29 Oct 2017 02:55:08
2018 Chicago White Sox Offseason - Here's my proposed plan:

-Acquire OF Nick Markakis & LHP Kyle Muller from Atlanta
for OF Charlie Tilson

White Sox get solid veteran OF and needed LH bat to play LF. They get a good prospect for taking on the full $11MM he's owed in 2018. The idea is to move him in July. Atlanta sheds $11MM and frees up an OF spot for the eventual call up of Ronald Acuña.

- Sign LHP Hector Santiago 1 Year / $5.5 Million
Santiago had pretty good numbers when he started his career with the Sox. Rebound candidate that has experience in the rotation and if it doesn't work out this year, in the bullpen.

- Sign LHP Wade Miley 1 Year / $7 Million
I doubt Baltimore picks up his $12MM 2018 option, so the Sox get another bounce back candidate whose GB% should play pretty well in Chicago.

- Sign RHP Tyler Clippard 1 Year / $2 Million
Clippard comes back to the White Sox to work some more to rebuild his value with Cooper.

- Sign Glen Perkins 1 Year / $4 Million
Another guy with experience as a closer so he also becomes an option for Renteria. He'll try to rebuild his value since being hurt, playing in a division he knows well. He'll also welcome a trade to a contender in July.

Lineup
LF Nick Markakis (L)
2B Yoan Moncada (S)
1B Jose Abreu (R)
RF Avisail Garcia (R)
DH Nicky Delmonico (L)
SS Tim Anderson (R)
3B Yolmer Sanchez (S) / Matt Davidson (R)
C Omar Narvaez (L) / Kevan Smith (R)
CF Leury Garcia (S)

Bench
OF Adam Engel (R)
3B/1B Matt Davidson (R)
C Kevan Smith (R)
INF Tyler Saladino (R)

Rotation Options
1. Lucas Giolito
2. James Shields
3. Reynaldo Lopez
4. Hector Santiago
5. Wade Miley
6. Tyler Danish
7. Carson Fulmer
8. (Carlos Rodon - Injured)

Bullpen Options
Nate Jones (R)
Juan Minaya (R)
Jace Fry (L)
Aaron Bummer (L)
Jake Petricka (R)
Gregory Infante (R)
Al Alberquerque (R)
Chris Beck (R)
Danny Farquhar (R)
Tyler Clippard (R)
Glen Perkins (L)


Opening Day Payroll = Roughly $85 Million (with projected arbitration raises)

1.) 29 Oct 2017
29 Oct 2017 04:46:35
Eh, actually Perkins looks like he's done.

2.) 01 Nov 2017
01 Nov 2017 15:15:00
If you have to receive a really good prospect to take on $11MM, maybe it's time to find new ownership.

$11MM isn't an albatross contract. And the White Sox have no leverage for such a move, seeing as they have virtually no money on the books. $11MM doesn't put them over any tax thresholds.

Moral of the story: If you think you can acquire a guy who would be a top 5 prospect in 25 other teams' organizations by taking on $11MM in salary, you're wrong. It won't happen.

3.) 03 Nov 2017
02 Nov 2017 22:15:13
Except we've seen it happen before.

4.) 03 Nov 2017
03 Nov 2017 13:14:01
Give me three examples from the past 3 seasons.

5.) 04 Nov 2017
03 Nov 2017 22:01:52
Precedent requires one prior occurrence. You don't get to make the rules or establish an arbitrary time frame. Liriano got Pittsburgh's 8th and 9th prospects (Harold Ramirez and Reese McGuire) at the time and McGuire was top 100 not too long before. They were legitimate prospects.

Bronson Arroyo got a Dbacks top 5 prospect, for $2mm less and Phil Gosselin coming back.

Markakis is a better player than both Arroyo and Liriano, but the Braves are also getting the #19 prospect from the game's best system who could be servicable in 2018. Also, they have a huge incentive to trade an OF to make room for Acuña. They probably also want to look at Peterson and Mustiler as well in the OF, not to mention also having Pache down there, albeit a few years away. Inciarte isn't going anywhere and it would probably be hard to find a team that would take on Kemp, or if they would, it would take an even better prospect as I previously outlined.

The White Sox are getting a LHP in a good system that has a surplus of LHP.

6.) 04 Nov 2017
04 Nov 2017 16:05:58
He kinda got you on that one, but at the same time both Arroyo and Liriano were trade because they weren't that good at the time of the trade. Markakis is still doing well.

7.) 04 Nov 2017
04 Nov 2017 18:43:30
Correct but we can't act like Markakis is not overpaid. $11mm/ yr for essentially a 1 win player isn't exactly market value - especially when you have an absolute phenom coming up right behind him. Not saying this is imminent or anything, but Atlanta should have pretty good incentive to move Markakis.

8.) 04 Nov 2017
04 Nov 2017 20:03:10
Time frame was because contracts are valued differently in 2017 than they were in 2005, or even 2010. And occurrence was because 1 time doesn't mean it'll always happen.

I'll give you this: you found some decent examples. But I don't think they are the best, either.

Liriano was owed nearly $20MM over a season and a half. That's a greater financial commitment. And the Pirates saw Hutchison as a potential long-term, team-controlled arm (think the Marco Gonzales/ Tyler O'Neill swap) . It didn't work out. But the Blue Jays were taking on a larger, longer commitment.

As for the Arroyo trade, I've said it once on here, I'll say it again: using a Dave Stewart as a reasonable justification for your ideas is not a smart idea. There's a strong reason he was fired: he wasn't good at his job. Arroyo was downright awful, and hurt. The Braves were taking on $10MM for a player who wasn't even likely to throw a pitch in 2015 (and he didn't) . This is far different than moving $11MM for a guy who'd start in Chicago.

Markakis isn't terrible. He's a serviceable OF, and they aren't going to trade him pre-season just to make room for Acuna. That would be a very, very unwise move. Most likely, they'll use him off the bench to start the year. Or, if Acuna actually pans out in his first season, and there's no need for more time in the minors, the Braves will move Markakis mid-season, or just DFA him.

But if moving $11MM requires giving up a very good prospect, I just don't see the Braves, a team with a fairly good amount of cash, and not much on the books, doing it. They'll just hold on to him.

The Braves aren't in any rush. They have one of the deepest farm systems in the game, and with the strict penalties they'll likely face soon (likely the loss of int'l spending dollars and draft picks), they won't be in a position to just give away farm depth just to shed salary that really isn't bogging them down any.

9.) 05 Nov 2017
05 Nov 2017 13:12:22
How is Markakis overpaid? 11 million is just about right for him, it's not like he is making 17-20 million a year. that would be overpaying him.

10.) 05 Nov 2017
05 Nov 2017 13:43:31
Fangraphs puts a value of roughly $8MM per WAR, which makes Markakis about a $16MM player over the past two years. In that span, he made $22MM. So he played roughly $6MM over his value.

$6MM (over the past two seasons) over value is not enough to justify sending a top prospect out the door. The Braves aren't that dumb.