I’ve been thinking about this Marmol quote that Jeff Jones tweeted and Brian posted the other day.
Marmol was asked about the plan for playing time at second base, and here’s how he opened his answer before praising Donovan and Gorman:
“It depends on how a lot of other things play out over the next couple months leading into the season. We’ll see what our roster looks like.”
The most obvious thing is it suggests the starting 8 isn’t cast in stone despite Mo announcing what the infield and outfield will be.
But there is another aspect. I went to the original tweet and looked at some of the responses. Almost everyone seemed to assume that the implication was that one of Gorman or Donovan might be traded. That is not necessarily the case. The implication is that some lineup regular might be traded, which could affect who gets what playing time at 2B. It might be one of them, or it might be someone else, requiring one of them to play somewhere besides 2B. For example, if Arenado got traded, Gorman would play 3B not 2B. If any one of Nootbaar, Edman, Walker get traded, Donovan might play in LF, at least for a while.
I also noticed this comment on the Yadi thread, which indirectly touches on the 2024 lineup:
I think Yadi is around to improve the clubhouse vibe and teach Contreras how to call a game.
Despite the catchergate narrative that Willson is lacking as to calling games, it would make even more sense to have Yadi on hand to mentor Herrera if he found himself the starting catcher. I am not saying it proves they are trying to move Contreras, only that bringing in Yadi would be a good move if they are. I have been suspicious of the catchergate narrative from day one simply because Contreras played a substantial role behind the plate on the Chubs WS champion team. I really doubt he needs to be taught how to call a game. He seems to have done better as the season went along and he finaly had a chance to work with the pitchers who bailed on spring training right when he was trying to get familiar with a new pitching staff. That doesn’t alter the fact that he is weak defensively, as was known when Mo signed him. So I am doubtful that tutoring Willson is an aspect of Yadi coming back, and we should tap the brakes on chiseling Contreras into the 2024 lineup.