40.11 Checking the Locks: Final Results
Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2019 4:47 pm
This is a series where I will evaluate the options in each position leading into Spring Training. This is the last part of the series. I will be providing some results for the locks I chose, how it compares to 2039 and I will update it with a later post with which players make the active roster for Opening Day.
Sure fire locks:
Eric Fabre
David Katzenbogen
Fernando Cruz
Mons Raider
Jharod Thealer
Yi-ke Hsaio
Steven Collins III
Joey O'Brien
John Garcia
Wilson Villanuela
Niccolo Machiavelli
William Wood
Jubal Troop
Mauro Flores
Julio Alicea
Chet Parrish
Jorge Huerta
Jose Luna
Jose Torres
Vincente Ventura
Near locks:
Myeong-hwan Kim
Rodrigo Gallegos
Ryosei Akahori
Ignacio Castaneda
Trying to get in the door:
Leon Romo
Takeichi Ohayashi
Qian Tse
Miguel Deleon
Tim Ray
Jose Salas
Juan Reyes
Jerry Bell
Widodo Kawilarang
Edgardo Torres
Chandler Hall
Johnny Morin
Jorge Elizondo
Arturo Lopez
We have a total of 20 sure-fire locks which means we have seven spots on the active roster up for grabs. This is the exact position we were in last year at this point as well. Last year I selected 20 sure-fire locks, 5 near locks and 17 players trying to get in the door. We have one less near lock as well. The only change is in the trying to get in the door tier where we have four less players that were invited to Spring Training. This is likely due to losing a lot of pitchers in the trade with Portland, so we have less options for pitchers that would be ready to start pitching against major league batters. If all the sure-fire and near locks make the team, this is how things look:
Catcher - 2
Infield - 7
Outfield - 5
Rotation - 6
Bullpen - 5
The biggest door we have to get into the majors is with the left side of the infield. The loss of Luis Soto is hurting us here as we don't have a clear option to fill that hole. Thealer can shift to shortstop, but he's so much better at second base. Hsaio can assist at second or at first and Collins can assist at second. O'Brien can assist anywhere in the infield, but it's best if we stick him to short because he hasn't learned many positions. Tse, Deleon and Ray have the most competitive position battle as they're all working on owning that backup infield position. The most interesting thing to watch in Spring Training is Jose Salas and Chandler Hall, two well regarded prospects who are approaching their debut sometime soon.
2040 Additions:
Raider, Thealer, Machiavelli, Flores, Alicea, Kim, Gallegos, Akahori, Romo, Deleon, Torres, Hall and Morin
2040 Subtractions:
Bobby Lynch, Mitch Dalrymple, Luis Claudio, Luis Costello, Mike Gilbert, Fernando Martinez, Dusty Rhodes, Soto, Lance Carter, Wen Huang, Marcos Morales, Jesus Ramos, Carlos Rosa, Derrek Terry
Wow. Talk about some changes. That's an even 13 swap. Let's add up last year's WAR. That's 10.4 WAR lost and 11.7 WAR gained. The gained WAR is not including several players that may be called up, so it's only including Raider, Thealer, Machiavelli, Flores, and Alicea. This is just including the WAR that the players under subtractions while with Edmonton though, so it's a lot closer. The bigger changes are Rhodes to Raider at first, Martinez to Thealer/Hsaio at second, Wood moving to RF and Machiavelli/Kim likely making up center field. The rotation is likely changing from Lynch, Troop, Ramos, Parrish and Terry to Troop, Flores, Alicea, Parrish and possibly Gallegos/Akahori.
Sure fire locks:
Eric Fabre
David Katzenbogen
Fernando Cruz
Mons Raider
Jharod Thealer
Yi-ke Hsaio
Steven Collins III
Joey O'Brien
John Garcia
Wilson Villanuela
Niccolo Machiavelli
William Wood
Jubal Troop
Mauro Flores
Julio Alicea
Chet Parrish
Jorge Huerta
Jose Luna
Jose Torres
Vincente Ventura
Near locks:
Myeong-hwan Kim
Rodrigo Gallegos
Ryosei Akahori
Ignacio Castaneda
Trying to get in the door:
Leon Romo
Takeichi Ohayashi
Qian Tse
Miguel Deleon
Tim Ray
Jose Salas
Juan Reyes
Jerry Bell
Widodo Kawilarang
Edgardo Torres
Chandler Hall
Johnny Morin
Jorge Elizondo
Arturo Lopez
We have a total of 20 sure-fire locks which means we have seven spots on the active roster up for grabs. This is the exact position we were in last year at this point as well. Last year I selected 20 sure-fire locks, 5 near locks and 17 players trying to get in the door. We have one less near lock as well. The only change is in the trying to get in the door tier where we have four less players that were invited to Spring Training. This is likely due to losing a lot of pitchers in the trade with Portland, so we have less options for pitchers that would be ready to start pitching against major league batters. If all the sure-fire and near locks make the team, this is how things look:
Catcher - 2
Infield - 7
Outfield - 5
Rotation - 6
Bullpen - 5
The biggest door we have to get into the majors is with the left side of the infield. The loss of Luis Soto is hurting us here as we don't have a clear option to fill that hole. Thealer can shift to shortstop, but he's so much better at second base. Hsaio can assist at second or at first and Collins can assist at second. O'Brien can assist anywhere in the infield, but it's best if we stick him to short because he hasn't learned many positions. Tse, Deleon and Ray have the most competitive position battle as they're all working on owning that backup infield position. The most interesting thing to watch in Spring Training is Jose Salas and Chandler Hall, two well regarded prospects who are approaching their debut sometime soon.
2040 Additions:
Raider, Thealer, Machiavelli, Flores, Alicea, Kim, Gallegos, Akahori, Romo, Deleon, Torres, Hall and Morin
2040 Subtractions:
Bobby Lynch, Mitch Dalrymple, Luis Claudio, Luis Costello, Mike Gilbert, Fernando Martinez, Dusty Rhodes, Soto, Lance Carter, Wen Huang, Marcos Morales, Jesus Ramos, Carlos Rosa, Derrek Terry
Wow. Talk about some changes. That's an even 13 swap. Let's add up last year's WAR. That's 10.4 WAR lost and 11.7 WAR gained. The gained WAR is not including several players that may be called up, so it's only including Raider, Thealer, Machiavelli, Flores, and Alicea. This is just including the WAR that the players under subtractions while with Edmonton though, so it's a lot closer. The bigger changes are Rhodes to Raider at first, Martinez to Thealer/Hsaio at second, Wood moving to RF and Machiavelli/Kim likely making up center field. The rotation is likely changing from Lynch, Troop, Ramos, Parrish and Terry to Troop, Flores, Alicea, Parrish and possibly Gallegos/Akahori.