The Dodgers won the Game 5 battle of aces between Walker Buehler and Jack Flaherty with a big 5-run second inning. Daniel Murphy (picked up off the scrap-heap in July), Cody Bellinger and Gavin Lux all homered in that 2nd inning to put LA into the NLCS where they'll face the Braves in a rematch of their epic 7-game NLCS from 2020, won by the Dodgers on their way to a WS win. Buehler walked the bases loaded in the 5th which led to him being pulled and not getting the win, but he did enough.
With a few hours to digest a second straight year ending in a bitter playoff loss to Toronto, here's my outlook for the 2022-23 offseason and what the Rays roster is projected to look like:
Going to start off by grouping the existing roster into categories reflecting whether they’re likely to come back or not.
Not going anywhere: K.Ruiz, R.Hernandez, Bohm, Brujan, Wander, Toro, Meadows, Marsh, Y.Diaz, Glasnow, Paddack, Fried, Ryan, Alvarado, N.Anderson, Gallegos, D.Jimenez, McClanahan.
Of course there’s always a chance someone on this list gets traded if the deal is right, but I fully expect these guys to be back.
Trade bait but will otherwise keep: Kepler, Snell (final year of contract), Chirinos.
Kepler was a disappointment this year and I’m not sure how much better he is than guys in the pipeline behind him so he’ll definitely be shopped. While I liked McClanahan in the lefty middle relief role this year I’d like to give him (or Schmidt or Gray) a shot at the rotation so Snell could go if the return is decent as he’s been all over the map in the 3 years I’ve managed him and I get nothing for him if he walks at year’s end (other than a comp pick). Also it’s possible Kepler or something else brings back a starter to replace him. Yonny deserves a shot to start somewhere like Banda and T.Richards did last offseason and I’d like to think I can get something useful for him. Maybe I’ll call up the Cubs again.
Team option I don’t plan to exercise but will try to trade first: Kiermaier, Merrifield.
With the emergence of Marsh there’s no need to pay Kiermaier $12M next year to sit on the bench. And while I’d like to keep Merrifield around as a super-utility type (and a right-handed bat), $7.5M is too much for that role as well.
Free agents to be: Gallo, J.Bell, N.Cruz, Hand, W.Harris.
Gallo and Bell will be too rich for my blood, although I could do the offseason dance with Hand again depending on health, and if Will Harris doesn’t want too much, I’d gladly bring him back too. Cruz of course came cheap and produced big, but he’s going to be 43 and I can’t keep blocking my prospects.
Non-tendered: Gott, Lucchesi.
Prospects who may be traded: X.Edwards, Larnach, Josh Lowe.
Edwards is the one who can fetch me a lot and with Brujan and Wander ahead of him in the middle infield his path is severely blocked. Not sure how much Larnach and Lowe could bring but with the glut of prospect OFs I have it’s not fair to stow them at AAA again (and they’re taking up 40-man spots)
Prospects who could make the MLB roster next year: Beer, Kirilloff, Baz, Schmidt, Gray. It’s almost a running joke about how I have Seth Beer penciled in at DH every offseason but he’s had two straight 30-HR seasons hitting near .300 with an OBP around .400 so he’s more than due. Kirilloff (who can flat-out rake) could be the RF next year if Kepler is traded, and Baz has a shot as a starter or more likely in a role similar to what McClanahan had this year depending on how the bullpen shakes out. Baz probably starts the year at Durham though. I mentioned Schmidt and Gray above; both won’t make it but one might unless I try to convert one or both into power relievers.
Needs: Infield bat that can play 2B and/or SS who bats righty, a bullpen piece or two.
This should still be a very good team next year but the one issue I worry about is that the potential number of starters who are lefty hitters: Meadows, Kepler, Marsh, Beer, Kirilloff. Even the prospects at the next level down are lefties like Nick Schnell and Hunter Bishop. That’s why Cruz was a big help this year as a righty power bat. Alec Bohm is the gamble making him the everyday 1B but he’s a righty bat so if he comes through that will solve a couple of problems. If Bohm is only platoon-level then Beer can play 1B and Kirilloff DH.
Tentative 26-man roster (before any trades of course):
C: Ruiz, Hernandez.
IF: Bohm, Beer, Brujan, Wander, Toro, MI to acquire
OF: Meadows, Marsh, Kepler, Y.Diaz, Kirilloff
SP: Glasnow, Snell, Paddack, Fried, Ryan
RP: Alvarado, N.Anderson, Gallegos, D.Jimenez, McClanahan, Chirinos, ???, ??? (Schmidt/Gray)