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Dial125's 2022-2023 Offseason Plan


After a brutal 2022 season and with only one major trade chip remaining, it looks like only marginal improvement is the best-case scenario for Oakland in 2023. But hope is around the corner, as significant offensive reinforcements in Zack Gelof, Tyler Soderstrom, and Brett Harris are nearing promotion.

The goals for this Offseason Plan is as follows:

  1. On-Field Budget of $60M, based on last-years budget and the return of revenue-sharing dollars.
  2. Trade Sean Murphy with a high-quality headliner.
  3. Sign bounceback-candidate free agents to flip at the deadline for additional prospect capital.

First, some housekeeping. Who do we tender contracts to and who do we protect in the Rule 5 Draft?

Tender Contracts

  • Tony Kemp (5.098): $3.9MM YES

  • Deolis Guerra (4.071): $900K NO

  • Austin Pruitt (4.055): $1.2MM NO

  • Ramon Laureano (3.165): $3.6MM YES

  • Sean Murphy (3.029): $3.5MM YES

  • Paul Blackburn (3.018): $1.9MM YES

These are fairly no-brainer decisions. Guerra had a great year in 2021, but this salary is unnecessary for a guy still recovering from surgery (a minor-league deal perhaps?). Pruitt was serviceable when our bullpen was stretched thin this year, but he’s not worth $1.2 million.

Rule 5 Protection

· Max Schuemann

· Lawrence Butler

While I don’t know that we need another older middle-infield prospect, Schuemann had an incredible year at AA that someone will probably take a chance on him. Butler is one of our top prospects with strong trade value according to BTV, so he deserves protection.

Trades

Sean Murphy…the best trade partner in terms of a farm to pillage is Cleveland. St. Louis makes sense, but Tampa Bay is ultimately the one I decide to make the move with, primarily because they may be willing to offer up the blue-chip prospect that I’m looking for.

Trade C Sean Murphy (51.3), RHP Garret Acton (0.7) to TBR for RHP Taj Bradley (46.7), IF Junior Caminero (3.3), OF Mason Auer (2.0), OF Vidal Brujan (6.1)

Murphy provides a long-term solution to their offensive deficiencies behind the plate without sacrificing strong defense. Acton serves as a throw-in piece that won’t affect their annual 40-man crunch until next year. For Oakland, they get a genuine top-of-the-rotation arm that our farm sorely lacks. While Bradley is the majority of the return on paper, a few intriguing players also come back to us. Caminero is a potentially fast-moving corner IF prospect in the lower minors who could provide middle-of-the-order power. Auer has a unique power/speed combination and has the tools to be a true center fielder. He may need a couple years, but he has real potential. While this trade looks like a bit of an over-pay by Tampa, I have a feeling that they don’t view Brujan as highly as BTV suggests. Tampa continues to deal with their 40-man roster crunch so I think they would prefer to offer that roster spot to someone else.

Trade Cash Considerations (0.5) to CWS for C Carlos Perez (0.6)

The Murphy trade (obviously) causes our catching depth to take a hit, so Perez provides an interesting backup catching option. Even at 26, his solid defense and bat-to-ball skills are worth a no-risk gamble. Plus, he has options remaining. A minor-league free agent can give us a third catcher on the depth chart.

Free Agents

I tried to look for free agents that Beane & Co have had interest in or acquired in the past, plus a couple of my own choices.

Sign OF David Peralta to a 1 year, $4 Million contract

Peralta is a player that’s interested both the Oakland and AN braintrusts in the past, but he’s coming off a down year. I’m willing to gamble on him for one year as a DH and backup outfielder.

Sign IF Josh Harrison to a 1 year, $3 Million contract

Harrison was well-liked in his short stint in Oakland and, like Peralta, is coming off a down year. If he can return to form and keep his versatile defense and speed, he’ll be worth a lottery ticket or two come the trade deadline. If he deosn't perform, he seems like the kind of guy worth keeping around in the clubhouse.

Sign RHP Ken Giles to a 1 year, $1 Million contract with $4 Million dollars in incentives

Giles has had a very unique career, most recently dealing with a string of injuries. This is essentially a no-risk signing if he gets hurt again. But if he returns to his late-inning reliever past performance, he could be a hot commodity when trade season rolls around.

Sign LHP Taylor Rogers to a 2 years, $15 Million contract

Rogers may be the one signing that I’m not necessarily looking to trade. Despite falling off a cliff in September, I have a lot of confidence that Rogers will return to form wherever he signs. Thankfully, that rough September may have done enough to bring him into our price range for the kind of reliever contracts we’ve historically made.

Sign OF Michael Conforto to a 1 year, $15 Million contract (1/15)

This is a signing that I doubt would happen, but hey – it could be fun! It’s been one surgery and over a year since Conforto has played big-league ball and I have absolutely no idea what kind of deal he’ll get this offseason. But my guess would be a one-year deal to regain his value. While I’m sure that Oakland is nowhere near the top of his list, who knows? This may be one of the only times we could convince someone of All-Star upside to come to the Coliseum for a year. If he is the Conforto of old, he will be one of the top trade targets in the summer.

40-Man and Lineup

Here’s how the 40-man roster shakes out with those in bold making the Opening Day roster.

SP

C

LF

Irvin, Cole

Langeliers, Shea

Peralta, David

Blackburn, Paul

Perez, Carlos

Capel, Conner

Sears, JP

Kaprielian, James

1B

CF

Waldichuk, Ken

Brown, Seth

Laureano, Ramon

Bradley, Taj

Garcia, Dermis

Pache, Cristian

Martinez, Adrian

Butler, Lawrence

Stevenson, Cal

Logue, Zach

Medina, Luis

2B

RF

Jefferies, Daulton

Kemp, Tony

Conforto, Michael

Bride, Jonah

Bruján, Vidal

RP

Diaz, Jordan

Jimenez, Dany

Schuemann, Max

Rogers, Taylor

Acevedo, Domingo

3B

Puk, A.J.

Harrison, Josh

Giles, Ken

Smith, Kevin

Moll, Sam

Jackson, Zach

SS

Payamps, Joel

Allen, Nick

Cyr, Tyler

Hernandez, Yonny

Snead, Kirby

Lineup v. RHP

Lineup v. LHP

Kemp, Tony (2B)

Harrison, Josh (2B)

Conforto, Michael (RF)

Laureano, Ramon (DH)

Laureano, Ramon (CF)

Conforto, Michael (RF)

Brown, Seth (1B)

Langeliers, Shea (C)

Langeliers, Shea (C)

Brown, Seth (1B)

Peralta, David (DH)

Smith, Kevin (3B)

Harrison, Josh (3B)

Bruján, Vidal (LF)

Bruján, Vidal (LF)

Allen, Nick (SS)

Allen, Nick (SS)

Pache, Christian (CF)

BENCH

BENCH

Perez, Carlos

Perez, Carlos

Bride, Jonah

Bride, Jonah

Smith, Kevin

Kemp, Tony

Pache, Cristian

Peralta, David

Summary

While I don’t think this roster will make any serious runs at the playoffs, I feel this is a better roster than 2022, at least on paper. 75 wins doesn’t feel unreasonable with this team. With Gelof, Soderstrom, Harris, and maybe others joining later in the season as others are traded away, the lineup may end up with even more upside.

The budget for this team is $64 million dollars, with $59 million actually out on the field. There’s $5 million in there to finish out Trevor Rosenthal’s albatross contract. Maybe we sign him to a minor-league deal to see if he can make good? LOL

Let me know what you think! Thanks for your time in reading this. As always, Go A’s!