[illeracula]

The Cavaliers have some questions remaining on their roster, but for the most part the starting line-up is set. There will be a spring battle for left-field and the remaining bench slots. We have 19 position players in camp and we will be looking to carry 14 or 15 players, which means 5 or 6 will be sent down, waived and DFA'd over the next 30 days.

Catchers.
Ed Duke (back-to-back 29 HR seasons, continues to get better with the glove)
John Phillips (hit .217-2-14 backing up Dukes last year, solid glove, questionable bat)
John O'Donegan (hit .214-2-15 as a back-up last year, promising future)

Dukes is the incumbent and should be there for a few more years. O'Donegan is the future back-up, but will need to battle Phillips for the role this year. Both John's have options, and could see time in AAA to learn a new position. If either one of them played a 2nd position it would be possible that all 3 would break the spring on the roster.

First Base:
Francisco Reyes (Last years MVP, looks to repeat the feat)
Francisco Gallegos (22 years old, solid glove, raw power)
Yann Gosselin (23 years old, decent glove, pure power)

Reyes is the starter, but also plays the outfield, so he could see some time there if a trade is made or injuries occur. Gallegos is the best fielder of the bunch and may hang around just to play D. Yann was a top 25 prospect last year and hit 26 HR's for the Seantors in 462 AB's. Gallegos and Yann have no speed and will strike out a lot, but their power could make you forget about their shortcomings.

Second Base:
Mauro Candelaria (Poster child of the Cavaliers, injury Prone, never lived up to expectations)
Maik Wassink (Potential galore, fragile, solid in-fielder, great speed)

Candelaria will get the call at second. He is the face of the franchise having played with the Cavaliers since 2013. Once known as a "durable" kid, he has quickly become "fragile" over the past couple of years. Over his 7 year career, Candelaria has played in over 150 games 5 times, 40 more games, he will reach the 1000 game played plateau. We were excited to bring Maik on last year, but the excitement only lasted 24 games, as an injury kept him off the field the rest of the season. In those 24 games Maik hit .323-0-10. He can fill in at 1B, 2B and SS, and is probably the best fielder at 2B and 1B on the team. When he gets on base, he can run them with the best of them. His brief stay with the team last year made us excited to have him around. We just hope he can stay healthy.

Third Base:
Joe Chambers (Has big shoes to fill, Gold-Glove Caliber fielder, decent hitter)
Cody Johnson (Mr Utility, players 5 positions well, no options)

Joe was giving the starting slot after the trade of Robeto Perez. Many people think it was a crazy move, but I have faith he will put up solid enough numbers that he will end up being loved. Its hard to fill a 2x MVP's shoes, but I think Joe can. Cody Johnson will be (most likely) one of our utility men. Johnson has played much better part-time than he has full-time, but can play 2B, SS, 3B, LF and CF. In 109 games last year hit hit .277-4-37. He is the type of guy you want around on your team, does what is asked of him.

Shortstop:
Augusto Rodriguez (2x Gold Glover, average bat, can steal bases)
Mario Reyes (A smart solid hitter, below average speed, average glove)

Augusto Rodriguez is a fan favorite and dazzles with his glove, last year he posted a 12.0 ZR (down 2.3 from the season before). He hit .262-9-58 last year, and he can duplicate that again we will be more than happy. The most impressive stat about Rodriguez is how hard he is to strike out, going down 12 times in 416 AB's last year. Hasn't played in more than 126 games in his 3 years as a starter, thanks to nagging injuries, but this year we are believe (or are hoping) he will. Mario Reyes is 21 and has 3 option years left, so he will most likely head down to AAA to refine some of his skills. He has learned to play 2B over the past 2 years, but his bat hasn't developed as well as

Outfield:
Kent Davis (coming off an off year. Doesn't walk 27 in 600 AB's last year. Great glove, great baserunner)
Jeff Lewis (Perennial MVP Candidate. Gold Glove Caliber fielder. Pure hitter, great speed)
Sergio Galvez (Future Star, Great Bat, Solid Glove, Still Developing)
Javier Janchez (Gold Glove fielder, Questions about his bat loom. 5-tool player)
Ramon Granados (Young. Confident. Great Speed. Plays all 3 OF slots. Average Bat)
Bryan O'Neil (One of the guys. Below average bat. Average Glove. No Options.)

Kent Davis is coming off a down year, yet he still hit .332. He missed time with injury and it was the first time in the last 5 years he didn't reach the 200 hit plateau. His 199 hits was his lowest since his 225 in 2015! Many people believed Lewis should of won the MVP award last year, hitting .342-16-106 and scoring 117 times. This year its possible that he will reach the 30/30 mark, thanks to Reyes hitting behind him. Galvez hit .283-4-27 in part time duty, once Janchez went down, and was impressive. He doesn't walk much, and he doesn't strike out much, but has shown glimpses of HR power. He is only 22 years old and still has some developing to do. Janchez was given the starting role last year, and after a slow start he started to show why he was a top #15 prospect, then an injury ended his season abruptly. Janchez is well liked in the Cavaliers organization, and has the potential to be a future star, plays gold glove outfield at all 3 slots and is a team leader. Ramon Grandados is 25 and has been ready to play in the bigs (at least in his head) for the past 3 years. Last year in AAA he hit .308-16-74 missing some time due to injury. He is another kid who can run and play stellar D. Grandados has been a top 25 prospect the past 2 years and this year will most likely get his chance to show us what he has. Bryan O'Neil has been our 6th outfielder for the past 2 years, in limited time last year he hit .421-1-4 (19 AB's) and we don't expect much more than that from him this year. He plays both corner out-field slots and offers us nice back-up option.

Looking through the offensive players one thing stands out, we just don't have a whole lot of depth. Last year we were hurt by injuries, if it happens again we will struggle. We have some pretty solid prospects working their way up the ladder but right now, I am not sure...

Roster Prediction:
As mentioned the starting lineup is pretty much set and will be very similar to the one we ended the season with last year.
CF Kent Davis
2B Mauro Candelaria
LF Jeff Lewis
1B Francisco Reyes
DH King Brock
C Ed Duke
RF Sergio Galvez
3B Joe Chambers
SS Augusto Rodriguez

We believe its a pretty solid lineup, not the lineup that scored us 1100 runs 2 years ago, but one that will give us consistency through the season and enough runs to compete for a championship, yet again.

I am leaning towards keeping John O'Donegan over John Phillips, but we will see how it plays out during spring training. O'Donegan is better overall, and since both players have options I have some flexibility.

In the infield, Cody Johnson will be utility player one and Maik Wassink utility players two. this means that we will only be able to carry one of the back-up 1B's. Yann Gosselin or Francisco Gallegos. Both players have options, but I am leaning towards Gallegos, since he is a better fielder, but it might be tough sending down Gosselin. A tough choice ahead.

If I am counting the numbers correctly, that means we will be carrying 2 spare outfielders. I am leaning towards the kids Janchez and Grandados, both offer better bats, gloves and speed than O'Neil. This means O'Neil will be DFA'd, which is becoming old-hat to him (3 times last season, 2 times the year before).

We have 24 spring games ahead of us to help us figure out who will be making the roster and who won't be. It should be some fun times and hard decisions ahead...