S-McAnderson Off-Season plan

[S_mCanderson]

Trade

• Corbin Burnes and Joey Wiemer to the Orioles for Jordan Westburg and DL Hall

Free Agent Additions

• Carlos Santana 1 year, $7M
• Mitch Garver 3 years, $39M
• Nick Martinez 2 years, $20M
• Alex Wood 1 year, $7M

Extensions

• Willy Adames 
• Brandon Woodruff

Non-tender

• Rowdy Tellez

Opening Day Roster:

• C: Conteras, Garver
• IF: Santana, Turang, Adames, Westburg, Black, Monustario, Toro
• OF: Yelich, Mitchell, Frelick, Taylor
• SP: Peralta, Martinez, Houser, Wood, Rea
• RP: Williams, Uribe, Megill, Payamps, Peguero, Milner, Wilson, Hall

Payroll:

• $116M plus whatever you pay woodruff for this year and Adames signing bonus. 

Summary: I really think Westburg should be the target for the Brewers. Is Burnes enough to get him? Probably not, so I throw in Wiemer but ask for a young reliever in return, if it isn't Hall it could be anyone. Westburg shores up the hot corner, but we still need a first baseman. I resign Santana to mentor Black, who gets playing time at both corners. Then we complete the overhaul of the offense by being the mystery team to sign Mitch Garver. We need a backup catcher and Garver gives us that, but in the form of DH. Rehab his catching skills in the lab and flip him in the off-season once Quero is ready. In order to convince Garver to come here, we will have to overpay a little. I think the following lineup will produce a lot more runs than the 2023 team did:

Yelich | Adames | Contreras | Santana | Garver | Westburg | Mitchell | Frelick | Turang
BN: Black, Toro, Taylor, Monustario

Losing Miley, Woodruff and Burnes has left a gaping hole in the pitching staff. We have decided to fill that with Rea, Nick Martinez, and Alex Wood. The hope is the pitching lab and progressive usage of Martinez can turn him into the steal of the class and Wood is just Wade Miley 2.0. The Bullpen remains in tact and should be able to keep the 5 and dive pitching staff near the top of the league. 

Adames is crucial to this team. 4 win SS are hard to come by and I think you can get him at a discount this year. With virtually no future obligations, now is the time to pounce. Just make it happen. Losing Woodruff, even if it is the prudent thing to do, would just be too devastating on top of the Counsell betrayal and Burnes trade. Giving him some version of two year deal is a must. 

Criticisms: As much as I love my plan, I think there are two big criticisms: (1) the Orioles ain't trading Jordan Westburg, (2) Mitch Garver is not going to sign and/or the Brewers would need to 3rd catcher if he does, Number (1) might be true, but he is my top target. I think you either get an impact bat or just keep Burnes. That makes signing Garver even more important. While I do think it is unlikely, I just don't like any of the other offensive free agent options. The Garver Gambit seems like the best way forward. 

[Team Canada]

Welcome!

[jay87shot]

Not to shabby, I like Garver and Martinez but we would probably get Westburg and Hall for Burnes no need to add Weimer.

[logani54]

The Garver Gambit...I like the sound of that! I think Westburg is one of the more likely O's youngsters to be traded. If we throw in Wiemer as well I would like to pry away McDermott or even a Cade Povich instead of or maybe included with DL Hall.