RosterResource Chat – 8/28/25

Jason Martinez: Welcome to the RosterResource Live Chat! Here in roster land, we have one more interesting day coming up (more interesting than normal) before the regular season is over. That is next Monday when teams can add one position player and one pitcher. After that, our offseason begins and that’s when the fun starts all over again. Here we go …

BobLFGM: Any predictions on who’s in/out in the Mets rotation after the Tong call up?

Jon Becker: They’ve made no commitment to giving Tong multiple starts necessarily, so for right this second, nobody as it’s just a spot start. But Megill is coming back soon, too, and then it’ll be decision time. The cleanest move might just be to put Megill in the bullpen because McLean can’t go anywhere with how he’s pitched, Senga and Peterson have been largely good, Manaea has pitched better than his stat line, and they’ve thrown cold water on moving Holmes to the bullpen.

Addison, not subtraction: Who are the likely September callups for the Blue Jays? Possibilities include Loperfido, Fisher, Schreck, Yesavage. Guessing the first two but the others are intriguing choices. Plus of course Santander if he gets healthy.

Jason Martinez: Loperfido and Braydon Fisher seem like the logical picks. Both are having great seasons but Jays had a bit of a roster crunch, which made them the odd men out. Schreck and Pinango are intriguing but not on the 40-man roster and also not a clear path for playing time so they’d just be added to the 40-man to sit on the bench. On the pitching side, adding Yesavage is obviously the most intriguing option. Not sure if they’re to that point of desperation yet. But bullpen looks shaky, Yimi might not make it back in 2025, and they need to try something.

Sean: If someone averaged a homerun every 10 at-bats but didn’t get on base otherwise, would they warrant a full-time position on a major league roster? If not, what is the rate that would?

Jon Becker: That would be a .100/.100/.400 slash line, so they’d have to do a lot better than that. Unless you can guarantee it’s every tenth PA exactly and could figure out how to deploy it situationally depending on when you need one, I think he’d need to homer more like three times every 20 PA (.150/.150/.600) to be useful.

drplantwrench: would the angels calling up jack k again constitute criminal negligence? he was sent down, achieved nothing, and then got called up again only to get roasted

Jason Martinez: Not ideal. Caden Dana would’ve been on 4 days rest and he pitched 7 innings in his last start (2 ER, 13 K!!!). Looks like he’s had at least 5 days rest in between all but one outing this season. So maybe they were just being careful with their best pitching prospect. But having no options aside from Kochanowicz is probably the bigger issue. Brett Kerry has been good lately but had pitched the day before. Maybe we’ll see him in September.

Hazmat Corntail: Do you foresee a Casas/Password platoon at 1b for Boston next year? It seems like that’s how they want to shoehorn Garcia into the lineup

Jon Becker: At some point I think that’s possible, though Garcia hasn’t played any 1B and I haven’t heard anything on how Casas’ recovery is going, so it’s entirely plausible that that’s more of a “later in the season” thing. Lowe has one more season of arbitration left and if he keeps hitting well they’ll tender him a contract.

Michael V.: How does Caglianone fit in the KC lineup when he’s back from the IL?

Jason Martinez: I’m sure they’re waiting until 9/1 to make a decision on this. Should be very interesting because he was very bad in the majors — he was slashing .099/.188/.220 over his last 101 PA before going on the IL — but he is putting up huge numbers on his rehab assignment (23-for-57, 4 HR, 4 2B). They can easily slide Yastrzemski to LF and give Jac everyday at-bats in RF again. They’re also getting a look at Massey in LF right now. If they were going to send Jac to AAA, they could’ve already done that so my guess is that he’s activated on 9/1.

Sean: Do you think the Yankees should send Volpe down for a bit to reset or is the best option to let him play his way into or out of the lineup on the ML roster?

Jon Becker: If it was me I would probably send him down — Caballero’s been a nice spark since joining the roster and has been better on both sides of the ball than Volpe — but it sure doesn’t seem like the Yankees are considering that at all. They’ve taken every opportunity to give him a vote of confidence even as he’s been one of the worst everyday players in the league this year.

Lord Thunder: Does Bubba Chandler start an MLB game this season?

Jason Martinez: I don’t see why not. Even if the plan is to limit him to 3-5 innings per outing, it would make sense to give him a chance to start a few MLB games since that’s what he’ll be doing in 2026. They can just flip him with Braxton Ashcraft or Mlodzinski or whoever he’s piggybacking with.

Nik: Is Jeremiah Jackson an everyday player ROS?

Jon Becker: For sure. He’s hitting well and has only sat five games since his call-up on August 1, and the versatility will help keep him in there.

Lowe Distribution System: It’s amazing Jeff Hoffman hasn’t lost the closer job at any point this season.  I can’t remember ever seeing a guy have this many meltdowns without losing his job at least temporarily.  Can he get away with it for another month or two?

Jason Martinez: There have been a few times where I was going to give him the “On The Hot Seat” tag on the Closer Depth Chart and I’m pretty sure I haven’t done it at all because the potential options to take his spot were either hurt or not pitching well. And that’s probably still the case. Seranthony is probably next in line, but he hasn’t clearly put himself in that spot. He’s been fine but not dominant. It’s more by default that he’d get save chances.

Lowe Distribution System: Payton Tolle gonna hold the last spot in Boston rotation the rest of the way?  Or will Buehler end up getting back in there

Jon Becker: The smoke all seems to be around Tolle. It would be kinda pointless to have moved Buehler to the bullpen, see him struggle to throw strikes in his first outing there too, and then move him right back when they need a fifth starter again.

Jason N: Arraez finally sat on the bench yesterday.  One time blip, or does he (FINALLY) sit the bench once Merrill comes back full time?

Jason Martinez: Probably just a day off from the starting lineup (with an additional day off on Thursday) to clear his head. When the lineup is going good, he’s usually in the middle of it even if there’s a lot of weak contact and poor at-bats mixed in with a lot of multi-hit games. But he’s been especially bad since the Padres acquired Laureano/O’Hearn and it seems like Tatis is always on base in front of him. So Arraez being very bad has been magnified over the past few weeks (no weak links in the lineup anymore) and you can tell he’s feeling the pressure. He should be hitting lower in the lineup and should sit at least occasionally vs LHP. But Schildt doesn’t seem to care. At least for now. His teams are always good in the 2nd half so he could just say “trust me, bro” for any question about a roster move or in-game decision and that would mostly be fine. But he gets super defensive and doesn’t give great answers to some of the more questionable stuff.

Lowe Distribution System: Any idea on when Robles suspension might happen?

Jon Becker: The appeals process isn’t transparent and tends to take some time, but my guess is that the league might be somewhat understanding to the fact that it didn’t happen while on the MLB roster but instead while on a rehab assignment, so they could be holding off until September 1 so they’re less penalized when playing a man down.

Pete: What are the Phils waiting for with Crawford? Doesn’t it seem a bit odd, even from a roster-construction standpoint (and the last of OF production there), that he hasn’t gotten the call?  And when do you expect him to be promoted? Thanks!

Jason Martinez: Still not sure he’ll make it to the majors in 2025. They don’t have to add him to the 40-man roster this offseason so it helps with roster flexibility to not add him. And the MLB lineup is probably good enough for now. They finally started sitting Castellanos vs RHP on occasion (he’s sat 3 of last 9 vs RHP). Max Kepler is 14-for-42 with 2 HR and 3 2B since 8/5. Marsh isn’t hitting but Bader is in the lineup on most days so that makes up for it. Crawford could help as a pinch-runner, at the very least, but not sure they’d add him unless they thought he could make an impact with his bat.

Alec: There’s no chance McGonigle gets a call-up in September, is there? Between Javy coming back down to Earth and Trey Sweeney being Trey Sweeney it feels like a jolt the offense could use, but also understand that having him debut at the end of the Tigers most serious World Series run in over a decade may not be the most responsible thing to do

Jon Becker: I don’t think it’s impossible, since he’s tearing it up in AA and a lot of teams (including the Tigers at times) view AA as the real big test in MiLB even though AAA has more players with MLB experience. When he’s up they want him to be up for good, I’m sure, but it helps that they’d just add him to lengthen what’s already a pretty good lineup, not be the savior. Not a ton of pressure to perform right away for a first-place team and playoff lock while hitting in the bottom of the lineup.

Phil: So, Yoshida continues to not hit, and of course he also doesn’t field. When Abreu comes back, he also doesn’t play, right? Please? This is way too talented a squad to have a non-hitter at, of all spots, DH.

Jason Martinez: Rafaela’s versatility gives them the option of going with the hot hand. David Hamilton has been hitting so he can start at 2B with Rafaela in CF. If Rafaela is at 2B, they can choose between Yoshida, Hamilton, Romy, etc. So it’s not like Yoshida is getting at-bats over a top prospect like Marcelo Mayer. Everyone who should be starting will be starting, for the most part. Whether he should get at-bats over someone like Jhostynxon or Kristian Campbell is another question, though, and that could come up in September.

Sean: Someone recently, I think it was Clemens, suggested tying the DH to the starting pitcher in an effort to buck the trend of devaluing starts. In essence, he said once the starter is removed, the team can no longer have a DH spot. Any backbone to this suggestion or the proverbial throwing stuff at the wall?

Jon Becker: The so-called “Double Hook” has been bandied around as a suggestion for years, and I think it’s something the league has at least considered. But I’m not sure managers would manage too differently outside of making their DH a worse hitter. And with the league’s best and most marketable player a DH-only, the league would never be up for “what if Shohei Ohtani only plays two-thirds of games?”

Jason: What do you make of Geraldo Perdomo’s breakout season?

Jason Martinez: Watching him the past few seasons (as a Padres fan), I thought he was a tough out and I was always surprised at how unimpressive his offensive numbers were when I looked them up. Figured he would just be a utilityman once Lawlar was ready to be their everyday SS. But the Dbacks clearly thought he would be a very good all-around SS and they were right. If they waited another half-season, they would not have been able to sign him at that price. Who knows whether they thought he’d be this good? I think the lesson is to sign your young players (if you believe in them) to team-friendly contract extensions while you can. If you call them up at a younger age (23 and younger), I think it’s a strong possibility you can sign them for an extra year or two of team control as long as they can still become a free agent by age 30 when they can get another big payday.

Hazmat Corntail: Spencer Jones is looking like he’s closer to ready than not; any odds on him making a September appearance for the Yankees?

Jon Becker: I doubt it. That OF is still a logjam and I just saw a bluesky post illustrating how badly he’s slumped lately, so I think he’ll just play out the year in AAA.

Carl: Any speedsters likely to come up in Sept in the NL?  guys who might steal 3-6 bases in the month?

Jason Martinez: It always seems like a great idea to call up a speed burner for pinch-running purposes in September. But I don’t see it happen very often. Dodgers already have Justin Dean in that role and he has just 1 SB in 3 weeks. As far as someone who would play regularly in the NL, can’t think of anyone unless Justin Crawford gets called up to the Phillies.

Gnats in the outfield: In the game of musical chairs for the guardians’-of-traffic rotation, who between Means, Cecconi, or Messick is the odd man out in your humble opinion? (or, **gasp***, dare I say Bibee or Logan Allen?)

Jon Becker: I think they’ll want to see what Means can accomplish this year in the majors since they have to make a decision on his option for next year, and Messick has been excellent his first two starts. I’d hazard a guess Allen is a little likelier to stick around in the rotation; Cecconi has backslid a lot lately and might be wearing down.

Sean: Lots of rule changes the last couple years that, in my opinion, have helped the game. Any rules you would make to continue the cause? Or any of the recent rule changes you would reverse?

Jason Martinez: Pretty sure ABS will be here in 2026, which is great. Doesn’t sound like they’ll go full robot umps for balls/strikes but at least we can get the most important calls correct.

My guess is that MLB is super-focused on trying to get the elbow injury epidemic fixed, which is why you hear about rules that would effect pitching staffs. I can go on and on about that but I really don’t know what MLB’s solution would be. You can’t force pitchers to ease back on what they’re doing because MLB hitters are really good and most can hit a HR if you make a mistake. That’s why I think the ball has been de-juiced again this season without MLB acknowledging that it was on purpose.

Frankie: Ben Rice long term outlook?

Jon Becker: I think it’s clear he’s a really good hitter against righties and solidly average or better against lefties, so I think the step for next year is to let Goldschmidt walk and let Rice play every day. What’s still more up in the air is how much they want him to/he should catch, because I would rather have his bat in the lineup every day than five days a week. Maybe it’s more like peak Mitch Garver usage where he’s the backup catcher but plays elsewhere most of the time.

Gnats in the outfield: Weatherholt seems to have nothing left to prove in AAA, but Winn’s defense makes it seem like he’s not going to move anywhere. Does Weatherholt move to 2B? can he play 3rd next year instead, or…..?

Jason Martinez: Not sure if it will be 2B or 3B but I’m pretty sure he’ll be in the majors early next season (if not on Opening Day). Not sure if it will get any easier to trade Arenado (less $ owed but 1 year older, another poor offensive season, injury). My guess is that they pencil in Wetherholt at 2B if they think that’s where he’ll stay long-term. If they believe he’s a better fit at 3B long-term, I think they’ll make sure to give him reps at both spots and where he plays in 2026 will be determined by Arenado, Donovan, etc.

Jason Martinez: That will do it for today. Thanks for joining us! Enjoy the weekend and roster expansion day on Monday.