FanPost

The 2022 Roster - Position Players

My 8-year-old son and I have been talking a lot the past week or so about the Pirates' roster: trades, DFAs and the like. It's been fun hearing his opinions on the roster makeup (sometimes based solely on what he's personally seen at games -- Ben Gamel's 2-HR performance against the Braves -- as an example).

We've come to the following conclusions about next year's roster:

  1. Catcher - Jacob Stallings, someone from outside the organization.
    There's no one else on the immediate horizon. Maybe they keep Perez because he's cheap, though I feel like we've already got 4 or 5 players just like him in the minors.
  2. First base - Colin Moran, Nogowski (maybe).
    This is just like catcher, there is no heir apparent and it makes no sense to try to flip him for assets at this point. Nogowski's lack of utility could possibly do him in moving forward as the Bucs already have that in Mason Martin long-term.
  3. 2B/SS - Park, Newman, Tucker (likely), Marcano (eventually), Castro (likely)
    Barring injury, I see 4 of the 5 on the team next year. Dark horse status to Chavis (depending on his option status which I'm too lazy to look up). Marcano is probably the odd man out initially until the Pirates get tired of watching Newman/Tucker not hit.
  4. 3B - Hayes in pen/marker/stone/something permanent.
    One of the few locks on the roster. Castro is probably his primary backup at the start of the season.
  5. LF - Gamel (50/50), Oliva (maybe), a flippable FA (possibly), Alford (20/80)
    This is a tough one to gauge. Gamel probably hasn't bumped his stock up enough to be a tradeable asset, but is not part of the core moving forward. The problem is the current lack of a capable prospect youngster to play there. (This was the point of biggest debate between father and son.)
  6. CF - Reynolds in something at least as permanent as Hayes.
    He could perhaps be the next Adam Frazier in terms of sell high, he would net a king's ransom, especially with the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards he absolutely deserves this year. I wouldn't just ask for the moon for him, I'd ask for the whole Solar System.
  7. RF - Flippable FA (likely), Oliva (possibly), Swaggerty (eventually)
    This is a lot like LF, except the incumbent isn't cheap to bring back. Oliva is not particularly impressive to me, but probably gets a shot with the big club coming out of camp next spring as a 4th outfielder with an FA getting reps to rebuild value.
In Summary (in order of likelihood they'll break camp with the team next spring):
  1. Hayes (3B)
  2. Reynolds (CF)
  3. Stallings (C)
  4. Newman (SS)
  5. Moran (1B)
  6. Castro (2B/3B)
  7. Park (UT)
  8. Tucker (UT)
  9. Gamel (OF)
  10. Nogowski (1B)
  11. Perez/backup C (C)
  12. Oliva (OF)
I feel like 1-7 are probable, 8-12 subject to change. What are your thoughts?

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