2015 25 man roster projections

[stammer78]

Anyone care to make any predictions on what the 25 man roster will look like?

Here is what mine would look like:

Starting batting order:
Fowler CF
Baez 2B
Rizzo 1B
Soler RF
Olt 3B
Montero C
Castro SS
Coghlan LF

Bench:
Denorifia
Ross
Castillo (but will be traded)
La Stella
Sweeney
Alcantara

Starting Rotation:
Lester
Arrieta
Wood
Hammel
Jackson (have to put him somewhere)

Bullpen
Doubront Long relief
Schlitter Middle Relief
Strop Set Up
Motte Set Up
Rameriez Set Up
Rondon Closer

Open for discussion.

 

[Kevin12773]

No Bryant?

I'm not a huge fan of Baez in the 2 hole and would hit him 5th or 6th and put Castro in the 2 slot

 

[stammer78]

No Bryant?

I'm not a huge fan of Baez in the 2 hole and would hit him 5th or 6th and put Castro in the 2 slot

This is the roster for opening day. Bryant not making the 25 man roster for opening day is the worse kept secret in baseball. I am drinking the Kool Aid that says the Cubs will want to preserve his service time cause of his agent. When Bryant does come aboard it will shuffle some players down. I am not a huge fan of Baez at 2 and possibly put Soler up there. Baez's aggressiveness puts him a good 5 hole hitter. I think Castro needs to show more patience before being put in the 2 hole ahead of Rizzo (banking on Rizzo having as good as year as he did this year).

 

[RamCub]

Kyle Hendricks will be in the rotation. Edwin Jackson will not.

 

[anotheridiot]

No Bryant?

I'm not a huge fan of Baez in the 2 hole and would hit him 5th or 6th and put Castro in the 2 slot

I agree, Baez and his swing and miss rates dont belong in a two hole. I got convinced last year that he was only there to get as many at bats as possible. Castro had his best season hitting second. Honestly, the best person we probably have to hit second right now is Montero with his every year around .350 OBP.

If they cant trade Jackson for a bag of baseballs while paying 1/2 his salary, they need to DFA him. If not he will be that spot starter and long relief guy that works once every two weeks. You also need to consider that Maddon is new to this NL style everyday, and will need that extra bullpen start for someone that can shut down for an inning, not a guy whos usual worst inning is his first inning. Plus they got Doubront to do that too, cant have a lefty and righty for that spot.

Dont know what other positions are in play for Montero, Ross and Castillo. There might be thinking to put someone as the backup first baseman. Maybe Ross doesnt make it out of camp as the lester personal catcher if he works well with Castillo or Montero. They have to be thinking something for Welly to still be here. The longer he stays the lower his value goes without a spot for him here.

 

[anotheridiot]

I also dont understand the LaStella move with the wealth of middle infielders. Alcantara to me is the better guy to get some time in the outfield and second base. Our best pick it glove man at 3B is Villanueva, he will never play here. I hoped he would make it around to second base to be a bench guy and take over for Bryant in close games at the end. Seems like someone else needs to be getting some time in spring training at 3B if Olt is the only guy there at the beginning of the year. Alcantara has never played there in the majors, a little in the minors I heard. I thought LaStella was just gonna get flipped right away, now its a bench spot and maybe start if Baez gets sent down. Baez apparently has struck out at a 45% rate in winter ball with the new hitting coach spending some time with him.

 

[stammer78]

Kyle Hendricks will be in the rotation. Edwin Jackson will not.

Man I hope that's correct. Edwin Jackson has been quite the train wreck since he signed. Hard to blame the defense behind him either. I guess Hoyer can't win them all.

 

[stammer78]

I agree, Baez and his swing and miss rates dont belong in a two hole. I got convinced last year that he was only there to get as many at bats as possible. Castro had his best season hitting second. Honestly, the best person we probably have to hit second right now is Montero with his every year around .350 OBP.

If they cant trade Jackson for a bag of baseballs while paying 1/2 his salary, they need to DFA him. If not he will be that spot starter and long relief guy that works once every two weeks. You also need to consider that Maddon is new to this NL style everyday, and will need that extra bullpen start for someone that can shut down for an inning, not a guy whos usual worst inning is his first inning. Plus they got Doubront to do that too, cant have a lefty and righty for that spot.

Dont know what other positions are in play for Montero, Ross and Castillo. There might be thinking to put someone as the backup first baseman. Maybe Ross doesnt make it out of camp as the lester personal catcher if he works well with Castillo or Montero. They have to be thinking something for Welly to still be here. The longer he stays the lower his value goes without a spot for him here.

I like the Montero sitting in the two hole with his OBP. Hopefully he would have the bat control to be able to execute some hit and run with Fowler on base.

The Cubs should just ask Jackson to retire and do the whole league a favor. I agree DFA him and when he clears waivers send him down and let him refuse assignment and become a free agent. I kind of think Maddon's style down in Tampa pretty much would mirror what he would run in the NL cause Tampa wasn't exactly hitting the ball out of the park so his management style may not be all that different. I think the Royals this year showed if you have a stellar bullpen and can shut teams down in the 6th 7th 8th and 9th without scoring that many runs you have a chance to win the game. Time will only tell to see if the end of the game bullpen looks as good on the field as it does just looking at the roster. I agree I thought La Stella was a piece like Infante was couple years ago where they traded for him and traded him out before the season started. There is enough time before spring training the Cubs could make a move with him packaged with Castillo to move to another team.

The wait and see with Ross is interesting cause I think you are right, if Lester works as well with Castillo or Montero, Ross is a sitting duck.

 

[stammer78]

I also dont understand the LaStella move with the wealth of middle infielders. Alcantara to me is the better guy to get some time in the outfield and second base. Our best pick it glove man at 3B is Villanueva, he will never play here. I hoped he would make it around to second base to be a bench guy and take over for Bryant in close games at the end. Seems like someone else needs to be getting some time in spring training at 3B if Olt is the only guy there at the beginning of the year. Alcantara has never played there in the majors, a little in the minors I heard. I thought LaStella was just gonna get flipped right away, now its a bench spot and maybe start if Baez gets sent down. Baez apparently has struck out at a 45% rate in winter ball with the new hitting coach spending some time with him.

I think the LaStella move at the time was just going to be a temporary move but now the Cubs can't find a suitable offer for him and have decided to keep him on the roster for the time being. The Cubs are DEEP at the middle infield right now and have some good chips to move if need be around the Trade Deadline. (Already thinking into July?) I was pleased to see Olt come to Chicago, I would have thought a change of scenery would have benefitted him but he still has the Adam Dunn affect. I think he is going to be playing with the looking over his shoulder syndrome too with Bryant rumors running rampant behind him. But I think he has a solid spot on the bench with a spot start to give Bryant a rest. Hopefully Baez does not think he needs to press so hard this year with the talent he now has around him. Soler shows great patience at times and hopefully he can continue that this year. You cant hit a grand slam with no one on base.

 

[anotheridiot]

Well the LaStella move is looking more like it was the plan to put Baez back in AAA until he learns to cut back on his swing with two strikes. So far hitting .100 this spring. Maybe striking out 1/3rd of his at bats is improvement?

 

[anotheridiot]

Baez, Russell, and Bryant all optioned to the minors today.

Heard an argument on ESPN for Bryant again, said last years numbers were 43 home runs and 162 k's. I guess we wait for the next cant miss somewhere to ask why not me as to being the first one that beats the business side. Well, I guess the bleachers wont be done for a while so we will still get to see some home runs rattling between the i beams.

No missed start for discipline for Jackson, went 4 2/3rds of scoreless baseball.

 

[stammer78]

Heard on the radio the Cubs may bring Bryant onto the roster right after his 12 days is up. Dumbest thing I have ever heard. Good way to get a grievance filed against quicker than a hiccup. I am thinking a May 1 call up.

 

[Johnny Sleeper]

It will most likely happen with Olt being placed on the DL. That will be enough to avoid the grievance having enough to hold up. If Olt weren't hurt it probably be May 4th, but Olt being banged up opens up options. Le Stella already being on the DL and then Olt going to the DL means they will have two infielders down and no real 3B and Bryant is the next infielder and 3B in line. It will most likely be the 20th based on the recent trend of bringing up players during road trips.

 

[stammer78]

Hopefully when Chicago does all these roster moves the my hometown team the Iowa Cubs can stay competitive enough to make the playoffs.

 

[Johnny Sleeper]

Iowa should be good this year. Even if we assume that Russell and Baez will both be called up in June/July you have to expect Schwarber to get promoted to AAA around then. Almora, Vogelbach and C.J. Edwards could also get promoted to AAA around mid-season. Stephen Bruno probably takes over 2B in Iowa when Baez gets called back up. The Cubs system is so deep right now that their minor league teams should all be fun to watch.