First Blush Look at What the 26-man Would Look Like On Opening Day

 Wow, we haven't even played the first spring training game so we don't even know how injuries would play out through the end of spring training.  

But operating in a perfect world where no one gets injured and everyone performs at an acceptable level, here are my first thoughts about what I think the opening day roster should be.

BENCH/DH

Starting at the end and working back here, I think the most important decisions will be here.  What we are looking for here are guys who can play multiple positions, thus maximizing our bench flexibility and allowing us to have a 4-man bench. So here are my thoughts:

Austin Hedges  C

David Fry C, 1B, 3B, LF, RF

Tyler Freeman 2B, SS, 3B, LF

Deyvison De Los Santos 3B, 1B, LF, RF

Ramon Laureano RF, CF, LF

Reasoning: Fry provides us hitting at 4 positions.   Freeman provides the best current hitting in a backup role of all of our middle infielders and is acceptable defensively.  Laureano is going to make this team unless he is traded which, given his salary, is unlikely.  

Note that this permutation, as the title describes, includes a 5th player (one over normal bench size) who would get ABs as our DH.   I think this means that our DH is rotating between Freeman, De Los Santos, Fry and Florial (see below).

When I see this bench I see guys like Hedges, Fry and Laureano who don't need a lot of ABs.  True veteran backups who soak up whatever playing time is available.  De Los Santos gets whatever ABs he can from DHing and only sees the field once in a blue moon...unless there is an injury, of course. De Los Santos, however, will likely NOT be the primary DH, just someone who can get some ABs there as we evaluate him to maybe begin 2025 in AAA.  Freeman gets a lot of ABs in this permuatation, moving around the IF and, hopefully, the OF as well as being one of the primary DHs.

STARTING POSITION PLAYERS

C - Bo Naylor

1B - Josh Naylor

2B - Andres Gimenez

SS - Gabriel Arias

3B - Jose Ramirez

LF - Steven Kwan

CF - Myles Straw

RF - Estevan Florial

Reasoning - Most of this is set in stone.  I just don't believe that Straw will be able to be traded and I think he will get the first shot in CF.  Arias will get the first shot at SS and Florial will get a shot in RF, backed up by Laureano as a platoon.  I see very few scenarios where Straw, if he is on the team, begins the year on the bench.  But I do see a lot of situations as we get into the season where Florial and Laureano are in the lineup together and Straw is our 4th outfielder/pinch runner/defensive replacement. 

This permutation means that Brennan, Rocchio, Jonathon Rodriguez, Jhonkensy Noel, Jose Tena, Juan Brito and Angel Martinez start the year in Columbus.   This is all acceptable to me given that we have to give guys the opportunity to play and we want these guys in Columbus getting regular playing time so they are polished when we need them...and we likely will need them all at some point this year.

ROTATION

Beiber

McKenzie

Allen

Bibee

Williams

Reasoning - If this rotation is healthy I can't see them going with anyone else or with a 6-man rotation.  If someone has to start the year on the IL then Lively is our 6th starter, Gaddis is at 7 and Curry, as an opener, is at 8.  If everyone is healthy, Gaddis and Lively start the year at AAA and Curry is our long man, which leads into a discussion of the bullpen.,,

BULLPEN

Closer - Clase

Setup/backup closer - Barlow

Setup - Stephan

Middle Relievers: Morgan, Hentges, Sandlin, Karinchak

Long man - Curry

Reasoning - This is our bullpen from last year with Barlow substituting for Enyel De Los Santos.  It should be a solid bullpen and has arms like Herrin, Aleman and Cade Smith and, of course, our AAAA minor league invitees backing them up.  The latter group should only be in play if we have multiple, significant injuries because we will likely have a full 40-man roster.   Smith and Herrin should be first men up in case of an injury because they are both rostered and the choice between Aleman and the AAAA guys will likely be based on the fact that the AAAA guys are fungible if we have to DFA one of them to take someone off the IL or bring up another non-rostered guy from the minors.  Aleman may not be called up because he would still be considered an asset at that point who we would not want to lose on waivers.

SUMMARY

So, this is my logic as we start full workouts.    I know different people will have different opinions but I think Fry deserves to be on this roster and I think Florial and De Los Santos will be given every regular season opportunity to fail, just like Bobby Bradley, Franmil Reyes and Oscar Gonzalez were.  The rest of the team, barring injuries, is pretty set and we even have some flex for injuries on the position player side, with less quality flexibility in the bullpen and even less in the rotation, although it's not like our 26-man roster guys with AAAA guys being our only backups in either the rotation or the bullpen.