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Offseason Targets


soxfan49
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Being realistic, our team has little depth that I would feel comfortable trading.  We saw in this season how it was taxed.  A major decision will be what is next years roster size?  There are huge financial uncertainties right now.  I think we have a relatively quiet winter.  Moves made will be about equal to the salaries we lose/cut unless things clear on the financial picture (Covid controlled/vaccine working fans will be allowed).  I think we see a depth starting pitcher .  Any player additions need to be disciplined hitters and preferably left handed hitting.  Maybe the team thinks between Lopez/Rodon/Dunning/Cease you can fill two starters until either Kopech is ready or you add at the trade deadline when again finances are clearer.  

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53 minutes ago, JUSTgottaBELIEVE said:

Then you pass. But I’m not a fan of signing Joc so what other realistic options are there for RF? I don’t consider Springer a realistic option.

Springer is more realistic than trading for Heyward. Joc can hit righties well + gets on base and Engel seems to be turning into a decent lefty-hitting side of the platoon. Other options are here: https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/free-agents/outfield/

Decent options to me are Castellanos if he opts out, Eaton, Ozuna, Brantley, Pederson, Canha, Springer, Bradley Jr.

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23 minutes ago, almagest said:

Springer is more realistic than trading for Heyward. Joc can hit righties well + gets on base and Engel seems to be turning into a decent lefty-hitting side of the platoon. Other options are here: https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/free-agents/outfield/

Decent options to me are Castellanos if he opts out, Eaton, Ozuna, Brantley, Pederson, Canha, Springer, Bradley Jr.

I’d much rather sign Brantley than Joc.

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3 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I don’t know what makes you say that.  Dude has proven to be a high-end hitter against RHP and is only 28 years old.  Yes, his shitty 2020 season is a concern, but we’re not talking about some mid 30’s free agent at the tail-end of his career.

And Mazara put up an .844 OPS vs. RHP his age 24 season. Over .780 his age 23 season, and will only be 26 next year. He was bad, but he was sick. I would rather spend any money on pitchers. The offense is going to be fine. Moncada, Robert, Eloy, are going to be better. Madrigal will be fine. TA is TA. Grandal will be fine. Vaughn will have more production than EE. Abreu will probably come down a little bit, but there is more than enough to cover. If you aren’t bringing in a star, or getting just a great buy low deal, I don’t know why Joc Pederson is the answer. 

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15 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

And Mazara put up an .844 OPS vs. RHP his age 24 season. Over .780 his age 23 season, and will only be 26 next year. He was bad, but he was sick. I would rather spend any money on pitchers. The offense is going to be fine. Moncada, Robert, Eloy, are going to be better. Madrigal will be fine. TA is TA. Grandal will be fine. Vaughn will have more production than EE. Abreu will probably come down a little bit, but there is more than enough to cover. If you aren’t bringing in a star, or getting just a great buy low deal, I don’t know why Joc Pederson is the answer. 

Joc Pederson had a 139 wRC+ against RHP over the 2018 & 2019 seasons.  Mazara has never been above 110 in a single season.  Yes, I get his 2020 season was likely impacted by COVID, but that doesn’t change the fact that his track record is average at best where Joc had an extended stretch of elite performance.  Both are platoon guys, but no doubt am I taking Joc over Mazara if I’m looking for a stopgap for the 2021 season.

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30 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

And Mazara put up an .844 OPS vs. RHP his age 24 season. Over .780 his age 23 season, and will only be 26 next year. He was bad, but he was sick. I would rather spend any money on pitchers. The offense is going to be fine. Moncada, Robert, Eloy, are going to be better. Madrigal will be fine. TA is TA. Grandal will be fine. Vaughn will have more production than EE. Abreu will probably come down a little bit, but there is more than enough to cover. If you aren’t bringing in a star, or getting just a great buy low deal, I don’t know why Joc Pederson is the answer. 

So be clear here, are you ok with Mazara being offered arbitration and a minimum $6 million deal next year, or do you want Mazara but only if he's signed as a free agent?

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12 minutes ago, Orlando said:

I would not mind seeing the White Sox sign Brantley with the thought of Eloy becoming a full time (ish) DH.

I hate this idea. Eloy is 23 and will continue to play in the OF. We have a generational type hitter in Andrew Vaughn and we're throwing him away so we can DH a below average outfielder? No chance. Not every outfielder needs to be above average. 

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2 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

So be clear here, are you ok with Mazara being offered arbitration and a minimum $6 million deal next year, or do you want Mazara but only if he's signed as a free agent?

He won’t require $6 million. If he does, let him go, but I certainly wouldn’t give Joc Pederson more. 

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2 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

He won’t require $6 million. If he does, let him go, but I certainly wouldn’t give Joc Pederson more. 

If you offer him arbitration, his salary in 2020 was $5.56 million, and they don't go down in arbitration, they go up - by a sliver if they struggle, but still up. If you offer him arbitration, you're offering him a $6 million deal, give or take change. If you non-tender him in late November, he becomes a free agent - you can still sign him then, but he's also free to sign elsewhere. 

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3 minutes ago, YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES! said:

Brantley just seems like one of those guys who had a great career but forgets how to play baseball after they sign with the White Sox.

This. I'm scarred and jaded from the White Sox luck with signing old players. I'd rather they put a trade together for a RFer this off-season or midseason. Center it around one of Stiever/Cease/Dunning. Hopefully sign Colas or Cespedes to take over in the future.

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6 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

If you offer him arbitration, his salary in 2020 was $5.56 million, and they don't go down in arbitration, they go up - by a sliver if they struggle, but still up. If you offer him arbitration, you're offering him a $6 million deal, give or take change. If you non-tender him in late November, he becomes a free agent - you can still sign him then, but he's also free to sign elsewhere. 

He knows he won’t get anything near $6 million on the open market. I wouldn’t offer him arb, but I think if he wants to be a White Sox it shouldn’t be too much trouble.

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1 minute ago, Dick Allen said:

He knows he won’t get anything near $6 million on the open market. I wouldn’t offer him arb, but I think if he wants to be a White Sox it shouldn’t be too much trouble.

I would think he would want to go to whatever team was willing to pay him the most, and that will probably take the whole offseason to figure out. 

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The available lefty-hitting rightfielders leave a lot to be desired.  I suppose you could take a crapshoot at Eaton, Joc Pederson, or Reddick, but they all have just as big of bust potential as Mazara.  I like both Conforto and Nimmo, but I live in New York and I do not believe the Mets will be sellers.  In fact, with their new billionaire owner, I would not be shocked if they made a play for Lindor.  I could see the Sox keeping their powder dry considering we're talking about their #8 hitter, then maybe making a move at the deadline.

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I'm guessing this will get lost in all the posts, but I'll just put this here for posterity.

1. Sign a stud starting pitcher. Bauer has been mentioned. If he only wants 1-year deals, perfect. It makes him easier to acquire. The Sox need 3 reliable workhorse starters.

2. Create a combination of major league and minor league pitching depth that will be needed to manage the back end of the rotation. For example, when Kopech makes the rotation, he won't be good for an entire season. So you have to have someone ready to fill the balance of that workload. But they can't just sit on the bench. They may need to be in the minors where they aren't using up a roster spot. The Sox have all these pitchers - Cease, Dunning, Lopez, Stiever, Crochet - who aren't likely to be 200 inning starters, but may be able to contribute. This is going to be the hardest part of the team to figure out.  The Sox need to keep the best of these guys, and to have a lot of depth, as I expect they'll use as many as 10 starters next season. 

3. Re-sign Colome if it doesn't break the bank. 

4. Bring up Andrew Vaughn as the full time DH/1B platoon with Abreu. The Sox would have been much stronger this year if they'd done that instead of signing Encarnacion. Vaughn will give us a power bat who can also take pitches and draw walks in the middle of the order. 

5. Upgrade RF with a lefty power bat. Not sure who this should be. I think Mazara had an off year and will be better. But he's too risky to rely on.

6. Make an offer to James McCann to see if he'll take it. 

7. Re-sign Leury Garcia

Overall, the Sox offense should be lights out in 2021.

1. Anderson has proven he's not a one-year fluke. 

2. Moncada should bounce back with Covid behind him.

3. Abreu had an MVP year. He's unlikely to match it, but should continue producing.

4. Eloy Jimenez is getting better. Great protection for Abreu.

5. Grandall wasn't a monster hitter, but was the most patient hitter, and found his power stroke as the season went on.

6. Andrew Vaughn could make the biggest difference in this lineup in place of Encarnacion. Higher average, OBP, and power. 

7. Luis Robert. Will he push his way up the lineup? Or will he just do tremendous damage here with plenty of guys on base ahead of him?

8. Mystery left-handed RF/Engel. 

9. Nick Madrigal. You could make a case for him hitting second with his .340 batting average, ability to hit with two strikes, and ability to hit-and-run. If Moncada doesn't bounce back to 2019 form, maybe you should do this. But he's got plenty of value at the bottom where he turns over the lineup and gets on for the boppers behind him. 

Starters: Giolito, Bauer, Keuchel, Kopech, fill-in-the-blank (Crochet, Cease, Dunning, Lopez, etc.)

Bullpen: Colome, Bummer, Marshall, Heuer, Crochet (if he's not ticketed to starting), Foster, etc. 

Bench: McCann? or Collins, Garcia, Engel, etc. 

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17 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

Guys who are barely going to get big-league offers, if they do at all, usually don't sign until January or February in a normal season.

That’s fine. Sox offer him his market value or slightly below, if he doesn’t take it, he gets non tendered, and you look for someone else. Since the market will be flooded, the Sox can take their time with this. They don’t need a middle of the order hitter, but should take one if one falls into their lap. At this point, there is no need to spend a lot of money on RF. There are bigger needs. This team only had 2 starting pitchers it trusted enough to give up 1 run in the playoffs, and they still were 1 win from winning the division.

Edited by Dick Allen
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