Well the 26 man roster is becoming clearer by the day. One result of the Covid-19 delay is that those hurlers who were hurt (Mikolas, Cecil, Miller) will now be ready by opening day (assuming we have one), therefore, there will be fewer spots to be had.
Since no-one knows how service time is going to be handled this season, yet, I like that many of the pre-arb guys are optioned out. Whether that’s the FO intent is beyond me, but a conservative approach until we here of the MLB/MLBPA agreement on this season suits me fine.
If they trimmed the NRI’s, with Hicks still 60 day, the position players are set at 13. One 40man pitcher would need trimmed without any pitcher going on the IL. I’m trying to imagine four LHP’s and four RHP’s in the pen. A pitcher going on the IL is probably more likely.
Also, remember that an expanded roster for a period of time is a possibility, especially if they want to ramp up quickly – before the pitchers are fully ready.
As I noted in the article, the 40-man roster count “in camp” right now is 29 – the 13 position players as noted plus 15 (assumed to be healthy) pitchers and Hicks.
So, if the season began tomorrow with a 28-man roster (for example), they could be set. This also assumes no non-roster invitees such as Carlson and Whitley would make the team out of camp, which is still an unknown.