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Catchers: Marçall Camacho (30, 5* current, 5* potential) is our best player. Signed from San Diego last year, he slashed .287/.395/.459 with a 148 OPS+ and 42 doubles in 148 games. He won’t hit a ton of bombs, but he has decent power with 14 home runs. Defensively, he is average, with 60 blocking, 50 framing, and 45 arm. The downside is that he can opt out of the 3 year, 93 million dollars he’s owed after 2025. He is ranked as the best catcher in the UBL. 31 year old Ronnie Hatton (2.5*/2.5*) is our backup and is massively overpaid (owed 7.1 million in 2025 and 2026). He is great defensively but anemic with the bat, sporting a 28 OPS+. My first priority for a catcher is defense, but I also don’t want a black hole bat behind the plate.
First base: 24 year old Felix Reyna (3.5*/3.5*) is coming off of the worst year in his 3 year UBL career so far (.255/.327/.404, 14 HR, 110 OPS+). He’s arbitration eligible this offseason, and a long-term deal might be considered to take advantage of the down year.
Second Base: Jim McAfee (30, 3*/3*) is another player under a long term deal, owed 90 million in the next 5 years. He took a major step back with an 86 OPS+, his lowest since being traded to Oakland in 2017. Behind him is Guillermo Salvador (24, 3.5*/4.5*) who has elite contact skills but has not started more than 74 games in a season in his 4 years in the bigs.
Third Base: Sergej Pijnenburg (25, 2.5*/3*) is known more for his defense rather than his offense, but the 95 OPS+ he put up last season is nothing to scoff at. He’ll bat a modest .250 and put up double-digit home runs per his scouting report.
Shortstop: Rico Gutierrez (30, 3*/3*, 114 OPS+) and Jorge Gonzales (25, 3*/3*, 137 OPS+) split time at short last year. Both did the job fine. Gutierrez is owed 68.7 million over the next 4 seasons, and Gonzales will make the minimum. However our top prospect and UBL’s #3 prospect Francisco Rubio (20, 2.5*/5*) is almost ready. Acquired in the 2023 offseason for upcoming free agent starting pitcher Tommy Crist, he spent 71 games between A and AA while battling various injuries. He is listed as a shortstop, but his defensive capabilities don’t really suffice for my vision of defense at shortstop.
My thoughts: There’s a few other players I didn’t mention that are AAAA players or upcoming free agents, but overall I think we have a strength at catcher, first base, and a future strength at short. Second and third base are passable, but we have a lot of money tied up to guys that aren’t quite worth it, and might not even be warranted of having a starting spot.
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