Well, the Indians missed the playoffs, my postseason ticket refund took forever to arrive and the Indians cut payroll. Despite all of this, I remain optimistic. Spring Training is starting so why not do a 26 man roster projection?

I’ll start with a few assumptions. Tito is the manager so we will carry 5 SP, 8 RP, 2 Catchers. The toss up is the extra spot on the bench. Here we go.

Lets start with the rotation. I think Cookie is able to get back into SP form and Civali shows he is major league rotation material. The 5th spot comes down to Adam Plutko or Zach Plesac. Plutko is out of options but there is room in the bullpen. Plesac gets the spot.

SP:

1. Mike Clevinger
2. Shane Bieber
3. Carlos Carrasco
4. Aaron Civali
5. Zach Plesac

The bullpen is interesting. Lot of overhaul over the years here. I think the first four are pretty easy. Clase is too electric to not be here as is Karinchak. I think Hunter Wood and Plutko start out here but there is potential for some guys like Jefry Rodriquez, Scott Moss, James Hoyt and Phil Maton to take a spot. None of the non-roster guys this year intrigue me.

RP:

1. Brad Hand
2. Oliver Perez
3. Adam Cimber
4. Nick Witgren
5. Emmanuel Clase
6. Hunter Wood
7. Adam Plutko
8. James Karinchak

Catchers are easy. Nothing to say here.

Catcher

1. Roberto Perez
2. Sany Leon

The infield is up in the air. First four are locks but what else they do is unknown. I think Chang finally gets his shot and makes the roster.

IF

1. Francisco Lindor
2. Jose Ramirez
3. Carlos Sanatana
4. Cesar Hernandez
5. Yu Chang

The outfield has some decisions to make and Domingo Santana is likely to sign soon and make this team. Reyes, Mercado and Luplow are locks in my opinion as well. I think Deshields makes this roster out of spring because of his speed and defense. Tyler Naquin will be hurt to start the season, otherwise he would be on this team.

OF

1. Franmil Reyes
2. Oscar Mercado
3. Jordan Luplow
4. Domingo Sanatana
5. Delino Deshields

This leaves one last spot. The new 26th man. My options here are Greg Allen, Jake Bauers, Bradley Zimmer, Mike Freeman, Christian Arroyo, Andrew Velazquez, Daniel Johnson and Bobby Bradley. These last two will start in AAA. Team doesn’t need them yet. No room for Arroyo and Velazquez yet. Zimmer needs some time on the farm after his injury too. This leave us with Allen, Bauers and Freeman. Allen’s role is filled by Deshields for now. Freeman had a fantastic year but we can’t expect that from him. Jake Bauers makes this team as a DH/OF/1B/PH. Welcome back to the show Jake.

26th Man: Jake Bauers