FanPost

NDSoxFan’s Offseason Plan

Tearing it down at this point is nonsense. Trading Sale or Quintana for prospects who may or may not ever be as valuable as them is a terrible idea. They have long term deals and will likely maintain their enormous value for years. It's time to put it all together and make a run for the postseason.

Arbitration-eligible

These are all easy choices:

  • 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

Lawrie is the best player we have to man second base. I'm not going to give him away for 5M.

Also easy:

Contract options (pick up or buy out)

  • Matt Albers: $3M for 2017 or a $250,000 buyout - Buyout - See ya.

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. - Resign - $1.5

The outfield is about to fill up. No use for Jackson. I liked Avila's ability to get on base and his left handed bat, but he doesn't play enough to to justify the cost. Morneau is a professional hitter who will come at a reasonable rate. Also, it's really fun watching him hit home runs against the Twins.


Free agents

Now we get to the fun part...

No. 1: Ian Desmond (four years, $75M). We should have done this last year. He is a complete player. I want his defense in center, the right handed power, and the speed.

No. 2: Jason Castro (three years, $20M). Absolutely have to have a catcher and Castro is the best available. He will be great for the pitching staff and bring crappy catcher offense albeit from the left side.

No. 3: Colby Rasmus (1 year, $7M). He just had a pair of surgeries on his hip and a core muscle. Last year he hit 206/286/355 in 107 games. He is a bit of a headcase. These are bad things. The Sox will need to take some risks and I'm counting on him being healthy and batting closer to his 2015 production of 238/314/475 and hitting 15-25 homers from the left side. Rasmus also brings elite level defense in left.

No. 4: Tommy Milone (Minor league deal). Living in Twins territory has allowed me to see this bozo chuck some pretty good innings. He could bring us innings as a 5th starter, a long reliever, or a loogy. Project for Coop and additional backup for Shields.

Trades

Keep all of the assets.

Summary

Line um up:

R Anderson SS

L Eaton RF

R Desmond CF

R Abreu 1B

S Cabrera DH

R Frazier 3B

L Rasmus LF

R Lawrie 2B

L Castro C

The focus is on pitching and defense, but the line-up can hold its own. I am really excited about the top of the order. If Anderson continues to develop he will form an awesome 1-2 punch in front of Desmond who also has power and speed. Abreu is going to have plenty of opportunity to drive in runs. We are deeper than last year and have balance and some upside. More home runs! No Avisail Garcia!

Bench:

Tilson

Saladino

Morneau

Navarez

Inexpensive group that can doesn't have any black holes unlike what I have been conditioned to accept from the Sox.

Starting Pitching:

L Sale

L Quintana

L Rodon

R Gonzales

R Shields

I left the entire pitching staff intact. Sale and Quintana are great. I really want to see Sale pitch in the postseason. Expect a huge year from Rodon. Castro will get him strikes and he will make a jump to the next level. Gonzales is solid and I am not overly concerned about Shields as the 5th starter. He could rebound or he could be complete garbage. We will have Fulmer and Milone to throw some innings if required. I'm fine with that given we have gotten solid innings out of garbage like Hector Noesi and DJ Carrasco. Maybe we can pluck another Gonzales off the trash heap if needed.

The pen:

R Robertson

R Jones

R Burdi

L Jennings

R Petricka

R Putnam

L Milone/Clark/Whoever

I maxed out the budget with the lineup. I feel comfortable with this bullpen. Robertson will rebound and at least one of Putnam and Petricka should come back at full strength - hopefully both. Bullpen pieces are always available in season if needed and Fulmer is a possible reinforcement.

It isn't perfect, but this team has great pitching that will be reinforced by really good defense. The lineup will score enough runs and be really exciting at the top. Get Sale to the postseason and let him do work!

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