Black Sox Announce Sweeping Roster Overhaul
With 13 Players Shown the Door
Chicago, November 5, 2053 -- The Black Sox front office has given fans of the last-place team a New Year's present by announcing a massive roster overhaul, with eight players booted outright and five others DFA'd off the 40-man roster.
"Blowing up the team" began in a smaller sense in the just-concluded season, as the front office traded away its few stars Bernie Stuart, Badr Isam and Scott Torres, among others.
Now, though, GM Mike Dunn is approaching the coming year with a less subtle approach, announcing that eight of the team's underperforming players will not be rejoining the team in 2054. This group of eight includes two of the team's highest paid players, outfielders Fernando Castillo and Hyeon-uk Hong, for whom the team will decline contract options. Four pending free agents will be bid adieu, and two arb eligible bums will be non-tendered. "This is Year Two of our rebuild," Dunn told reporters. "Year One was trading away our stars and tending the farm. Year Two is clearing out the mediocrities clogging up our system."
Beyond those eight, five others will be waived and designated for assignment, free to waste away on the farm should they so desire.
"It's clear after our 59-103 season, wholesale changes are needed. Even if the players we replace them with are no better, our fans need to see that we're trying," said Dunn. "This will be a new look Black Sox team."
In addition to those 13, four players who are not currently on the 40-man but who have league minimum salaries, will only be offered minor league deals. "Take it or leave it," says Dunn.
This plan means as many as 17 players who saw major league time last season may no longer be in the Black Sox organization come spring training. The 17 players being jettisoned or demoted accounted for $36.7 million of the team's already low $75.9 million payroll in 2053. Their average age is 28.3 years. "We're going to be younger next season, mark my words. We may not contend, but we'll be younger and the kids will get big league experience."
Dunn indicates that the roster holes will be filled with a combination of free agents and players from the AAA Carolina Flight and the AA Beloit Blue Sox. The Flight had a successful season in '53 at 79-67, good for a wildcard playoff spot, while the Blue Sox finished 24 games above .500 at 82-58. This compares to the Black Sox's woeful 59-103 record. "I want guys who know how to win. Besides, they earned a shot at the bigs. By jettisoning a dozen older guys, we give the kids some real opportunity to show their stuff."
Among those expected to see major league time are SP Carlos Moya, who was 11-3 last season with a 2.76 era at age 22, and 21-year old SP Dirk Bessi, whose notched a 2.78 ERA at AAA. Both were among the prospects acquired in the Isam trade with newly-crowned BBA champion Sacramento. Dunn would not confirm that Moya and Bessi will be promoted. "I'm saving anything like that for when we're closer to spring training and we see how the free agent market plays out."
The Black Sox currently have the fifth ranked farm system in the Brewster, thanks in large part to acquisitions from Dunn's trades last year. Don't expect more big trades, says Dunn. "We literally have no one left to trade," he says, "particularly after this round of house cleaning."
The list of players being jettisoned are as follows:
Team Option Declined:
LF Fernando Castillo
RF Hyeon-uk Hong
No extension offered to pending free agents:
SP Juan Guzman
RP Pedro German
LF Manny Gomez
CF Weaver Ripley
Non-tendered during arbitration:
SP Garrison Hewitt
RP Heng-Zong Tang
Designated for Assignment
1B Ron Caldwell
2B Jesus Diaz
SP Jose Hernandez
SP Wilson Milligan
RP Ricardo Negrete
Minor League Contracts Only
1b Alejandro Gonzalez
3B Carl Eassson
SP Tom Simms
RP Robby Mahoney
