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JAF373 · 05-28-2021, 09:31 AM

As we enter the pre-season, here's where the 40-man stands.

Spots filled: 39/40 (18 batters; 21 pitchers)

Hitters
Subject to injury issues in Spring Training, I don't foresee adding any other hitters to the roster. David Bote is out of options and will need to clear waivers at the end of Spring. Of course, that won't be an issue since he's still owed $20M over the next three years. Thanks, Jed Hoyer. Really great.

Starters/Bulk/Long Relief
Four of the rotation spots are set with Kershaw, Manaea, Hendricks, and Eflin. Ideally, Marquez will win the fifth spot after yo-yoing back and forth the last two seasons as a starter and bulk follower. He still only has 45 stamina but threw 89 innings last season over 19 appearances (15 starts) with a 4.01 ERA, 4.27 FIP, and 23.5% K rate. The walks spiked (13.3%) and he needs to get those down to around the 9-10% range. If he's not ready, Clarke Schmidt will assume the fifth starter's role after starting 27 big league games last season (4.25 ERA, 4.59 FIP) but he's really just an innings-eater (19.5K%, 10.8% BB). Justin Steele was out of options entering last season but managed to stick on the roster with a breakout season in which he fanned 28% of hitters over 78 innings (50 appearances). He and Nabil Crismatt (also out of options) will be the long relief guys to start the year. Elieser Hernandez is going to open at Iowa. It's a disappointing development from a guy who I foresaw as a potential #2/3 starter in the Miguel Amaya trade in 2021 and who was at times dominant in the second half of 2021. Perhaps better health this year will lead to a bounce-back.

Single Inning Relief Pitchers
Not a lot of mysteries here. Corey Knebel will open the season as the closer but I wouldn't be remotely surprised if he eventually cedes the role to Carraway, Garcia, or Rule 5 pick Fox. Manuel Rodriguez struck out 34% of batters at AA in 2021 and 27% at AAA in 2022 before a mid-season call-up to the bigs in which he struggled mightily with a 20.2% walk rate in 21 innings. I'd hate to lose him to waivers and will do everything possible to keep him on the roster in a low-leverage role. John Schreiber would be the first guy DFA'ed if we needed to open up a roster spot. Dairus Valdez is your prototypical, modern 2-pitch fireballer (99-101) with lousy control (30) and sky-high walk rates. He blew away 34% of hitters at AAA last year but his command predictably disappeared in a brief big league call-up. His changeup (30) still hasn't developed and he's never going to develop the requisite command to stick in the bigs.

05-28-2021, 09:31 AM	#44
JAF373 Minors (Triple A) Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 256	State of the 40-Man As we enter the pre-season, here's where the 40-man stands. Spots filled: 39/40 (18 batters; 21 pitchers) Hitters Subject to injury issues in Spring Training, I don't foresee adding any other hitters to the roster. David Bote is out of options and will need to clear waivers at the end of Spring. Of course, that won't be an issue since he's still owed $20M over the next three years. Thanks, Jed Hoyer. Really great. Starters/Bulk/Long Relief Four of the rotation spots are set with Kershaw, Manaea, Hendricks, and Eflin. Ideally, Marquez will win the fifth spot after yo-yoing back and forth the last two seasons as a starter and bulk follower. He still only has 45 stamina but threw 89 innings last season over 19 appearances (15 starts) with a 4.01 ERA, 4.27 FIP, and 23.5% K rate. The walks spiked (13.3%) and he needs to get those down to around the 9-10% range. If he's not ready, Clarke Schmidt will assume the fifth starter's role after starting 27 big league games last season (4.25 ERA, 4.59 FIP) but he's really just an innings-eater (19.5K%, 10.8% BB). Justin Steele was out of options entering last season but managed to stick on the roster with a breakout season in which he fanned 28% of hitters over 78 innings (50 appearances). He and Nabil Crismatt (also out of options) will be the long relief guys to start the year. Elieser Hernandez is going to open at Iowa. It's a disappointing development from a guy who I foresaw as a potential #2/3 starter in the Miguel Amaya trade in 2021 and who was at times dominant in the second half of 2021. Perhaps better health this year will lead to a bounce-back. Single Inning Relief Pitchers Not a lot of mysteries here. Corey Knebel will open the season as the closer but I wouldn't be remotely surprised if he eventually cedes the role to Carraway, Garcia, or Rule 5 pick Fox. Manuel Rodriguez struck out 34% of batters at AA in 2021 and 27% at AAA in 2022 before a mid-season call-up to the bigs in which he struggled mightily with a 20.2% walk rate in 21 innings. I'd hate to lose him to waivers and will do everything possible to keep him on the roster in a low-leverage role. John Schreiber would be the first guy DFA'ed if we needed to open up a roster spot. Dairus Valdez is your prototypical, modern 2-pitch fireballer (99-101) with lousy control (30) and sky-high walk rates. He blew away 34% of hitters at AAA last year but his command predictably disappeared in a brief big league call-up. His changeup (30) still hasn't developed and he's never going to develop the requisite command to stick in the bigs. Last edited by JAF373; 05-28-2021 at 09:35 AM.