RosterResource Chat – 11/13/25

Jason Martinez: Welcome to the RosterResource Live Chat! Here we go …

Bill Z.: Reds won’t trade Hunter Greene but they have a lot of SP depth. Who is most likely to be traded from their rotation?

Jon Becker: Brady Singer, no doubt about it. He was pretty good this year but it was the third straight year where his best asset was his durability/availability rather than the bigger flashes of brilliance he showed in 2022. He’s due an estimated $11.9M in arbitration and they could reinvest that money in a hitter (or trade him straight up for a hitter, Taylor Ward maybe?). That would give them a rotation of Greene, Abbott, Lodolo, Burns, and either a cheaper addition or a finally-healthy Rhett Lowder.

matty25: Is there any chance at all that the Jays sign both Bo and Tucker? Or if they sign one are they out on the other?

Jason Martinez: I don’t see why not. I can easily see them going all out for 2 free agents. Springer and Varsho are both free agents after 2026 so adding both Bichette/Tucker make some sense. But Gausman and Bieber are also free agents after next season so maybe the priority is SP. Maybe Varsho/Gausman/Bieber are all extension candidates. In any case, they need to keep the momentum going. Then again, billionaire owners usually disappoint.

drplantwrench: angels supposedly want to move one of their OFers yet dont have a true CF – is next year Nelson Rada time?

Jon Becker: I wouldn’t put this past them because he was great in Triple-A, but it would be leaving them without much of a safety net behind him (Teodosio would be next, I suppose), and it looks like Rada will, at best, be something like Ben Revere with a lot more strikeouts and maybe a little bit more pop. Not exactly an impact bat. I would guess that their aim is to trade one of the corner guys for pitching (like Ward for Singer as I mentioned above, or Adell for someone under more club control), and then add a real CF in FA (Grisham, Bader, Mullins)

Xavier M.: Who leads the Dodgers in saves next season?

Jason Martinez: These are always fun because it’s so unpredicatable regardless of whether there is an obvious answer. With the Dodgers, they don’t have an obvious answer and yet might have 10-12 names with closer stuff that you could choose. And that’s aside from Tanner Scott possibly bouncing back or the Dodgers going all out for Edwin Diaz. I don’t know if I’d trust Roki Sasaki but he’s not going to be handed a rotation spot and I’m not sure the Dodgers want to send him to AAA. His stuff is so good and he seemed pretty comfortable out of the ‘pen. I’d go with him for now.

Jon Becker: I’ll say it’ll be someone not currently on the team, and they were just connected to Devin Williams (and he thought he would get traded there last offseason), so let’s go with him.

Jordan: How would you deal with the Mets SP situation? There’s a mix of intriguing young arms (McLean, Tong, Sproat, Scott) and the vets who either had meh or disappointing seasons (Senga, Manaea, Peterson, Holmes). Do you just roll with mostly the same group and hope for one or two of the vets to bounce back while also continuing to develop the kids, or should they get aggressive on the trade/free agent market and look for an ace-level starter? Thanks!

Jon Becker: Yeah, they simultaneously have a bunch of options and some huge question marks. Assuming health, McLean is the only guy guaranteed to both be on the roster *and* in the starting rotation next year; Peterson and Senga are floating around in trade rumors; and Holmes and/or Manaea could end up in the bullpen. I’m not sure of Stearns’ willingness to sign QO-attached free agents, but a reticence there could be part of why they’re interested in Imai (it also helps that Imai’s young and really good). So I’ll say they trade Peterson for hitting and roll with McLean-FA addition (Imai? Merrill Kelly?) as the top two and then keep things an open competition for spots 3-5.

Guest: Can you explain the difference between Steamer playing time projections and Depth Chart playing time projections?

Jason Martinez: Not 100% sure on how they come up with their PT projections but I’m pretty sure those systems have an algorithm that comes up with a projection based on several factors.

Depth Charts projections are just me. Because my projections are used for our W/L, playoff chances, etc., they’re all based on 100% at each position and roster construction will be a big factor. And you can just ask me directly about a projection and I’ll tell you exactly what I’m thinking.

2131, 1312: Os claim to be targeting top of the starting pitching market, but does that actually seem likely? Who would make sense as a fallback in tier 2 or 1B? and what is the chance they add multiple starters?

Jon Becker: Considering Elias’ general dislike for big pitcher contracts, I’ll believe it when I see it. Maybe he views Imai as something of an exception because of his age (though I haven’t yet seen if they have interest in him or not), but I don’t expect him to be giving out 5-7 year deals for any starters. Maybe a shorter-term deal with opt outs for someone like Michael King is more up his alley, or just sign one of the older guys like Kelly or Chris Bassitt. They definitely need multiple arms so they could spread the money around.

Decoy san: How many ABs next year for Rushing? 250? 400? If the Dodgers don’t sign or trade for a corner OF, could Rushing (IF his bat comes to resemble what it’s been in the minors) become a hybrid catcher/OFer?

Jason Martinez: Especially after winning another World Series, I think the Dodgers will continue to lean into the “just make sure all our best guys are healthy in October” approach. And a big part of that will be Will Smith, who usually catches between 105-115 games. Maybe they drop that to the 90-95 range. think they’d be fine with giving Rushing 40-42% of the starts. Still not a lot of PAs (maybe in the 250-300 range) because there probably won’t be a lot of opportunities (or a necessity) to have him play 1B or LF other than a few more days off for Freddie Freeman. And, unless they plan on carrying 3 catchers (probably not), they’ll be careful with how often they use him as a PH.

Jackson: If Schwarber doesn’t resign, what is the plan for the Phillies and who do you see them going after? He likely will resign but this is just a fun thought exercise

Jon Becker: I don’t think they’re as willing to move Harper back to the OF as they might’ve been in prior years, and he’s very good at first, so I don’t think they’d pivot to Alonso, for example. I’d be curious to know how they feel about Murakami, since he might be the most divisive FA of this class considering how much he strikes out and has struggled with velocity. He’s the most Schwarberian FA besides Schwarber himself, but he’s of course got way more question marks than the guy who’s hit 187 homers against MLB pitching the last four years.

Joey B.: Path to the majors for Sebastian Walcott? Currently blocked at SS by Corey Seager. Maybe 3B or OF?

Jason Martinez: He’s started 37 games at 3B over the past two seasons but hasn’t played anywhere else (other than SS) besides that. So if they continued to stick with SS/3B, he could theoretically push Josh Jung at 3B. But that would require him taking a big step forward in 2026, which isn’t out of the question with his potential. Just needs to show more power but he more than held his own as a 19-year-old in AA (.741 OPS, 32 SB).

Not sure he’s close enough for them to test him out in the OF just in case his bat is forcing the issue. But he could force the issue once everything clicks.

2022 draft: Who’s most likely to make the majors next year: Kevin Parada, Jacob Berry, Gavin Cross

Jon Becker: I’d guess Berry. Cross was below-average in Double-A and Parada is at best fourth on the organizational depth chart at catcher right now, but Berry held his own in AAA and while I think the Marlins might take another step forward next year there’ll be a point when Berry’s versatility will come in handy.

Denard Spam: Who would the Padres be able and willing to trade away to make payroll more appealing to a potential buyer?

Jason Martinez: Only big contracts that are tradable are Tatis and Merrill. And trading Tatis, who has a no-trade clause (very important), doesn’t really help because he’s the No. 1 reason why attendance is one of the highest in the league over the past several seasons. Even if they can get $250MM (or whatever he’s owed) off the books, that’s a big revenue hit if attendance starts to drop off because they traded their most popular player.

And Merrill isn’t quite at Tatis’ level of popularity but he has that potential. So I don’t really see a potential sale affecting them too much.

Ryan: Do you see a path back to contention for the Diamondbacks next year? It just seems like they’ve got too many holes and not enough resources with which to fill them all

Jon Becker: I think saying “definitely not” would be going too far because you never know what’s going to happen and they nearly made the playoffs this year despite selling at the deadline, but they’re certainly not in a great spot. Indications are that payroll will be lower, and while it’s already $44M lower for 2026 than 2025, I don’t know exactly how much room that gives them — and that’s probably why they’re at least listening on Ketel Marte. Short of a big trade I don’t see how they can get the pitching they need while keeping payroll at, say, $170M or less.

Chauncy: David Stearns has indicated Caron Benge would get a shot at the OD roster.  How would you handle the Mets’ CF picture:  (1) In-House (Taylor, Benge); (2) Low Cost, Short-Term Trade Acquisition (i.e., the Taylor/Siri route); or (3) Hunt for Bigger Fish (presumably in trade)?

Jason Martinez: My assumption is that they’ll look to add 1 impact bat and it won’t be a CF if they think Benge is close. And I think, assuming they add that impact bat, the lineup is good enough 1-8 that Tyrone Taylor hitting in the No. 9 spot as the stopgap to Benge is perfectly fine.

Big Sally: A deal centered around something like Singer or Lodolo for Duran/Abreu makes sense for both teams, no?

Jon Becker: There’s a big difference between what Singer (one year of control left) and Lodolo (two years) would bring back, and same with Duran (three years) and Abreu (four years). Even if the Reds sweetened the pot with prospects (which they would have to) to get Duran or Abreu, I don’t think the Red Sox would be all that interested in Lodolo or Singer. Breslow said yesterday that they’re looking for a “1A” starting pitcher who can slot in after Crochet and they can be fully confident in making a playoff start, which sounds much more like Joe Ryan than Lodolo or Singer as far as trade candidates go.

Ronnie: Which White Sox prospect makes it to the big leagues first between Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith?

Jason Martinez: Based on their 2025 performances, I’d say that neither looks particularly close because of the high walk totals. And the White Sox haven’t been particularly aggressive with their prospects and aren’t operating as if they’ve reached their window of contention.

Both pitchers are super talented and could move quickly once they figure it out. Wouldn’t surprise if both took a big step forward next season. My guess is that Smith gets the call first and then Schultz won’t be far behind. Probably 2nd half call-ups so the team gets a good look before both have a chance for 25+ starts in the majors in 2027.

Phil: With Stone and Ryan coming back, Sheehan and Wrobleski coming into their own, and Sasaki perhaps being a starting option this year, do the Dodgers deal from their surplus of pitching to get an OF bat, or do they keep them all to win the war of attrition over the 162 game season?

Jon Becker: I don’t want to guarantee they’ll keep everyone, but I do think the “you can never have too much starting pitching” strategy worked well for them this year, so they’ll surely go into spring training with something like 8-9 legitimate SP options, at least. I assume a six-man rotation is still under consideration for them and there could be at least a little bit of monitoring of Ohtani’s innings.

Jason Martinez: That will do it for today. Thanks for joining us. Have a great rest of the week!