FanPost

BillyKochFanClub's Offseason Plan

BillyKochFanClub’s Offseason Plan

Introduction

I’ve said on multiple occasions that this is the make or break offseason of the rebuild. It’s time for the Sox to be aggressive in banking on their blossoming superstars and not be frugal in supplementing them with veteran talent.

I’m bracing myself for an offseason of Jason Vargas, Nomar Mazara, Corey Dickerson, Drew Smyly, and Dee Gordon, but I’m open to being pleasantly surprised. Enduring this rebuild only to end up with the same stars and scrubs model that initiated the tear down would be unacceptable, so I focused on some long term options that could help over the next few years minus a couple of exceptions.

Arbitration-eligible (with projected salaries from MLBTR):

  • Alex Colomé, $10.3 million - Tender

  • Yolmer Sánchez, $6.2 million – Non-tender

  • James McCann, $4.9 million - Tender

  • Carlos Rodón, $4.5 million - Tender

  • Leury García, $4 million - Tender

  • Evan Marshall, $1.3 million – Tender

The only non-tender will be Sanchez. Dedicating $6.2 million to a glove only infielder when this team will be operating with a ceiling doesn’t seem like a smart allocation of resources (especially after giving Abreu a QO).

Impending Free Agents

  • José Abreu (2019 salary: $16 million) – He got a QO, so the toothpaste is out of the tube on this one.

  • Jon Jay (2019 salary: $4 millon) - Gone

  • Iván Nova (2019 salary: $9,166,167) - Gone

  • Hector Santiago (2019 salary: $2 million) - Gone

Free agents

#1 Target - Yasmani Grandal (four years, $70 million) – Probably the most popular target and for good reason. McCann had a great first half, but in the 2nd half his production slid back closer to the version that the Tigers let go. He’s probably better suited as a backup (Giolito’s personal catcher), while Grandal addresses a lot of the Sox needs offensively. It also gives the Sox a very strong pair of catchers.

#2 Target – Zack Wheeler (five years, $100 million) – Grandal is the #1 target, but Wheeler will probably be more expensive and would likely result in the Sox handing out their first 9 figure contract. The Sox have uncertainty with Kopech and Cease, so Wheeler would provide another top of the rotation arm to pair with Giolito. If Kopech and Cease reach their ceiling…The Sox would have an amazing rotation and one that would be built for the postseason in future seasons.

#3 Target – Dallas Kuechel (three years, $39 million) – Went with MLB Trade Rumors contract because it’s palatable. Love the GB%, but his walks and homeruns did spike in 2019. I’m a believer that we’re at the point that we need to bank on our young guys and one of Kopech or Cease should push Kuechel to the back of the rotation. Kuechel as your #1 or #2 is trouble, but if he’s a mid-to-back of the rotation starter, I think he’s a great fit for a contending team.

#4 Target – Edwin Encarnacion (one year, $10 million) – JD Martinez blew up my original idea, so this is my fallback. This is one of the only short-term pickups on my radar, but the upgrade from the Sox DH production in 2019 (64 wRC+) to EE (129 wRC+) is immense. Plus, I only want to target players that are familiar with the AL (check) and are comfortable DHing (check).

#5 Target – Martin Perez (one year, $3 million) – Targeting Perez as a potential reliever/swingman (kind of like what the Brewers did with Pomeranz). The best relievers are usually failed starters, so I’m interested to see what Perez can do out of the pen. His failures had a lot to do with his cutter and that’s Coop’s specialty, so I think this is a solid gamble.

Trades

Andrew Vaughn and Reynaldo Lopez to Seattle for Mitch Haniger. Some of the Sox prospect depth was always going to be used to acquire veteran talent. Haniger is the ideal RF target for me. The Sox had the league’s worst offensive production from RF (71 wRC+) and was all around horrific (-1.3 fWAR). Haniger missed most of the season due to an exploded testicle in a freak injury. Back issues kept putting up roadblocks to recovery, so there is certainly risk involved. However, when he’s healthy, he’s been terrific and would provide a tremendous upgrade (4.5 fWAR in 2018 and 1.1 fWAR in 63 games in 2019).

Summary

I went heavy in FA as opposed to the trade market because of the minimal financial obligations the Sox will have entering 2020. I toyed with the idea of taking on a horrible contract from the Red Sox (like David Price) paired with an asset (Benintendi), but I ultimately went for a simpler approach.

The roster:

C – Yasmani Grandal

1B – Jose Abreu (he accepts the QO)

2B – Nick Madrigal

SS – Tim Anderson

3B – Yoan Moncada

LF – Eloy Jimenez

CF – Luis Robert

RF – Mitch Haniger

DH – Edwin Encarnacion

C James McCann

UTL INF & OF – Leury Garcia

C/1B/DH – Zach Collins

UT INF – Danny Mendick

Final bench player will likely be some minor league signing

SP1 – Lucas Giolito

SP2 – Zack Wheeler

SP3 – Dallas Keuchel

SP4 – Dylan Cease

SP5 – Michael Kopech

Bullpen – Colome, Bummer, Fry, Perez, Marshall, Herrera, Cordero

Not all holes were filled (pen is still pretty iffy), but the Sox should be looking to take a significant step forward this season. There’s no way to be able to predict a postseason appearance with the uncertainties surrounding guys like Kopech, Robert, Madrigal, Cease, and others that aren’t established but a winning record and strong showing in the Central would be sign that the rebuild is coming to fruition in the near future.


SouthSideSox is a community-driven site. As such, users are able to express their thoughts and opinions in a FanPost, such as this one, which represents the views of this particular fan, but not necessarily the entire community or SouthSideSox editors.

Recent FanPosts