FanPost

Steely3000's First Attempt Ever At An Offseason Plan (such as it is).

Prologue:

Never tried this before, though tempted. I copied a couple of ideas from other plans, and omitted money when possible. So here is my plan, ready or not.

Manager:

Eric Chávez, who I believe is somewhere in the Los Angeles Angels system. I know he has 0 major league manager experience, but as a player he is one of the all time Oakland A’s greats. He had six Gold Gloves at 3rd base, life time OBP of .342 and OPS of .818 in 17 seasons. In the Hall of Very Good.

He is or was a special assistant to Angels’ GM Billy Eppler. What I have heard about Chávez is he wants very much to manage a big league club. He can relate to players of all ages, coaches, and scouts. He’s magnetic. He’ll turn 43 this year. He was a fan favorite, from what I have heard. I think he’d be a good all-around manager, as long as he has good coaches surrounding him.

I too like James Shields as a pitching coach. He helped out Dylan Cease when he was around, and he can likely help out other young pitchers on the staff.

Arbitration-eligible:

Nomar Mazara, $5.9 million – Non-tender. A .295 OBP with no power, little defense and speed, playing RF? No thank you.

Yolmer Sánchez, $2 million – Tender. He can play anywhere, his defense alone is worth the dough

Adam Engel, $1.4 million – Tender. Same here, he can be a 4th outfielder whose defense is worth it, who can occasionally supply some pop with his bat. Can pinch run too; he just can’t bunt!

Carlos Rodón, $4.55 million – Non-tender. He’s lost it I’m sorry to say. We have better options, I think.

Lucas Giolito, $5.3 million – Tender and extend!

Reynaldo López, $2.2 million – Tender. Unlike Rodón, I’m willing to give López another chance. But he is running out of time.

Evan Marshall, $1.9 million – Tender. He is off and on with his pitching, but at this price he is worth saving.

Jace Fry, $1 million – Tender. Same as above and he is a lefty. He can at least mop up.

Impending Free Agents:

Alex Colomé (2020 salary: $10,532,500) – Cut loose. Nothing against him, he did a great job for the Sox, but I’d rather try someone else as closer.

James McCann (2020 salary: $5.4 million) – Re-sign whatever it costs! I know the scuttlebutt is he wants to be the head cheese, but make him an offer he can’t refuse. He has surprised me two years in a row with his talent at handling our pitchers, so keep him around to catch, play first sometimes and DH sometimes.

Jarrod Dyson (2020 salary: $2 million) - cut loose. I love speed but not at this price.

Team Contract Options:

Edwin Encarnación (2021 salary: $12 million) – DE-cline! He was a big disappointment in 2020 so he and his parrot can fly away.

Gio González (2021 salary: $7 million) – DE-cline! He was a big disappointment in 2020 as well. I was happy when he got here but he really did little to help this team.

Leury García (2021 salary: $3.5 million) – I’m sorry but Decline. I loved him when he first joined the Sox in the Álex Ríos deal, and he provided the Sox with some highlights. He has speed and can play almost every position. But his low .300s OBP doesn’t cut it with me, and neither does his defense. And that head-first slide into first base this year was really uncalled for and cost his team with his injury. That bugged me, so thanks Leury and good luck somewhere else.

Free agents:

George Springer – Pay him whatever he wants. We need a RF and he can hit right handed pitching well too. His worst OPS in 7 years is .780. Defense is fine, has some speed. He makes the lineup a terror.

Marcus Stroman - Pay him whatever he wants too. Sox need a #3 starter and he is that and more. Just 29, he did not pitch in 2020 but I assume he is OK. He’ll give the Sox 150 + quality innings, hardly any HRs, just a fine pitcher to round off our top 3.

Liam Hendriks - Pay him whatever he wants too. He can close, set up, spot start. He had a WHIP of 0.671 in 2020; who does that? He’ll be 32 but if he can pitch 3 innings of relief in a playoff game, he seems quite strong to me.

Sorry, no José Quintana. Let’s see what some of our youngsters can do. And no Tyler Flowers, unless he wants to come here to coach.

Trades:

Trade Andrew Vaughn, Zack Collins, and any starting pitcher we have not named Giolito, Stroman, or Keuchel to the Tampa Bay Rays for Randy Arozarena.

This guy Arozarena is the real deal. He is a star in the making. He is a home run machine; 14 in 42 games so far this year including playoffs. In the minor leagues, he tripled on a pop up to the pitcher’s mound! Unreal!! (OK it was ruled an error, but still. I know in the movie Babe Ruth hits a HR on a pop up in the infield, but that was fiction). He’s 7 of 9 in SB in 2020, 1.022 OPS in the regular season, and 1.212 in the playoffs. Yipe! And he fits in with our other Cubans; he’d love it here. OK where does he play? LF and let’s DH Eloy whether he likes it or not.

Starting Lineup:

1. Tim Anderson SS

2. Yoán Moncada 3B

3. José Abreu 1B

4. Eloy Jiménez DH

5. Randy Arozarena LF

6. George Springer RF

7. Luis Robert CF

8. Yasmani Grandal C

9. Nick Madrigal 2B

The lineup structure kinda needs work I know.

Bench

James McCann

Danny Mendick

Adam Engel

Yolmer Sánchez

Starters::

1. Lucas Giolito

2. Dallas Keuchel

3. Marcus Stroman

4. Dylan Cease?

5. Dane Dunning? Reynaldo López? Michael Kopech? Jonathon Steiver?

The starters depend on who Tampa Bay wants in the trade above, and who is any good in 2021.

Bullpen:

Liam Hendriks

Aaron Bummer

Matt Foster

Evan Marshall

Codi Heuer

Garrett Crochet (he may start later)

Jace Fry

Jimmy Lambert (if healthy)

Ryan Burr (if healthy)

Bernardo Flores Jr. (he may start later)

Jimmy Cordero (if there is room)

Epilogue:

I omitted salaries as I don't care about money. It's gotta be spent, guys. I know we won't get Arozarena but it is worth a try; otherwise substitute Vaughn for Arozarena in the above lineup.

Finally, I am not sure what the future holds for baseball, pandemic-wise. I assume we will have a shorter season, but I could be wrong. Also not sure who will come back healthy. Just have to wait and play it all by ear. Thank you for reading, and thanks to the other posters for suggestions on what to write.




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