While it was disappointing not to win, there's no shame in winning our third straight AL pennant and two championships in three years. However while on offense it's going to largely be a reload, the bullpen is going to require a makeover and some other changes will have to be made. The tough thing right now is that we have $170M to spend on payroll and that also happens to be the projected combined obligations we have to those still on the roster, with holes to fill. So some bodies are going to have to be shed and some deals made in order to field the best team we can in 2035.
First off, our free agents are largely from the bullpen where the longtime back end of Randy Rodriguez and Gerald Ogando are both out of contract. R-Rod slumped significantly last year (although he rebounded in the playoffs) while Ogando started 2034 poorly but wound up our best reliever and was our closer down the stretch and in the postseason. So we're going to need a new closer. Also opting out of his deal was starter Aldry Acosta, who missed the last couple of months with surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow, but we managed to get by without him. Elsewhere we say goodbye to Juan Oviedo and Walt Khattak (again), and of course midseason trade acquisition dud Juan Soto is gone (good riddance).
The salary situation for the rest who aren't making the minimum next year:
A position-by-position outlook:
C: A position of strength with Rutschman back again (albeit at 36 and making $25M) but he's still coming off a 4.2-WAR season. Jalen Lowe is a capable backup and capable of starting for many other teams, and we also have Sung-ho Kim at Durham who belongs in the bigs. Rutschman has another year on his contract (a player option which could go either way). I hate to trade Lowe and leave us struggling for the future but we might need to as he would bring more than Kim.
1B/2B/3B: Our offensive core of Haro, Pino and White returns.
SS: Isaac Cedillos is projected to make $4.1M next year and we have a capable (and better fielding) replacement in Vinny Arroyo, our #1 pick in 2033 who's ready for the bigs and had a +14.8 ZR at Durham. So Cedillos is either traded or non-tendered.
IF: Carson Williams won't be back, saving us about $5M and his utility role will go to Jon Ransom.
OF: I went "OF" here instead of the individual positions because it's a bit up in the air who plays where. Hector Gurrola is a lock at either LF or CF and Will Perez was impressive enough to claim a starting role, probably in CF. Alstair Hardy rewarded our faith in giving him a contract extension before last season by going out and hitting 216/308/356 against righties which is a problem since they're about 75% of starters. It got to the point where he sat against them but we're stuck with him at $8.3M next season so he'll get a shot to prove 2033 wasn't a fluke and play RF. And then there's Simon Juan, who earned 2.6 WAR overall last year and whom we could bring back at close to $5M to mix and match with Hardy and Perez although I'd like a cheaper 4th OF given our financial constraints.
DH: Up in the air right now with Evan Bell the best choice against RHP right now although he'd need a platoon partner, which could be one of the OFs if we keep all four or someone else altogether.
Rotation: A strength with Najera/Lennon/Vargas/Buckman/Fragoso all returning. We don't have any depth beyond those five though so an injury could be injurious.
Bullpen: As mentioned above, we're going to need a makeover. Chase Lee was outstanding last year and is probably our best remaining reliever but we're also not going to bring back Joe Boyle or Jaden Stevenson to save about $10M so we're going to have to be creative here.
Going to be an interesting offseason.