RosterResource Chat – 5/2/25

Jason Martinez: Welcome to the RosterResource Live Chat! We have a fun weekend ahead of us with the return of Lance McCullers Jr, Ranger Suarez, and Tyler Stephenson, likely return of Ketel Marte, and maybe even Jackson Merrill. Also a few interesting MLB debuts … Gunnar Hoglund, Blade Tidwell, and Blaine Crim. As always, a lot to discuss.

And here we go ..

Red Sox: What is most likely to happen with Yoshida, Rafaela, Anthony? Is Casas a trade candidate?

Jon Becker: When Anthony’s up, and that should be pretty soon, he’ll be starting every day, no question. Assuming that’s in LF, Duran will shift to CF and Rafaela to the bench as a super-utilityman and late-game defensive replacement, a role I’ve always thought he was best suited for anyway. As for Yoshida, his throwing program has stalled and he’s not at all close to playing in games, it seems, so his stint in purgatory will drag on a (long?) while longer.

RoyalBlue: Noah Cameron with an impressive debut. Future 3 or 4 starter or likely reliever?

Jason Martinez: Lean heavily towards SP3 or SP4. Along with the strong command of a 4-pitch mix, Eric Longenhagen wrote in his last scouting report that there was “basically no reliever risk”. And I think that’s rare from Eric, who can be a tough critic.

L’Endrick: Who are a couple of the next legit prospects (top-50?) to make their debuts?  Anyone interesting feel like they’re beating the door down taking into account organizational constraints?

Jon Becker: In addition to the aforementioned Anthony, some top prospects I could see coming up within the next month or so: Marcelo Mayer (2B, with more OF for Campbell, maybe?), Matt Shaw (back on track at AAA, it looks like), Jordan Lawlar, Jac Caglianone, Kyle Teel. Jac would be the most aggressive promotion but he’s starting to get time in RF and that team needs whatever offense they can get.

Kx: Pablo Lopez. Will the Twins look to move him earlier than the TDL due to finances?

Jason Martinez: Not strictly due to $ but I think it could play a part. My general cutoff for whether I think a team is a seller near the deadline is sub .500 and more than 7 games out from a playoff spot. So trading him earlier (late June/early July) would probably be more like 5+ games under .500 and at least 8-10 games out.

Guest: If you were taking over a team as GM, and got to pick from either James Wood, Wyatt Langford, Jackson Chourio or PCA to be on your team who would you choose and why.

Jon Becker: I think my order of preference would be Langford, Chourio, Wood, PCA. Langford’s been star-level dating back to September of last year, and the big concern with him was his fielding and those concerns have completely gone away. Chourio is the youngest but might be more of a great corner guy than a good CF, which limits his value a bit, and I’m not loving the 32:2 K:BB this year. Wood’s got the most offensive upside but his defense has been really, really bad and his whiff-heavy skillset tends not to age very well. PCA’s having the best season so far but I need more of a sample size of his in-zone contact improvements to know they’re legit. All awesome players, though, and plausible they’re all All-Stars this year!

Chris: Who do you think goes once Johnny Lasagna and Stro are ready, Hamilton and Warren bc have options? (I know new injuries could change things).  How about if DJ is back, and they want to add Bryan DLC, is Peraza at risk of being DFAd? (Assuming Reyes is already gone for DJ)

Jason Martinez: Yeah, pretty straightforward. Unless things go off the rails for Matzek or Yarbrough, I think Hamilton to AAA would be the only option. But they’ve got a few weeks. Injuries can occur. And unless Warren really starts to separate himself from Carrasco, there’s no need to cut into their depth by DFAing Carrasco. More likely once Luis Gil returns.

In regards to Peraza, his value is way down but I doubt they’d expose him to waivers just to add BDLC. He was just brought in for depth.

COL.: Is Agnos now the closer?

Jon Becker: Seems like it! What an interesting start to his career: 7.1 innings and 26 batters faced, one strikeout, zero walks, zero homers. Not your traditional closer so Halvorsen or Kinley might end up getting the job back.

Beano: What is the Padre plan for the OF? Ornelas seems to need more time in AAA

Jason Martinez: Ornelas is definitely the odd man out. Hasn’t gotten much of a chance, but also hasn’t shown much in that limited opportunity. They’re gonna stick with Heyward in LF. The big question is who his platoon partner will be … Oscar Gonzalez, Connor Joe, or Brandon Lockridge. Seems like it would be Lockridge because of his speed/defense and the other guys haven’t hit. More interesting scenario now is that they’re likely to keep Tyler Wade, which could mean no platoon partner for either Heyward or Gavin Sheets once everyone is healthy.

Shandy koufax: Arizona bullpen crashout! Think its a committee of miller/Ginkel rn?

Jon Becker: Really tough sequence of events for them, for sure, but at least Puk won’t need surgery? Martinez didn’t look right for multiple outings so I’m surprised it took them this long to IL him, too. Miller and Ginkel are the top two but Thompson and Beeks should factor in as well. Also keep an eye on Juan Morillo, who’s got four scoreless innings to start his career and regularly throws 100.

Tim Elko: How long of a leash do you think they’ll give Vaughn at 1B before calling me up?

Jason Martinez: Any day now. Seems headed in that direction and Vaughn has options remaining. If the Rangers can send Jake Burger to the minors, the White Sox can send Vaughn to the minors.

Freestyle Skier: Who are the actual decision-makers for injury management?  Obviously the following have interests and possible leverage: (1) player; (2) medical staff; (3) manager (lineup, e.g.); (4) GM; (5) owner; (6) MLB; (7) MLB Players Association.  But like the actual person filing changes to availability is who–the MLB franchise solely?

Jon Becker: Took a look at the CBA to see how it’s handled, and in a nutshell, when a player gets hurt a certified trainer has to fill out a Form of Diagnosis with what the injury is and which doctor has verified that they’re injured, and what the recovery time is estimated to be, and that then gets approved by the league. From there the treatment is at least somewhat collaborative (the player has the right to seek a second opinion, for example), but the team holds the keys for when the player gets sent on rehab or activated. I remember in 2023 when Ross Stripling was on the Giants, it came out that he felt healthy and ready to play but the Giants wanted to keep him on the IL until they really needed him.

David: Can the Cubs please call up Cade Horton, Ben Brown just isn’t bringing it right now

Jason Martinez: Cubs are in a position where they can be patient with Brown, who has potential to be very good. Horton pitched 6 innings and threw 77 pitches in his last start so I think he’s getting close to being ready if they wanted to make a change. But they will be careful with his workload, considering he only had 34.1 IP last season. Connor Noland is also someone to keep an eye on. Not the high ceiling like Horton but he’s been good in AAA and he threw 134 IP last season. So there won’t be the same workload concerns.

Paulie_Eff: Is the leash for Nick Kurtz different for the A’s than it is for fantasy managers?  Or, are the A’s going to let him play through it, while owners should cut bait and move on?

Jon Becker: Kurtz has had a horrible week (50% K rate, no XBH or walks), but it would be a huge overreaction to send him down already, IMO. Another week or two of this and I could see a demotion, though.

Brian Cashman: Earlier in the week, Noah Davis was optioned by the Dodgers despite listed as being out of options. Is that just a mistake?

Jason Martinez: That would indicate that he qualified for and granted a 4th option. This info is not public so the listed “options remaining” is only based on my count and transactions. Since he wasn’t on a 40-man roster this offseason, there was no need for anyone to report that he was given a 4th option. I’ll update this. Thanks for pointing it out.

JD: What should the Reds do at 1B/3B once/if everybody is healthy? Seems like Noelvi has earned another extended look. Are CES or Steer in danger of a demotion?

Jon Becker: I think Noelvi’s got to be the 3B as long as he stays hot, for sure. A lot likelier that CES is demoted than Steer. CES has barely been able to play the last two seasons and Steer is starting to hit better.

LAD: When does Kim come up and how much playing time will he get?

Jason Martinez: I thought he was getting close, but Andy Pages has absolutely gone off in the last 2 weeks with something like a .450 BA and 4 HR in his last 45 PA. So no Edman to CF/Kim to 2B at this time. Might take an injury for Kim to get a shot (Edman is currently dealing with an ankle injury) but I also think the Dodgers are fine with letting him take as much time in AAA to get adjusted in 2025.

Hogtied: If Hoglund looks ok today, will he stick in the rotation?

Jon Becker: Yep. This is more than just a spot start, and with J.T. Ginn on the IL they could really use someone like Hoglund stepping up in that spot. Estes had two bad starts before being sent down but he’s been okay in AAA, so he could be an option down the line.

Natitude Adjuster: How is everyone feeling now about Mike Trout moving forward in terms of playing time (this year and future years)?  125-game reasonable (80%) ceiling?

Jason Martinez: That’s pretty much where I had him this year. Maybe slightly under 70% in the OF with around 10% as the DH. We’ll see how much time he misses because of the bone bruise but not a good sign that he couldn’t avoid the IL for more than 5 weeks to start the season.

Orioles: Biggest disappointment from the Orioles slow start (in your opinion)?

Jon Becker: Probably Charlie Morton. I tend to think a lot of the slow starts for hitters will turn around, but not so sure about Morton. Father Time was going to come for him at some point, but I don’t think anyone would’ve expected this steep a drop-off. That said, his last couple appearances out of the bullpen have been a little better, so maybe he can get himself back on track.

matty25: How much longer will the Jays give Alan Roden to figure it out? They’ve got a lot of (mediocre) options they could try in his place.

Jason Martinez: Seems like he might be running out of time. Barger is getting a shot right now but he also hasn’t done much yet. Of the AAA options, only Jonatan Clase has good numbers but he’s similar to Myles Straw. Good speed. No power. They might end up just going with Lukes/Straw as the safe option if they feel that Roden needs more time in AAA.

TB Outfield: Does Simpson stay up once the injured Rays come back? What will it mean for Morel? Curious how you see the at bats shaking out ROS.

Jon Becker: If his performance is still something like this, yeah, I think he stays up. Might make Morel something of a platoon DH/OF with a Misner-Simpson-Lowe OF. Mangum could also factor in but he seems a little redundant with Simpson, and Palacios will be out 4-6 weeks and that’s too far out to predict.

Guest: How much longer can the A’s afford to trot out JJ Bleday’s majors worst defense in CF, and where will they get relief?

Will they drop Brown and bring up Avans as a late inning help, or will they wait until Denzel Clarke is ready?  They’re starting to be competitive.

Jason Martinez: Sending Bleday to AAA might be a bit much this early in the season, considering he just had a breakout in 2024. Replacing Brown with Avans (not on the 40-man, LHH) or Clarke (on the 40-man, RHH) might be a less extreme step in that direction. But they’d be able to give Bleday some more days off. Clarke has been impressive in AAA. Avans had a great spring.

South side: Luis Robert is literally trying to run his way out of Chicago right now. If he keeps running, and manages to start hitting, what’s the likely hood they finally move him?

Jon Becker: The odds are 100% if he manages to start hitting and if he doesn’t, the odds are… maybe 98%? I think the only thing that really changes is how many teams are interested in him and what they can ultimately get.

Josh Jung: Why does Bochy bat me in the bottom half of the lineup?? Offense is struggling and he continues to bat Jung behind guys like Higgy, Burger and Joc

Jason Martinez: Burger hit 3rd and 2nd in the team’s last two games vs RHP and now he’s in AAA. So there’s an opening, at least until Corey Seager returns. Langford and Seager seem like locks for 2 of the top 3 lineup spots. The third belongs to Josh Smith unless Bochy finally gives Jung a chance up there.

Bob Loblaw: What are the Cubs going to do at 3B?

Jon Becker: It’ll ultimately be Shaw, despite the struggles before he got sent down. He didn’t have much of a Spring Training at all and he made the roster anyway, and now that he’s back on track in Triple-A he could be back sometime this month. They’re fine treading water with Berti/Bruján/Lopez because the rest of the lineup is clicking.

Guest: Do you see Evan Carter in any role with Rangers this year? Pretty underwhelming at RR thus far

Jason Martinez: He has a .919 OPS and 131 wRC+ over his last 51 PA so there are signs of life. There’s room for Carter/Taveras/Pillar on the roster a this point so it could happen soon. I think they really want to make sure he’s ready, though, so they won’t have to demote him again. But if Taveras is the odd man out, they really want to make sure Carter is ready because Taveras would have to be DFAd and they’d lose their CF depth.

Billy Bob: please tell me Luke Jackson is no longer in the closer role, his era is that of Chris Martin, Robert Garcia and Hoby Milner combined

Jon Becker: Would be very surprised if he’s not. Yeah he got beat up by the A’s but that was one bad outing, and I think it would be a huge overreaction to make a change based on that.

Ramblin Rod: Is Luisangel Acuna now the Mets starting 2B?

Jason Martinez: Seems like he’s going to play there a lot because McNeiil can bounce around. But the key is how comfortable the Mets are using McNeil in CF because that’s the best way to open the everyday 2B job for Acuña. If not, most of McNeil’s starts will be at 2B and Acuña will only have a part-time role.

MF Luder: Instead of asking a long-winded question I’ll just say; Coby Mayo

Jason Martinez: I said last week that a shakeup could be coming soon and a Mayo call-up would be a big part of that. And they’ve gone 2-4 since. And the only big move was Charlie Morton to the bullpen. Not sure if they’re any closer to a potential shakeup but the fact that they went with Emmanuel Rivera to replace Westburg (10-Day IL) shows they’re not there yet.

Guest: Joe Mack has been pretty impressive…do you see him asking a debut anytime soon.  Hicks R5 designation and ramirez presence would likely make it difficult

Jason Martinez: Probably not, although I wouldn’t rule him out for late 2025. Most likely gets his chance in 2026. Nick Fortes should be back soon and Ramirez’s hot start at the plate makes it likely they’ll continue to give him at-bats as the DH. No reason for them to not hold onto their Rule 5 pick this season (Hicks) unless he just doesn’t look like a future big leaguer.

Jason Martinez: That will do it for today. Thanks for joining us. We’ll be back next Friday. Have a great weekend!