In keeping with what we have, we've done a bit of tire-kicking re the MiL pitchers, and our injured players (Grissom/Refsnyder.)
Now, going into the season with all the NRIs resolved, how does our MiL position player depth look?
By position, * indicating currently on the 40 man:
Catcher:
*Heineman - AAA. Age 33. MLB exp. Good defender, weak hitter.
Perez - AAA. Age 35. MLB exp. Amazing defender, often injured, last good at the plate in 2019.
Kolozsvary - AAA. Age 28, Good defender, weak hitter.
Teel - AA. Far away.
1B:
*Dalbec.
Kavadas - AAA. A mini LH Rob Deer.
Jordan - AA. Far away.
2B:
*Romy Gonzalez.
Westbrook - AAA. 28. RHH. Had a AAA offensive breakout season last year.
Yorke - AA. RHH - maybe a mid year callup if on fire.
SS:
*Hamilton - AAA. 26. LHH. Duran-speed. Meh fielder, probably best at 2B.
Mayer - AA. A crucial post-injury year.
3B:
Sogard - AAA. 26. Switch. An all rounder in terms of skills, but no outstanding tool.
Meidroth - AAA. 22. RHH. Maybe best at second. Upside as a contact hitter, but low power. A mini-Boggs?
OF:
Conteras - AAA. Age 29. LHH. Twins journeyman, consistent high teens HR/.800 ops type in AAA.
Guthrie - AAA. Age 28. RHH. Good defender, contact first/no power hitter.
McDonough - AAA. 25. RHH OF version of Sogard.
Rosier - AAA. 24. LHH. Plus speed. Plus corner OF. Slappy contact hitter.
Antonius - AA. Far away?
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My thoughts are:
C emergency depth looks very good - some defense first break-glass types and Teel on the way.
1B/pure bat. . .Kavadas has so much swing and miss in his game, I'd be surprised if he's viable as a ML option this year.
2B/UT IF looks like there are more scratch cards here. Gonzalez, Westbrook, Hamilton could all take a step forward and stick as emergency replacements, but all have flaws. Gonzalez is maybe a super-sub type if he can hit. Westbrook might have the most offensive upside, but he's probably maxed out at age 29. Hamilton's still a prospect, but his K tendencies undermine his OBP, which in turn nullifies the value of his speed. I don't think Sogard's a factor, and Meidroth has to hit more than he has.
OF also looks thin from an emergency callup POV. Conteras is sort of a journeyman like Westbrook but with more of a track record. He's probably first up. Guthrie and McDonough are probably non factors - their bats making them not viable replacements for more than a short stretch. Rosier is almost a prospect, but his one path is to up his contact skills and use his speed. Sort of similar to Hamilton in a sense.
So - Catcher callup is any of them, really, but Heineman is on the 40. Also, I forsee epic McGuire/Heineman battery game threads.
After that. . .R.Gonzalez if a supersub is needed. Maybe Hamilton if he gets hot or progresses for an IF spot. Perhaps Conteras/Westbrook for a longer term stint in the OF/IF respectively?
On the whole, I'm not really worried though, as there's some depth "above" all these guys in Abreu/Refsnyder and Grissom/Valdez. Both Abreu and Valdez also tick the "likely to produce against ML pitching" box.
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Anyone I missed?
Any thoughts on these guys? A potential dark horse among them?