IBC

This will probably change a lot between now and opening day due to trades and the draft, but I'm at a music industry conference, bored off my ass - talking about how to standardize metadata across the industry can be pretty dry.

Position Players:
C - Keibert Ruiz
1B - Cody Bellinger
2B - Kolten Wong
SS - Jordan Westburg
3B - David Villar
LF - Jurickson Profar
CF - Jazz Chisholm
RF - Nick Castellanos

Bench:
Eddys Leonard - SS/2B
Dustin Harris - 1B/3B/OF
Adalberto Mondesi - SS/3B
Dillon Dingler - C
Nick Ahmed - SS
Mark Vientos - 1B/3B/OF

Pitching:
SP - Carlos Rodon*
SP - Triston McKenzie
SP - Patrick Sandoval*
SP - Kyle Wright
SP - Dustin May
SP - Bryce Elder
SP - Hayden Wesneski
SP - Jason Groome*

RP - Matt Brash
RP - Caleb Ferguson*
RP - Pierce Johnson
RP - Colin Poche*
RP - Lucas Sims
RP - Trevor Stephan
RP - Erik Swanson
CL - Craig Kimbrel

Prospects:
Elly De La Cruz - SS
Angel Martinez - SS
Jose Ramos - OF
Pete Crow-Armstrong - OF
Ceddanne Rafaela - OF
Ryan Weathers* - SP
Brandon Williamson* - SP
Yosver Zulueta - SP

Draftees:
Anthony Gutierrez - OF '21
Jaden Hill - SP '21
Carter Jensen - C '21
Jackson Merrill - SS '21
Benny Montgomery - OF '21
Cristian Vaquero - OF '21
Zac Veen - OF '21
Kahlil Watson - SS '21
Aaron Zavala - OF '21

Draft picks:
2022 Draft Pick 7 - Brooks Lee - SS
2022 Draft Pick 15 - Dalton Rushing - C
2022 Draft Pick 23 - Brock Porter - P
2022 Draft Pick 30 - Cooper Hjerpe* - P
2022 Draft Pick 47 - Connor Prielipp* - P
2022 Draft Pick 49 - Sebastian Walcott - SS
2022 Draft Pick 75 - Ivan Melendez - 1B
2022 Draft Pick 83 - Henry Bolte - OF

Takeaways:

OF is a major weakness. Profar had a career year, and he's pretty good defensively - but outside of that, it's a lot of nothing. PCA and Aaron Zavala are on the way and look to be major contributors when they arrive, but thats still a ways off. I need major help here.

SS is an area of concern. Jordan Westburg can probably play a decent enough SS for a bit - but long term his home may be more suited for 3B. Elly De La Cruz can hopefully fill the SS gap in another year. Mondesi can't stay on the field. Leonard may be more of a utility type, and Angel Martinez is still a ways away. I'm tired of relying on Ahmed, even if he brings exceptional defense.

SP should be a strength. Young talent there, and a decent amount of depth. Rodon is an ace. McKenzie looks like he fits in the top half of a rotation. Sandoval is solid. Dustin May is back from injury and looking to bounce back, his talent is obvious. Wright had a breakout year. Mikolas is a heck of a good back of the rotation pitcher. Manning, Wesneski and Elder are talented and intriguing youngsters. Depth here means I can afford to be patient with Williamson and Weathers.

The pen needs work. There are some good things there, and some not so great things there. Ferguson, Poche, and Brash are quality young arms. It's probably time to think about retooling/upgrading the rest of the pen.

Trade me your OFers!

Castellanos in, Mikolas out.

Still need a young, quality corner OF bat. Have lots of picks to trade, plus prospects.

Updated..

Updated post Matt Manning trade.

Future of the OF looks a bit better. Jazz moving to CF helps a bit there, with high end guys like PCA, Rafaela, Veen, Montgomery, Anthony Gutierrez, Jose Ramos, and Zavala all behind him on the way.