2024 Opening Day Roster

[EERinthe804]

Obviously there will be acquisitions, DFAs, non-tendered players, etc so it's impossible to know who ends up on the opening day 26-man roster but for fun here's mine:

SP (5) - Bradish, Means, Rodriguez, Kremer, Wells (starts year in AAA/AA - DL Hall, Seth Johnson, Cole Irvin, Chayce McDermott, Cade Povich, Kyle Brnovich) 

RP- (8) - Perez, Cano, Coulombe, Webb, Baumann, 3 new RP's not in org today (starts year in AAA/AA - Vespi, Tate, Zimmerman, Krehbiel, Baker, Akin) 

Infielders (6) - Mountcastle, O'Hearn, Henderson, Urias, Westburg, Holliday  (starts year in AAA/AA - Ortiz, Norby, Mayo, Vavra) 

Outfielders (5) - Hays, Mullins, Kjerstad, Cowser, McKenna  (starts year in AAA/AA - Stowers, Dylan Beavers, Jud Fabian) 

Catcher (2) - Rutschman, McCann (starts year in AAA/AA - Basallo)

I like the fact that in the minors, the organization has some veterans and talented prospects to bring up as injuries occur or the need for reinforcements.  The only real trade candidates would be Santander or O'Hearn but I think they keep O'Hearn.

Felix Bautista - assumes he misses 2024 due to surgery.  I don't want to see it happen but since Santander is due to be a FA at the end of next year and he had a good year this year, they may trade him this offseason for some relief/starting pitching help and some young prospects.

[jamalshw]

I’m only engaging in this because it’s an off day today—but still more interested in what the ALDS roster looks like.

That said, I think we see some non-tenders this offseason and between that and free agents, we see:  Mateo (non-tendered), Gibson, Frazier, Hicks and Flaherty all go elsewhere.

I think the offense will be:

C- Adley

1B- Mountcastle

2B- Westburg

SS- Holliday

3B- Henderson

LF- Hays

CF- Mullins

RF- Santander

DH- O’Hearn

As for the bench, that’s a bit tricky. I think Urias and McCann are slotted for sure. After that, I could see Kjerstad staying with the club and being a DH/OF and O’Hearn rotating into 1B and into some DH and OF time.

The last spot is hard. It could be someone like Cowser, but there will already be a ton of rotating players and I’m not sure there are enough ABs. It could be McKenna who is a good option for defense and as a PR—and I’m less concerned about playing time for him.

I put Holliday at SS, but he could start in AAA for a couple months in which case, you have Gunnar at SS and Urias at 3B and Ortiz up in the Majors.

As for pitching:

SP – Bradish, Grayson, Kremer, Means and Wells

RP- Hall (I think he’ll be stretched out in spring, but ultimately remains as a reliever), Cano, Perez, Coulombe, Webb, Baker, Tate, and Baumann.

 

The roster I made was just from internal players. I do think they add a free agent or two and that comes on the mound and probably in the pen. Maybe a couple options there. I could see them adding another infielder with a left-handed bat given what I outlined above was all RH in the infield (save for O’Hearn) and Urias is another RHH option. In that event, though, they’d almost have to move Urias in place of the lefty hitter.

[Aristotelian]

My main addition would be a high leverage bullpen arm.  They could also aim for a premium SP and have both Hall and Wells in the bullpen to start.

Hall should definitely be on the team, either as a starter or reliever.

Replace one of Urias/Mateo with Ortiz (Holliday starts in AAA). I am inclined to trade Urias as his defense is declining and he is just blocking guys at this point. 

Replace Hicks with Kjerstad or Cowser (other in AAA). 

As much as I would like to see them DFA Lopez, I think they picked him up for a reason and aim to fix him again. 

Pitchers: Bradish, Grayson, Means, Kremer, Wells, Cano, Perez, Coulombe, Webb, Hall, Lopez, Bauman, FA

Hitters: Adley, McCann, Mullins, Hays, Santander, Kjerstad, McKenna, Mountcastle, O'Hearn, Gunnar, Westburg, Ortiz, Mateo

[wildcard]

24 minutes ago, jamalshw said:

I’m only engaging in this because it’s an off day today—but still more interested in what the ALDS roster looks like.

That said, I think we see some non-tenders this offseason and between that and free agents, we see:  Mateo (non-tendered), Gibson, Frazier, Hicks and Flaherty all go elsewhere.

I think the offense will be:

C- Adley

1B- Mountcastle

2B- Westburg

SS- Holliday

3B- Henderson

LF- Hays

CF- Mullins

RF- Santander

DH- O’Hearn

As for the bench, that’s a bit tricky. I think Urias and McCann are slotted for sure. After that, I could see Kjerstad staying with the club and being a DH/OF and O’Hearn rotating into 1B and into some DH and OF time.

The last spot is hard. It could be someone like Cowser, but there will already be a ton of rotating players and I’m not sure there are enough ABs. It could be McKenna who is a good option for defense and as a PR—and I’m less concerned about playing time for him.

I put Holliday at SS, but he could start in AAA for a couple months in which case, you have Gunnar at SS and Urias at 3B and Ortiz up in the Majors.

As for pitching:

SP – Bradish, Grayson, Kremer, Means and Wells

RP- Hall (I think he’ll be stretched out in spring, but ultimately remains as a reliever), Cano, Perez, Coulombe, Webb, Baker, Tate, and Baumann.

 

The roster I made was just from internal players. I do think they add a free agent or two and that comes on the mound and probably in the pen. Maybe a couple options there. I could see them adding another infielder with a left-handed bat given what I outlined above was all RH in the infield (save for O’Hearn) and Urias is another RHH option. In that event, though, they’d almost have to move Urias in place of the lefty hitter.

I think is 2B Westburg, SS Gunnar, 3B Ortiz, UIF Mateo until Holliday is ready.

I think Urias, Norby and Stowers are traded this off season.

Elias spends the winter upgrading AAA for depth.  Like he did with O'Hearn.

Irvin makes the pen.  He is out of options.

Hall makes a run at the rotation in the spring.  Looks good but Wells beats him out.

[Sports Guy]

Need a lot of change with the pitching staff and it will be interesting to see how they handle the positional talent.

[wildcard]

19 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

My main addition would be a high leverage bullpen arm.  They could also aim for a premium SP and have both Hall and Wells in the bullpen to start.

Hall should definitely be on the team, either as a starter or reliever.

Replace one of Urias/Mateo with Ortiz (Holliday starts in AAA). I am inclined to trade Urias as his defense is declining and he is just blocking guys at this point. 

Replace Hicks with Kjerstad or Cowser (other in AAA). 

As much as I would like to see them DFA Lopez, I think they picked him up for a reason and aim to fix him again. 

Pitchers: Bradish, Grayson, Means, Kremer, Wells, Cano, Perez, Coulombe, Webb, Hall, Lopez, Bauman, FA

Hitters: Adley, McCann, Mullins, Hays, Santander, Kjerstad, McKenna, Mountcastle, O'Hearn, Gunnar, Westburg, Ortiz, Mateo

I think they re-rign Hicks.   Kjerstad (strikeouts) and Cowser spend more time at AAA until Hick is injured.

Lopez is non tendered and after he does not get a MLB offer he signs a minor league deal with the O's.

I do think Irvin makes the pen.  His 2nd half ERA was 3.58 and is out of options.

[Moose Milligan]

Get a good SP that can fit somewhere around Bradish/Grayson/Means, 3 or more stud bullpen relievers (one of those should be a top flight closer, especially if Bautista is out for 2024).

Not worried about the positional talent.

[foxfield]

I would make a play for Hader.  And at least two other BP arms.  Agree with Moose.  I aint worried about the positional talent.

 

[DirtyBird]

7 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Get a good SP that can fit somewhere around Bradish/Grayson/Means, 3 or more stud bullpen relievers (one of those should be a top flight closer, especially if Bautista is out for 2024).

Not worried about the positional talent.

Relievers go stud to dud pretty quick

[Rbiggs2525]

I imagine Holliday/Mayo/ Cowser will try to keep under super 2 status. We will not sign anyone to a significant free agent contract. Will probably be multiple relief pitcher darts thrown.  Maybe we make a big swing at a front line starter but remember Cole had a 4 ERA when the Astros traded for him.

Edited September 25, 2023 by Rbiggs2525

[Sports Guy]

They aren’t going to spend money on Hader.

[Sports Guy]

I’m still making a big push for Luis Robert and seeing if the WS would move him.

I would trade for a starter and sign someone in FA.

Would add 2-3 new BP arms.

[Aristotelian]

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

Get a good SP that can fit somewhere around Bradish/Grayson/Means, 3 or more stud bullpen relievers (one of those should be a top flight closer, especially if Bautista is out for 2024).

Not worried about the positional talent.

I would be surprised if we got more than 1 of your 4 asks. An above average SP and elite RP would be a dream offseason for me, and I expect less than that. 

[Pickles]

They're going to bring in some bullpen guys, but it's unlikely they spend or give up anything of real value in order to do that.  I'm sure they feel pretty confident in their ability to construct a bullpen on the cheap.

I think the most pressing issue on the positional side will be that it's likely only one of Urias or Mateo have a roster spot next year.  So they'll need to decide who, and what to do with the other.

Personally, I'd keep Mateo in that scenario, but there are a lot of variables that could change that.

[Malike]

I think Hall gets a legit chance at a rotation spot in the spring.