RosterResource Chat – 4/4/25

Jason Martinez: Welcome to the 1st regular season RosterResource Live Chat. I really love the offseason. Maybe as much as anyone could love the offseason. But I really love having real baseball games everyday even more.

Let’s discuss everything that’s been happening, should happen, might happen, etc.

BC26: In the Yankee bullpen, who do you think is on the chopping block to make room for Hamilton and Loaisiga?

Jon Becker: Hamilton’s return is more imminent, and to make room for him I’ll guess Headrick since he can be optioned and Yarbrough/Yoendrys can both cover multiple innings. If nobody is injured when Loáisiga comes back, then it’s whoever’s been less effective between Yarbrough and Yoendrys. But that’s a May decision.

Jjp: Bender, closer or just one of several?

Jason Martinez: Going into the season, I thought Faucher was the clear leader with not a lot of options behind him aside from Bender. But Faucher’s lack of track record means there isn’t a long leash. So one bad outing, followed by a Bender save, and I think it’s probably Bender’s job to lose for now. Could it be both or multiple guys? I don’t think the Marlins will win often enough for that to be a possibility.

Vince: In 12-tm H2H category, how would you rank these three ML stashes for 2025 impact — Chandler Simpson, Zenby Matthews, Noah Schultz, David Festa? If you have time, why? Thanks

Jon Becker: Neither of us are equipped to answer specific fantasy questions, just FYI, but since this is general enough re: 2025 impact: I think Schultz, Matthews, Zebby, Simpson. White Sox should have plenty of innings open throughout the year, Zebby has been really impressive in AAA but there’s less of a clear path to innings, ditto for Festa. Simpson finding PT might be a little tougher even with Lowe out because Misner, Mangum and Deluca have all performed in (very) small samples.

Pads: Why do Schildt and/or Preller hate Eguy? It hurts my heart that we kept Gurriel instead when Eguy has youth, talent, and versatility on his side. Probably could have platooned with Cronenworth too if Croney’s platoon splits regress back to last year’s.

Jason Martinez: All we can do is speculate on what a player’s own team and other teams think about them until this situation comes up. By DFAing Eguy, I think the Padres were saying that they didn’t believe he’d be a good bench player despite some good traits (hits LHP, power, speed, defensive versatility). I tend to agree that the veteran guys are better in that part-time role. But the fact that he cleared waivers also tells us how the rest of the league feels about him. I’m glad he stays. But also have to think his value is much lower than expected.

El Coffee: What do you think is the timeline for Evan Carter? Is this just a short “get right” demotion or is he really buried until an injury?

Jon Becker: If he gets right they’ll find time for him no problem; we had him as the projected CF most of the offseason with Leody on the bench, after all. But he’s 1-for-20 to start his MiLB season, understandable considering how much time he missed, so I wouldn’t expect him to be up anytime soon. And I’m sure they’re looking for particular underlying markers as well as the ability to stay on the field — I’m not sure they’ll bring him up if he requires a bunch of days off.

Nestor Cortes: That Yankee game of mine was a fluke, right?

Jason Martinez: I would think so. His track record at Yankee stadium is good so it’s not a case of a guy without overpowering stuff getting crushed in a hitter’s ballpark. He knows how to pitch. And I’m not buying into the Torpedo bat effect (at least not yet). Main concern is that he was injured at the end of last season. But he looked healthy in his 2nd start.

Jjp: Is Pavin Smith able to hit both lefties and righties or is he destined to always be platooned?

Jon Becker: This is the ultimate Catch-22 in roster/lineup construction: hitters won’t prove they can hit lefties unless you let them try, but they need to prove it to get those opportunities. For Smith specifically, the roster just isn’t constructed to give him a bunch of rope against lefties, though maybe there’ll be times where Naylor sits against a lefty and Smith is still in there.

Randy Choate: Can you explain what the Rays are doing with Morel’s playing time to start the year? I expected him to be as close to a regular as a hitter in TB can get but they’ve already sat him in several times.

Jason Martinez: Sitting him 2 consecutive games after he started off 3-for-9 with 2 BB is a surprise. But maybe they just wanted to keep Jake Mangum in the lineup after his 4-hit game. And then a 3-hit game. They’ll pick their spots with Morel since he can be so streaky.

Tacoby Bellsbury: Freddie Freeman getting hurt by slipping in the shower puts him on the all-time off-field injuries team with Glenallen Hill (nightmare), Sammy Sosa (sneezing) and Wade Boggs (boots), right?

Jon Becker: I think I’d have him in a lower tier, maybe not even the tier right below Hill, Sosa, and Boggs. Re-aggravating a previous injury to get on the list feels a little bit like cheating. Another good one is Jeremy Affeldt slicing his hand trying to separate frozen burgers with a knife.

Willie Mays Hays: Who should I be rostering for saves for the White Sox and Tigers? (answer can be nobody)

Jason Martinez: For the White Sox, I’d stick with Clevinger. He’s the default closer, I’d think, and the only other guy in that bullpen with “closer stuff” is Jordan Leasure. And he’s already had a rough outing. Shane Smith has stuff to succeed in a high-leverage role if they move him to the bullpen later in the season, although they’d probably be in a cautious mode with him at that point.

For the Tigers, that’s a tough one. I’d stick with Kahnle since he got the 1st 9th inning save and maybe Hinch sticks with what works. But I can see him spreading those out between at least 4 guys (Holton, Brieske, Vest).

Luke S: Looking for an NL Only pickup – who is going to pitch the most MLB innings this year? Liberatore, Dollander, Kyle Hart, Spiers, THarrington?

Jon Becker: Coin flip between Liberatore and Dollander. Hurt’s buried on the depth chart, Harrington might not have the stuff to hold onto a spot without much better command, and Spiers is probably in third place since he looked good in his first start but will probably get bumped when Abbott’s stretched out. I might lean Liberatore just because I could see Dollander putting up a 5.50 ERA but 3.50 FIP and the Rockies will only care about the former when sending him down.

Josh: Speaking of Nestor, what’s the thought process behind assigning 22 games pitched as a reliever to him?

Jason Martinez: There’s not a good way to spread out 100% of starts when you know that injuries will likely allow for another 20%. So I try to utilize the RP projections to bump IP by 10-20 in some cases. You can also make a case that Nestor could be the SP6 or SP7 in a best-case scenario (everyone healthy, 1 or 2 young guys step up) so it’s not out of the question.

PokeyReese: What do you expect the Red Sox to do with Meyer & Anthony if they continue to crush AAA pitching. No real path to playing time.

Jon Becker: Maybe it would ruffle too many feathers, but it’s not entirely implausible that (if nobody gets hurt first) they would sit Story in favor of Mayer and Rafaela in favor of Anthony, with them both (Rafaela especially) still getting into plenty of games. Breslow made clear with the Bregman acquisition/Devers move to DH that he’s not going to be bound to the personnel decisions or promises Chaim Bloom made.

Garver: Is there a world where Garver gets more than small side platoon at bats?

Jason Martinez: Probably not much more. He’s only started against LHP so far, but I think there are going to be times where they face a bunch of RHPs in a row and Raleigh needs a break. Other than that, he’ll need to hit (he’s only 1-for-12) and have guys like Tellez/Raley not hit.

Insert Witty Name Here: More of a general fantasy question: which set up men are best positioned to gain the closer role? Also, who do you trust more in the PHI pen?

Jon Becker: I could see the Orioles going to more of a committee if Bautista still looks rusty — maybe Cano would be the favorite there? Mason Montgomery and Porter Hodge are also worth keeping an eye on. As for Phillies I think in the aggregate I trust Alvarado the most, but he’s also going to have games like yesterday where he has 30+ pitches in an inning and looks like the least-trustworthy menu. The steadiest guys in that pen are probably Kerkering and Strahm.

Phil: So, I know it’s not only April but April 4th, but right now it looks like both Campbell and Abreu are the kinds of guys you play every day, and Cora has said definitively that Devers will only DH, which would seem to make Romy Gonzalez and David Hamilton the most-used backups. Do you have any thoughts about where all of that leaves Refsnyder and, especially, Yoshida?

Jason Martinez: I think Abreu/Refsnyder will continue to be the platoon and then Cora will always have the option of sitting one of the other lefty batters (Duran, Devers, Casas) for a rest day so he could give Wilyer an opportunity to prove he can hit lefties.  

They’re going to slow-walk Yoshida’s rehab as much as possible and then work very hard to find a trade partner. Doesn’t appear to be a spot for him, barring an injury.

Plaster of Paris: Kyren Paris seems a little interesting in not-la. Can he find more at bats or did he do something to Ron Washington?

Jon Becker: Ron Washington is fairly rigid with lineups, so it’s not going to be super easy for him. But injuries and days off still happen, so I think he’ll still be able to get time all over the diamond. The swing/stance change seems to be doing him wonders, early as it may be.

Dezenzo: I like Triple Z (aka Zach Dezenzo) in Houston. Is there a path to more at bats?

Jason Martinez: I think RF is his best path if Cam Smith struggles. He’s gotten 2 starts there so far. The big question is how long the Astros give Smith if he continues to struggle. It was a huge decision to include him on the Opening day roster so I don’t think they send him to Triple-A after just 2-3 weeks. But maybe they would a month from now if he hasn’t turned it around.

By the way, our Lineup Tracker is very useful … https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/lineup-tracker/astros

Willie Mays Hays: How much of an impact do you think Kristan Campbell’s contract in the works during spring training influenced his breaking camp with the Sox?  Do you think similar offers were made to Mayer and Anthony and rejected?

Jon Becker: Definitely a big impact, especially if the Red Sox (and this is just hypothetical, I don’t know) viewed carrying him on the roster as imperative to getting a deal done. Re: Mayer and Anthony, it wouldn’t completely surprise me, but what if all three had accepted? Like I mentioned before, it’s hard (but not impossible) to fit all three in the lineup. I don’t think the Red Sox would have taken deals off the table just because someone accepted first. They’re all too good to fully block off and I still think all three will have significant playing time in the majors this year (Campbell the most, of course)

Galen: Can Isaac Collnis force his way to more playing time? Seems to have been pretty good at AAA last year. Decent K% and BB %

Jason Martinez: He’s gotten back-to-back starts vs LHP so that’s a good sign. Between Yelich, Mitchell, and Frelick, it seems like one them will sit vs LHP and Collins will continue to start. Not sure how much they trust him in the infield, though. Once Blake Perkins returns, I’d think there is one spot available on the bench for Capra/Collins and someone has to play 3B to platoon with Dunn.

Jon Becker: And Collins hit third the other day, so Pat Murphy is showing it doesn’t take much to sway him.

Beano: What are the Rockies doing? Martini and Moniak? At least they are benching Bryant but why not play Veen, Beck and Doyle and see what they have?

Jon Becker: This has just never been how they’ve operated under Bud Black, very much to their detriment. Moniak is still young enough where I can understand starting him often, but I can’t say the same for Martini. I’ve wanted them to give Sean Bouchard significant run for years and they just haven’t.

E: A lot of outlets seem to be acting like drew rasmussen is the one occupying shane mcclanahan’s rotation spot. This seems way off to me. I can see protecting his innings later in the year, but this seems like a 6 man rotation or littel being the one on the outs. What do you think?

Jason Martinez: This was about to be one of the more interesting Opening Day roster decisions. All other teams with the possibility of a 6-man rotation had already been resolved. Rays were the last one where we just weren’t sure who’d be the odd man out.

Littell seems the most capable of bouncing back and forth so he’d be my choice if McClanahan returns within the next month or two. I don’t think they’d want Rasmussen to bounce back and forth since he’s coming back from the injury. Once they move him to the bullpen, it will probably be for the remainder of the season. So my expectation is that they keep Rasmussen in the rotation and then move him to the bullpen sometime in the 2nd half.

Adenolith: Pretty clear now that the Braves were lying when they said they weren’t limited by payroll right? What’s the purpose of not saying, “hey, we’re getting up against the wall right now, but we’re going to do our best?”

Jon Becker: They are indeed quite a bit lower than last year’s payroll! https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/payroll/braves So yes, the idea that they weren’t limited and could have gotten close to or over last year’s levels certainly looks wrong now. But on the other hand, it’s not like they knew Profar would be suspended, and teams also don’t want to spend money just to hit a certain number. Not many other places they could have added to the payroll but not augmenting the bullpen when they knew Jiménez would be out and Minter would be gone sure looks like a miss so far.

Red Foreman: please speculate on when Zebby and Festa are in the MIN rotation?

Jason Martinez: Really depends on how many bad starts they can take from Paddack. He’s capable of being a good MLB starter and the Twins want to give him some time to get back to that. He hasn’t pitched much since 2021. Being in a bad division allows them to be more patient. But having some great options in AAA will force the issue. My guess is that he gets 3-4 starts to show some significant progress.

Aaron: Which would you prefer ROS between Goodman and Wells?

Jon Becker: Wells, easily. Goodman will hit some tanks but I’m not sure he can actually hit nor do I think he has the glove to stick at catcher. Wells is a top 5-ish catcher in the league.

Nick: What are the Pirates doing with Yorke and Davis? I still believe in both, and I think the best version of their team includes them producing on the MLB roster.

Jason Martinez: Similar for both, I think. Stuck in AAA until the team decides they are ready to give them everyday at-bats. And there really isn’t a path to everyday at-bats for Davis, barring injury to Bart or Endy. For Yorke, I think he could get a shot if they get limited production at 2B from Frazier/Valdez/Triolo in the next 1-2 weeks.

Ross: Do you think Tyler Freeman will get more run anytime soon?  I can’t understand why they traded for him to have him ride the pine even with the Estrada injury.  He has some of the best offensive projections on the team (admittedly not saying much).

Jon Becker: I think he’ll play against plenty of lefties, they’ve just only faced the one so far (and he didn’t start, to be fair), so these things fluctuate. His versatility certainly helps there.

Jason Martinez: Thanks for joining us today. We’ll be back next Friday at the same time. Have a great weekend!