there’s a chance the White Sox get both of these guys, and if the Red Sox are going to give one up, why give up the guy who has already played some pretty baseball at the Major League level. The Red Sox will have to give up more than Moncada. I think the package would be Moncada, LHP Jason Groome, RHP Michael Kopech, 1B Sam Travis. Those are the Red Sox No. 1, 4,5,6 prospects. The White Sox reportedly wanted a team’s top five prospects for Sale at the deadline last season. They wouldn’t be doing that in this trade, and would be asking for one less prospect in return. You’re also giving them a reliable switch hitter who could easily fit into their DH spot and play outfield when needed. It seems like a fair compromise.


Jose Quintana and Todd Frazier:

Trading these two together to the New York Yankees would be a good fit for both teams. The Yankees could use Frazier at multiple positions. He could go to third, he could play first for the retired Mark Teixeira, or DH. Quintana is obviously one of the better pitchers in the American League and the Yankees certainly could use some pitching. What makes the Yankees a nice fit for this kind of trade is many of their top prospects are outfielders and middle infielders. The White Sox could get a package of a mix of them and the Yankees still wouldn’t be without good prospects in those positions after the trade. I think a package of SS/2B Jose Mateo, OF Blake Rutherford, LHP Justus Sheffield, and 3B Miguel Andujar. Those are the Yankees 3, 5, 6, 7 prospects respectively. Again, it’s not their top five prospects, but they’re all highly ranked and they’re getting two All-Star caliber players. If the White Sox were to make these two trades they would be getting 8 of baseball’s top prospects. That could be huge for the farm system and depth in the organization.


Again, I think any other trades should wait till the deadline. The White Sox should make these two moves and see how those players develop in their system. Once they see what they have, then they can make more moves based on what they think they’ll have with a young core in 2018. Then they decide if they can keep guys like Jose Abreu and Adam Eaton, or if they should be dealt for more.


2017 Opening Day Roster:


Starting Rotation:

Carlos Rodon LHP

Miguel Gonzalez RHP

James Shields RHP

Brett Anderson LHP

Carson Fulmer RHP


Bullpen:

David Robertson RHP

Nate Jones RHP

Dan Jennings LHP

Javier Lopez LHP

Zach Putnam PHP

Jake Petricka RHP

Tyler Danish RHP


Starting Lineup:

SS Tim Anderson

RF Adam Eaton

1B Jose Abreu

DH Matt Holliday

RF Avisail Garcia

2B Brett Lawrie

C Alex Avila

CF Charlie Tilson

3B Ruben Tejada


Bench:

Alejandro De Aza OF

Omar Narvaez C

Tyler Saladino UTIL

Carlos Sanchez INF


The only way the White Sox are going to get better is by improving the depth and talent in their minor league system. The only way they can do that in a quick and (hopefully) efficient manner is by trading their two best pitchers because that’s who is going to bring in that type of haul. Since there is not much a market in the way of free agency for starting pitchers, that not only makes Sale and Quintana more valuable, but also gives the White Sox more incentive to not compete this year. If you have to trade your starting pitching to get better, with a thin free agent market, and a system you can’t trade from to improve, then it makes more sense for the White Sox to include some veteran players in deals with Sale and Quintana to get a bigger return. It also gives them more incentive to not waste money on free agents that are going to command large amounts of money and multiple years on their contracts. The best way for the White Sox to get better is by being awful in 2017. I think I have accomplished that with this offseason plan.


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