No team will fret over having too much in the way of talent, but Phil Rogers of MLB.com wonders if the Cubs’ depth could stifle the growth of Javier Baez and Jorge Soler. Â In the case of Baez, manager Joe Maddon believes that he can get enough work in as a utility player. Â Overall, Maddon is grateful to have such strong insurance against injuries.
“It’s obvious just by making the daily lineups now,” he said on Sunday. “When you give guys a day off playing but the team that goes to play that day is pretty thick still. That’s what has hit home with me. … The depth is really intriguing. You need that to be successful during the course of a long season. You’re going to have things happen. No question.”
Here’s more out of the NL Central:
- Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette took on the tough task of predicting the Pirates’ Opening Day roster.  His projections do not include outfielder Matt Joyce, who was brought in on a minor-league deal this offseason.  Nesbitt’s writes that his projections could be thrown off by a few factors, including the possibility that Michael Morse is moved in anticipation of Jung Ho Kang’s return.
- Brewers left-hander Sean Nolin won’t be ready for Opening Day and that could have roster implications for Milwaukee, as Tom Haudricourt of the Journal-Sentinel writes.  As Nolin deals with his elbow issue, only two lefties – Chris Capuano and Franklin Morales – are left vying for spots and both were brought in on minor league deals.  Those two southpaws plus reliever Blaine Boyer have opt out clauses in their contracts that could spring them from their deals before Opening Day.
- Nolin is out-of-options, but his elbow issue likely will buy the Brewers time in making a decision on him, Haudricourt tweets.  Nolin is likely destined for the DL.
- J.J. Hoover is likely to be the Reds’ closer and manager Bryan Price says he would “definitely” be the choice if the season started now, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com writes. Â Hoover, who won his arbitration case against the Reds this offseason, could help his arb case next offseason if he can rack up saves.
*I think it’s Matt Joyce, not Matt Moore.
I caught that too. They fixed it pretty quick though. Good job guys!
Posters on MLBTraderumors are pretty sharp (vs. other baseball blog sites). Good catch.
Baez and Soler should get plenty of at bats. What’s Rogers worried about?.
The Cubs are stacked. He needs to write about something to fill his space in the paper.
They hang on to both of them at the deadline and I think they pick up a starter or another arm for the bullpen.
I agree let it play out and come August 1st, then we trade for even more prospects keep the chain running . Love Montereo but if he don’t produce in the first half his gon welcome Wilson and Schwaber Solar should make things interesting. All 3 will have a amazing season and 2 can catch well enough now. Plus When Ross rides off then finally Caratin or Brocwillerwill shine
Poll: who’s more annoying, “BigPapi4Ever” or all the posters who make fun of him?
Answer: the people who make poll questions trying to single out another poster are the most annoying.
Damn dude at least I’m an equal opportunity offender.
Why not add a third option. How about the people who defend him.
Because its clearly the 15 people that fill comments with thats crazy, insert there ridiculous hypothetical proposal in an unwitty retort. Yes, sorry that means yourself.
“Hoover could help his arb case next off season if he can rack up saves”…writers do have a sense of humor. “Racking up” saves for the Reds? come on man! lol
Hey man even a 75 win team should get 30-35 saves maybe even more.
Any save totals help a reliever without great k totals.
I think that Joyce has a very good chance of breaking camp with the Bucs…he is the only legit left handed bat with a respectable MLB track record that could come off the bench. Additionally, I think he holds even more value to the Pirates once inter league play begins, because he most certainly has the power profile from the left side to be a legit DH, or can play a corner outfield slot and move either Marte or Polanco to center and let Cutch DH to give him a rest from the field.
Losing Alvarez and Walker, along with Kang being out for a while, makes this lineup a bit power starved.
Fortunately, this lineup features quite a few players with a high On Base Percentage, and the entire starting lineup has 10+ home run power. Guys like Jordy Mercer, and Gregory Polanco need to have breakout seasons for this offense to change from very good to POTENT. Jordy definitely has 20-25 home run power, he just needs to keep his stroke consistent all year long, and so does Polanco once his approach matures.
Joyce can add 10-15 home runs on a part time playing basis along with some PH of the bench…we need the LH power bat on the roster.
An nl team keeping joyce and morse as bench pieces doesnt make sense. Much higher premium on versatility.
The Pirates are plenty versatile, they can afford to keep both Joyce and Morse. Josh Harrison and Sean Rodriguez can play all over the field, all 3 starting outfielders are capable of playing CF (IMO Marte should be starting there anyway), Freese can handle both of the corners, Jaso can play RF or C in an emergency, Jason Rogers can play first, third, or RF. And when Kang gets back, he could also be a shortstop option thought I think he’ll stay at 3B full time. Once Josh Bell is ready to come up, then I think one of Joyce or Morse will be let go.
Ronnsnow, you took the words right out of my mouth…this club is one of the more versatile teams in all of baseball, but with them being a bit power starved you need to have a few home run threats off the bench. And although he isn’t as limber as he once was, in a pinch, Morse can play just about anywhere, remember the guy broke into the majors as a shortstop, the guy is more than capable of moving around the diamond or the outfield.