With the Pence rumor, might as well start this up: 1. Maldonado 2. Garneau 3. Gurriel 4. Altuve 5. Correa 6. Bregman 7. Brantley 8. Springer 9. Pence* 10. Alvarez 11. Diaz 12. Reddick 13. Tucker 14. Verlander 15. Greinke 16. McCullers 17. Urquidy 18. Pruitt 19. Osuna 20. Pressly 21. Smith 22. Peacock 23. James 24. Devenski 25. Biagini 26. TBA
1. Maldonado 2. Gurriel 3. Altuve 4. Bregman 5. Correa 6. Reddick 7. Springer 8. Brantley 9. Alvarez 10. Garneau 11. Diaz 12. Tucker 13. *Pence/Straw/Toro 14. JV 15. Greinke 16. McCullers 17. Urquidy 18. Pruitt 19. Osuna 20. Pressly 21. Smith 22. Peacock 23. Devo 24. Biagini 25. James 26. Abreu
Position players: 100% locks if healthy (9): Maldonado Gurriel Altuve Correa Bregman Diaz Springer Brantley Alvarez Lock, barring a spring meltdown (1): Tucker Lock, barring a trade (1): Reddick Favorites in spring competition (2): Garneau Straw Next in line: Toro Stubbs Outside looking in (in order): Mayfield Jones Tanielu Ritchie Ferguson Dawson Quintana De Goti Duarte McCormick Wrenn Robinson Pena Pence hasn’t signed yet, but if he does I would expect Reddick to be traded and for Pence to take his spot. Otherwise I will expect that Pence is just insurance, with an outside possibility that he takes the 13th spot from Straw. Pitchers: 100% locks if healthy (8): Verlander Greinke McCullers Osuna Pressly Smith Peacock Pruitt Lock, barring a spring meltdown (4): James Devenski Biagini Urquidy Favorite in spring competition (1): Abreu Next in line: Martes Valdez Taylor Armenteros C Perez Sneed Outside looking in: Javier Paredes Emanuel Rodriguez Deetz Ferrell Scrubb Garza Hartman McCurry Bielak Whitley So, the prediction until something changes: C: Maldonado, Garneau IF: Gurriel, Altuve, Correa, Bregman, Diaz OF: Springer, Brantley, Alvarez, Tucker, Reddick, Straw SP: Verlander, Greinke, McCullers, Urquidy, Pruitt RP: Peacock, Devenski, Biagini, Abreu, James, Smith, Pressly, Osuna
Assuming health this is pretty much it, I don't even see any real battles either. Toro could maybe force the organizations hand, but he would have to tear it up because Straw has too much working in his favor with Jake gone. Stubbs maybe, but he has options and I don't think Garneau does, so that one seems pretty open and shut too. None of the other pitchers seem like viable opening day options, although they could certainly factor in to the season.
Two guys I personally would not consider locks are Pruitt as the 5th starter and Biagini in the pen. I feel Urquidy, James and Devenski are locks, if healthy. I'm pretty high on Javier, although he probably starts in AAA no matter what. Abreu, Armenteros, Valdez have a decent shot of pitching their way onto the team. Two wildcards are Whitley and Martes. There's no telling what to expect from either one, but Whitley's AFL performance was great.
I've got a better chance of being on the opening day roster than Whitley and Javier do. They may be big factors in the year, but zero chance of being here OD. Abreu is on the team, he will have to pitch himself off the team to not be here OD.
I don't see anything about OD in the thread title or in my post, other than stating that Javier will start at AAA. Merely some observations about the 2020 roster. Yeah, I agree Whitley starts at AAA as well.
This. I expect Reddick gets traded. If Pence signs, he replaces Reddick. If he doesn't, I think it will be Stubbs as 26th man to start the season with Toro coming up when needed or when it makes the most sense from arbitration/control standpoint. Has MLB announced if there is a limit on pitchers yet? If MLB doesn't limit pitchers, I'd give Martes a way outside shot at the 26th spot if he does well in Spring.
Yes, MLB has told teams the Pitcher limits. 13 pitchers from Opening Day to Aug 31. 14 pitchers from Sept. 1- End Regular Season. Doubleheader games and special games that merit the 27th Man, before Sept. 1st, mean a 14th pitcher can be added to the Active Roster. Also, for just 2020 players can qualify to be a Two-Way Player by meeting the requirements in EITHER the 2019 or 2018 season. This will allow the Angels to designate Shohei Ohtani as a Two-Way Player at the start of the season.