It’s not exactly a developmental position. The only qualified DHs under the age of 30 last season were Khris Davis and Corey Dickerson (Davis is 29), and is mostly occupied by aging players whose elite bats have kept them in the game past the death of their defensive utility. The Sox don’t figure to have any of those types unless they force that status upon Jose Abreu against his will, so they will probably be filling it the other commonly seen way: a rotating cast of players with some power potential and no consistent defensive home.

While reviewing a still in-development effort by Baseball Prospectus to project playing time for the 2017 season that I probably shouldn’t be discussing yet, I couldn’t help but notice that Sox DH was…a hodgepodge, to put it politely. They basically listed every position player on the 40-man who is not already a regular at another position, and they were not wrong to do so.

Avisail Garcia saw the most time there in 2016 of anyone returning, which, gives him some vague theoretical leg up. Melky Cabrera is still on the team, can hit, and is a declining defender who would figure to take some days off playing the field if he sticks around for a while, Rymer Liriano and Jason Coats are corner outfield types who will be looking to squeeze into whatever gap they can fit in, and Matt Davidson is on the 40-man roster, and thus in the mix. And this is alongside the possibilities of guys like Abreu, Todd Frazier and Brett Lawrie swinging over for some occasional PAs, just because they’re currently around.

Garcia is likely the worst defender of the three corner outfielders, but his power drought only ended when he got into the field more in the second half. He only slugged .366 as a DH in 2016, compared to .435 as a right fielder. It’s hard to work up a great reason to project success for Davidson, as he got nearly 2000 plate appearances in Triple-A alone before a mild, still strikeout prone (26.4 percent in 2016) turnaround earned him a short-lived call-up last season, but how is anyone too stalled to give a shot when Garcia is still in the mix?

Liriano is the freshest face in this regard, since the last significant playing time he received saw him hit .292/.383/.460 with San Diego’s Triple-A affiliate in 2015. He seems like a longshot to perform well enough in Spring to win a job, given that he will have a full year of injury rust to knock off, but really is just a mystery box since he was a raw prospect who showed promise but has now missed two years of development. But everyone has a specific advantage over Coats, who is otherwise projected by many to lead the field in playing time. Coats was only added to the 40-man roster last Summer, and can easily be stashed in the minors without risk of being claimed off waivers, whereas Liriano and Davidson cannot.

Coats has never suffered through a long stall in production at any stage of the minors, and has certainly earned a shot on a rebuilding club, but lacks the standout tools to project him as a consistent regular. If not wanting to lose a guy on waivers was enough to give Jerry Sands an Opening Day slot last year, it could definitely keep Coats in Charlotte for the start of April.

A sentiment we’re at risk of losing when discussing the turgid mechanics of figuring out playing time, is that unless Melky just becomes a full-time DH, none of these guys figure to fill the position particularly well. Davidson was supposed to have plenty of power, but also strike out a ton and hit for a low average that would make his offense an asset only if he could stick at third base. Liriano was always revered as a toolshed, and his throwing arm and athleticism were supposed to help prop up the unrefined elements of his game at the plate, and Garcia was looked upon similarly but with more reverence for his speed and hit tool, and all three have seen hopes of fulfilling those past expectations dim drastically.

So all three are options to slot at DH for the sake of giving them at-bats and a chance to prove themselves, but are not necessarily great fits that would preclude the Sox from finding a veteran bat and hoping they hit well enough to be flipped for prospects. Mets writers have been very keen to suggest the White Sox relieve New York of their inability to trade Jay Bruce, but that could be a very expensive and thankless favor.

But maybe the Sox should be in the business of doing expensive favors with little chance of paying off; they have all of $69 million in pre-arbitration obligations for 2017 and figure to shed Frazier’s expensive third year of arbitration at some point, not to mention David Robertson and possibly Cabrera’s contract. If the budget-conscious Mets are willing to sweeten the pot with a prospect to have Bruce taken off their hands, it becomes a worthwhile maneuver. The Sox could similarly do well to inquire just how disenchanted the Cardinals are with Matt Adams, and see if the 28-year-old could reclaim any of his promise on the South Side. The Cardinals have a lot of infield options and no true first base bat, and would probably be interested in shedding some of them for Abreu, while we’re at it. And that’s before we glance at a slow-playing free agent market that still has Chris Carter, Pedro Alvarez and Mike Napoli hanging around.

Just because the big league club is set to become a clearinghouse for reclamation projects doesn’t mean they need to be inherently overmatched ones, and the realm of hitters with some chance of success who are too risky for contenders to take a chance on does not end at the Sox 40-man roster, and they would be wise to leverage their ability to survive a flop.

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For example, while stripping salary or even rebuilding is possible for a team resistant to spend and seemingly as far away winning as the Sox were in 2016, and looking for a fair trade for Chris Sale and Jose Quintana might be the most challenging direction we could take this in, it would be a betrayal of everything we have argued for in writing for the last few months, and would entertain a total waste of the Sox resources as a viable path forward.

So, with $102 million baked in from the players we kept in part 1, we set about building a winner, because that seemed like the best use of the talent the Sox already have at hand.

Sign OF Dexter Fowler for four years, $68 million

One such restriction to shrug off is being loath to admit the previous mistakes of Sox leadership. The White Sox could have had Fowler last year for two-thirds of this rate, yielded the 26th overall pick instead of the 12th, and been rewarded with a great 2016 that he went and had elsewhere instead. That doesn’t mean they don’t still need an outfielder and a major offensive addition, and Fowler still enables Adam Eaton to remain in right field where he can remain an elite defender, and his proficiency against left-handers (career .302/.392/.442) will complement other moves down the line very well.

Losing such a high pick stings a lot, but they have to sacrifice something to win now, and the alternative to steering clear of any free agent worth a qualifying offer is trading prospects already in the organization. This is backloaded to run $15 million in 2017, followed by $17 million, and two years of $18 million.

Sign 1B Pedro Alvarez for one year, $10 million

One way to get a power bat and not pay a ton for it, is to just buy half of one. Alvarez is a career .246/.321/.480 against right-handed pitching, and should pretty much never face a lefty ever. He thrived as a DH with the Orioles in 2016, and could spell at first base if need be, or if that was ever allowed by Jose Abreu. His days of usefulness at third are probably long past, not that they are particularly needed with Brett Lawrie and Tyler Saladino both on the roster to cover Todd Frazier if needed.

Alvarez had to wait until nearly Spring Training to get $5.75 million last year, and there’s a possibility he could get an ever larger raise than what is being offered here. Two years wouldn’t be the worst thing to commit to the 30-year-old at all, even if there’s some potential to block Zack Collins at that point. Alvarez won’t provide any fix to the Sox on-base issues here, but they also finished in the bottom third of the league in ISO in 2016, and Alvarez can help that. Getting on base is what Fowler is for, anyway.

Sign 1B/OF Steve Pearce for one year, $8 million

Here’s the luxury purchase. $8 million for short half of DH platoon is how the rich live, but Pearce, who filled in at second base, third base and both outfield corners in 2016, is a competent bat that go almost anywhere, and most importantly provides insurance against a collapse from Melky Cabrera, Alvarez, Frazier, or injuries to anyone.

Primarily, he’s paid to continue upon his career .269/.353/.499 line against lefties, and will DH while Alvarez sits against southpaws and pinch-hit to protect against LOOGYs, but he could also allow for Cabrera to DH more as well.

Or, if Pearce is too luxurious, the Sox could roster Charlie Tilson as a pinch-runner/defensive reserve, DH Cabrera against lefties, and farm super utility man Saladino out to the outfield corner, where he strangely has accumulated some experience. Saladino, after all, has a career .277/.333/.401 line against lefties.

Sign LHP Boone Logan for two years, $10 million

The White Sox inability to internally produce a LOOGY has been a peculiar source of torment, and without Zach Duke to throw around anymore and with Dan Jennings‘ neutral splits, they need to go grab another one.

Old friend Boone’s time in Coors didn’t lend itself to a gorgeous ERA, but he struck out of a third of the left-handers he faced and allowed them to hit .139/.222/.255 against him in 2016. That will do the job.

Sign C Nick Hundley for one year, $2.5 million

I’m not the ultimate man’s man, or someone who thrives on conflict, or enjoys inflicting pain on others, nor having it inflicted on me, but perhaps, I don’t know, a week–maybe two weeks!–in the Cook County Jail in exchange for the promise that I never to consider or even discuss this catching market ever again in life…that would be an offer I would take back to my family and consider if it worked for us.

The BP South Side crew started out this whole process by joking about trading for Tyler Flowers, then it became Option 1 for a horrifying six-hour period. The heart and soul of this team will remain the top of its starting rotation, and last year showed that punting catcher framing entirely was not the best way to maximize that. Matt Wieters and Jason Castro could offer that skill, but in a depressed catching market suddenly missing Wilson Ramos, they could come at a steep price with little hope of meaningful offensive contribution. Flowers is coming off a nice year at the plate and would enjoy being reunited with Sale, but was a total sieve against the running game in 2016, and the Braves are not in a position to be motivated sellers. Rather than send Spencer Adams and Adam Engel to Atlanta for a possibly very meh catcher–my long-term hope would be to move Fowler to a corner after Cabrera leaves and hope Tilson, Engel or Carlos May can be a glove-first centerfielder–we resigned to just being affordably bad at catcher.

Hundley is an awful framer, didn’t throw out runners well in 2016, and while he’s had some nice offensive years in the past and hit .301/.339/.467 in 2015, albeit in Coors, he cannot promise offensive brilliance. But he’s a veteran, he’s right-handed, and certainly won’t impede Omar Narvaez if that guy can actually be something.

Meanwhile…

Trade RHP Michael Ynoa to Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for C/2B Austin Barnes

Barnes will be 27 shortly after this Christmas and has never turned his repeated dominance of PCL pitching into major league production, but has also taken all of 74 major league plate appearances. There is a reason he has not gotten a longer look, but he’s a lottery ticket to keep in Triple-A for a catching crop that needs lottery tickets.

Trade RHP Tyler Danish to Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for C Reese McGuire

Some call McGuire the best defensive catching prospect in baseball. That we are acquiring him for just Danish should tell you what you need to know about his bat. He is going to be perfect for that one year where the White Sox have a juggernaut offense that can afford to punt a lineup spot. One year, it’s coming, I swear.

Sign LHPs Tommy Milone and Jon Niese to minor league deals

James Shields is likely extremely bad, still, and he cannot be traded unless we want to pay his full salary to get him out our sight and get next to nothing in return. It’s a consideration, but we’ll pass.

Failing that, $10 million is a lot of sense of obligation to let him earn a spot out of Spring Training, but the Sox need options for who they should actually allow to make starts after they put Shields on the disabled list for a sprained beard, or something. Signing someone worthy of a guaranteed major league contract to battle it out with Shields in camp will be pretty tricky, so they will need to dumpster dive and hope they happen across another Miguel Gonzalez. Another wrinkle worth mentioning is that the Sox do not want to block Carson Fulmer too much here, so some burnt out finesse lefties can do the trick. Henderson Alvarez‘s empty husk is also a candidate. There’s always Brad Penny!

So, here goes:

SP Chris Sale – $12 million

SP Jose Quintana – $7 million

SP Carlos Rodon – $530K

SP Miguel Gonzalez – $2.6 million

SP James Shields – $10 million

SP Carson Fulmer -

SP Tommy Milone –

SP Jon Niese –

Took the liberty of outrighting Anthony Ranaudo. Hopefully we don’t need to go into detail about why.

RP David Robertson – $12 million

RP Nate Jones – $1.9 million

RP Zach Putnam – $900K

RP Boone Logan – $5 million

RP Dan Jennings – $1.2 million

RP Jake Petricka – $900K

RP Tommy Kahnle – $520K

RP Zack Burdi –

Someone emerging to look like they want to contribute to a major league roster beyond just Burdi would be a necessary development for this group. Robertson is a oft-mentioned trade candidate, but this is a bullpen already light on elite arms worthy of high-leverage situations.

Dealing Robertson would free up money, but create a new void that the Sox do not have internal resources to fill, and given that it would likely be necessary to eat salary to clear out Robertson’s contract, it probably would not be any cheaper to find a replacement in an already light relief market. Betting on Robertson having a bounce back season at 32 after a season where he still posted a 28 percent strikeout rate doesn’t feel too dumb to try at all. Maybe Burdi makes this more realistic of a path after 2017, when moving a single year of Robertson would be simpler.

RP Chris Beck -

RP Juan Minaya –

RP Matt Purke –

RP Blake Smith –

RP Brandon Brennan –

C Nick Hundley – $2.5 million

C Omar Narvaez – $510K

C Austin Barnes –

C Reese McGuire –

C Kevan Smith –

C Alfredo Gonzalez -

Ok, guilty, made all these plans without considering the future of Kevan Smith. Maybe he can drag the Birmingham Barons to a championship.

1B Jose Abreu – $12 million

1B Pedro Alvarez – $10 million

IF Brett Lawrie – $5.1 million

IF Tyler Saladino – $520K

IF Carlos Sanchez – 

SS Tim Anderson – $510K

3B Todd Frazier – $13.5 million

3B Matt Davidson –

IF Leury Garcia -

OF Dexter Fowler – $14 million

OF Melky Cabrera – $15 million

OF Adam Eaton – $4 million

OF/DH Steve Pearce – $8 million

OF Charlie Tilson – $510K

OF Adam Engel –

OF Jason Coats –

Comparing their recent rates stats, there could seem to be a lot of potential for Pearce to steal playing time from Cabrera if he can hold up his production and stay healthy in the field. Ideally, the offensive depth here would allow for a lot of rest, a lot of flexibility and keeping a lot of guys below 140 games played, but the more likely case is that there will be some offensive collapses, and having extra bats could protect against being dependent on someone who can’t get out of a funk for the whole season. With the Sox luck, it will be both Anderson and Saladino at the same time and they’ll just be stuck with it, but we can dream for now.

Because I cannot count, and made an entire roster plan with just 24 players, Tilson and Sanchez get to battle it out in Spring for a roster spot.

In all, this is a $140.7 million Opening Day payroll, give or take several thousand dollars. That would be the largest in White Sox franchise history by roughly $13 million, making it by one standard unreasonable and bloated, and if they broke camp with that payroll last season, they be in a virtual tie for 12th in baseball for Seattle. 12th.

If it is truly beyond the White Sox resources or temperament to have an above-median payroll in a year allegedly dedicated to competing and winning, they should indeed fire sale strip down all they have and remodel themselves as an extreme bargain hunting, Andrew Friedman-style Tampa Bay Rays-type franchise–of which the current state is hardly a source of encouragement–or seriously question whether they can compete at all with their current financial resources.

We dipped heavily into free agency, because major trades are hard to pin down with any reasonable accuracy from the outside, but also because the Sox simply lack the prospect resources to land premium talent. Trying to trade mid-tier prospects for significant major league pieces is how you wind up taking risks like “Maybe Jeff Samardzija’s mechanics are fixed for good now” or “Why can’t Todd Frazier just hit like the first half of 2015 all the time?” Since the biggest signing here is a fringe All-Star role player to lead a class of platoon bats, specialists and stopgaps, this very much feels like how a team with humble resources would look to compete, if they were finally going to get serious about it.

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