Off Season Redo Before Spring Training Starts

Spring Training starts today. I am not going to go poetic on fresh cut grass and all teams are 0-0, at least not in this article. Instead, I will give everyone a chance to give their final opinions on how the Royals should have handled this past off season. It is time to create your perfect off season. Who would you have signed or trade for? At the end of the season, we will come back and see how everyone did.

First, here are the major salary off season transactions for the Royals.

Bought out Soria's contract

Cost of buyout: $0.75M

Traded Brandon Sick to the Angels for Ervin Santana

Salary taken on for Santana: $12M (2013 only)

Signed Jeremy Guthrie

Salary taken on $5M (2013), $11M (2014), $9M (2015)

Traded Mike Montgomery, Jake Odorizzi, Patrick Leonard and Wil Myers to the Rays for Wade Davis and James Shields

Salary taken on for Shields: $11M (2013), $12M (2014). Both option years with buyouts.

Salary taken on for Davis: $2.8M (2014), $4.8M (2014), $7M (2015), $8M (2016), $10M (2017), 2015 to 2017 are option years.

Signed Miguel Tejada

Salary taken on: $1.1M (2013)

Offered Arbitration to Chris Getz

Resigned for: $1.05M (2013)

Offered Arbitration to Luke Hochevar

Resigned: $4.56M (2013)

Signed George Kottaras off waivers

Signed: $1M (2013)

Total salary taken on for 2013: $39.26. Only on the hook for $20 in 2014 and 2015

OK, so here are the rules.

1. You have $39.26M to spend on players for 2013. Also, around $25 for 2014 and 2015.
2. This is the Royals, who can't sign anyone at contract value, so for every free agent signed by another team, a 20% increase in salary must be added. The Royals supposedly over paid for their free agents, you must also. For example, the Tigers signed Torii Hunter for $12M. The Royals extra 20%, $2.4M, would make the salary be $14.4M.
3. No making up trades. You can trade for players who were actually traded, with comparable players, but can't just say a trade would have happened. No one in their right mind would trade for Luke Hochevar or Bruce Chen and their contracts. Also, make sure the positions are similar.

Go at it and have some fun. At the end of the season, I will look back and see if you could do a better job with Glass's $37M+ dollars than Dayton did with it.