Well any season that ends in the World Series can't be viewed as a disappointment but our sad showing in the Fall Classic did put a damper on things. And as alluded to in the previous post we're going to lose a few key players who are going to be hard to replace but we should still have a solid team for 2028.
The first order of business is that Stu Sternberg has given us a payroll of only $110M so that rules out trying to re-sign any of the big three of Adley Rutschman, Shane McClanahan and Jeffrey Springs. We'll make qualifying offers to the first two and net a couple of high draft picks and not chance it with Springs in case he takes it.
This is how the current squad shakes out salary-wise for next season (projected):
You might notice
Jarred Kelenic there - we claimed him on waivers during the postseason from Atlanta as well as veteran lefty reliever
Matt Gage (who for some reason doesn't show here even though I had to make him about a $1.5M arbitration offer). I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Kelenic since all the OFs return, so stay tuned. This group - if all kept - would add up to $101M giving us very little room to maneuver.
The position-by-position outlook:
C: Obviously the big hole here with Rutschman going free agent.
Luis Campusano excelled as his backup and now will get the chance to be the man.
Yainer Diaz is the other catcher on the roster but really hasn't caught the last two seasons and I might be moving him. If that happens then look for someone like
Dominic Keegan or
Cade Hunter, who have toiled for Durham the last several years, to get a chance provided we don't grab up a veteran backup.
Really there's no need to go the rest of way among position players as we'll return the rest of the lineup: Isaac (1B), Westburg (2B), C.Williams (SS), Caminero (3B), Morel (LF), P.Meadows (CF), J.Lowe (RF) and the Kjerstad/Mead platoon (DH).
That leaves the bench where we'll have the catcher, one of Kjerstad/Mead, and for now there's
Brock Jones and
Brayden Taylor. Ryan Cermak could nose in for a backup OF/DH against lefties role after hitting 55 HR at Durham last year.
Rotation: Obviously a big hit here with McClanahan and Springs leaving. This makes
Hagen Smith the de facto ace, followed by
Taj Bradley, Robert Gasser, and in a return to the rotation,
Ryan Pepiot. We'll still need a fifth starter and that's where it gets tricky. We can always bring back old friend
Zack Littell and guys we've been through before like
Randy Vasquez and
Reese Olsen (we'd have to sign them to MLB contracts since they'll be MiLB free agents). None of those choices seems terribly appealing so dealing for a starter is the goal.
Bullpen: Setup guy Devin Williams and lefty Sam Hentges are also free agents so we'll have a couple of holes to fill there too. Otherwise Bautista, Lovelady, Maldonado, Robertson, M.Rodriguez and Contreras return and rookies like
Keyshawn Askew and
Jacob Misiorowski are possibilities but we probably need to add at least one reliever as well.
Prospects: We don't really have any of note that are on the verge. Leadoff-type
Luis Lara is probably MLB-ready but we have a fairly deep OF. Two-way 2026 first-round pick
Kyle Johnson might be ready to help in the second half.
So the goals are simple:
1) find a starting pitcher (or two)
2) add a bullpen arm (or two)
3) maybe see what kind of backup Cs are available late in free agency