My opinions and suggestions:
Vicideo will probably get the nod at 1st (doubt they resign Konerko or sign Dunn)
Moral will (I'm guessing) be the starter at third
Sign Victor Martinez for catching (I have ZERO confidence for Tyler Flowers)
Move TCQ to DH (or just trade him if possible...)
resign Thornton & Putz
Don't offer Jenks arb
get a starter not named Freddy Garcia if Peavy isn't ready
Sign a few bullpen arms.
:shrug:
1) It's Morel, not Moral. :tongue:
2) Though V-Mart would be nice, he's probably going to command a contract that is at least similar to what you would be paying Konerko if he were to be brought back at a discount, and that's just talking salary--who knows what he's going to want in terms of years. If you can nab him for 3 years (unlikely, as I would think he wouldn't like to be searching for a contract at age 34), that's great, but anything more than that is risky considering he is 31 now, TCQ is your DH for the foreseeable future, and Viciedo might start to look like a DH-only type once he starts getting regular reps in the field, effectively creating a log-jam at DH should Martinez degrade quickly with age and not be able to handle full-time catching duties.
Also, with V-Mart's career rate-based numbers being essentially equal with Konerko's (PK has the edge in SLG, Martinez in OBP), you have essentially shifted the need-spot from catcher to first base. That being the case, Viciedo better be able to produce
now at least at the level we can reasonably expect from AJ (as much as I dog the guy for being a pud, 2010 does look like an aberration) because you are essentially swapping him for Viciedo in the lineup (and V-Mart for PK). If Viciedo produces below what we can expect from AJ, and Martinez
doesn't have a stellar year, the team has cost itself runs by waiving goodbye to PK and AJ.
3) With all that, who is going to play RF? Quentin is now in the DH slot (which is the best spot for him), but is Mark Teahen really going to be that much of an upgrade? Since we're talking about moving guys around that are already on the squad, we don't need to worry about their offensive production matching up, but I don't know if Teahen is that much of a better RF option than Quentin. Perhaps with a full off-season and Spring Training of OF work under his belt, but the team better be sure of that before they go this route.
And if not Teahen, you have resigned him to the fate of being a highly-overpaid bench player ($4.75 and $5.5 million for the next two seasons, respectively), as well as used up a good majority (presumably all) of the money you would have spent on Konerko on V-Mart, so can you find a competent replacement RFer for the money you saved in not bringing back AJ? I look at the salaries as a zero-sum type of thing because I think it is a more than safe assumption that the payroll for this season isn't going to go up by any more than the raises afforded to some individual players (the Edwin Jackson acquisition
really hurts the team from this perspective) already on the team, and thus a huge spike in payroll is almost certainly out of the question.
Then you still have to address the bullpen, and while Putz isn't going to command top-reliever money, the salary he is more than likely going to want will be a significant increase over his $3 million paycheck this season. You can pick up Thornton's $3 million option, but that is still a raise given to him, cutting even deeper into whatever money you have still under the budget, and that's assuming you have any left at all.
As for going out and grabbing a starter? That probably isn't going to happen, and if it does, while it might not be Freddy Garcia in name, it will be Freddy Garcia in approximate age and ability, because the team doesn't have the money to go out and grab anything better (unless they get very lucky). So look for them to jam Chris Sale into a starting role any way they can, and I don't think giving a side-winder with violent mechanics more innings is the best idea long-term.
All that being said, you don't know what Viciedo is going to give you and you don't know what Morel will bring to the table (or even if he can hit MLB pitching consistently), so those two positions are still question marks as far as production goes. These moves are all great in theory, but without Viciedo and Morel giving you real value right off the bat and V-Mart staying healthy and producing at well-above-average (or just at/above career norms), this team could very easily look like the 2010 incarnation, just with different names on the backs of a few jerseys.