Blue Jays: Who is going to be the 25th man on the Opening Day roster?

The Blue Jays roster for the 2019 season is starting to come together, but one decision that will need to be made is who will be the 25th man come Opening Day.

With the calendar turning to February we can actually start to look forward to baseball without it seeming like a lifetime away. It might still be Winter, especially for those of us dealing with a mid-winter deep freeze right now, but pitchers and catchers are reporting to Spring Training in less than two weeks and that makes me feel a little warmer somehow.

For the Blue Jays the offseason doesn’t feel like it’s complete just yet, but the same could be said for many teams across baseball, and even for some of the premium free agents like Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, and more who are still waiting for their next contracts. That said, I feel like this week’s signing of Freddy Galvis might have completed things on the position player side of the roster in Toronto, and that Ross Atkins and company will focus the rest of their attention on another bullpen piece or two if anything.

If that’s the case, then what do the Blue Jays have for a roster as of this writing? Well, let’s have a look:

• C: Danny Jansen, Luke Maile
• 1B: Justin Smoak,
• 2B: Devon Travis, Brandon Drury
• SS: Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Freddy Galvis
• 3B: Drury
• RF: Randal Grichuk
• CF: Kevin Pillar
• LF: Teoscar Hernandez, Billy McKinney
• DH: Kendrys Morales

You’ll notice two things about the group above: 1) I only included those that I see as guarantees to make the team out of spring training, and McKinney’s inclusion is debatable at this point even if he did play well for the Blue Jays down the stretch. 2) There are only 12 players on this list, and unless they plan on carrying eight relievers to break camp, then they’ll have room for one more.

That spot will definitely go to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at some point, but it looks like he is going to start the season in Buffalo to “work on his defence”, or something like that.

Assuming that’s the case, who might be the 25th man in Toronto this year? Here are the options that make the most sense to me right now, assuming the front office doesn’t sign anyone else prior to Opening Day.

Rowdy Tellez

It’s not terribly common for teams to carry two first basemen these days unless it’s a platoon, but it’s possible the Blue Jays could entertain the idea to start the 2019 season. Justin Smoak returns as the incumbent and will undoubtedly get the bulk of playing time at first, but it’s possible that Tellez could see enough starts between first and DH to justify keeping him with the big league club. That would come at the sacrifice of Kendrys Morales’ at bats, but I feel like the 2019 season is going to be about making sure the young guys get a chance.

Tellez was fantastic in a short cameo with the Blue Jays last year, slashing .314/.329/.614 with four home runs, 10 RBI, and 9 doubles in just 70 at bats. That’s obviously an unsustainable pace for the 23 year old, but he showed that he’s not afraid to face the best pitchers in the world.

There’s a good argument to be made that Tellez should start the season in Triple-A with the Buffalo Bisons though, and that’s mostly to make sure that he’s playing consistently and continuing to develop. Both Smoak and Morales are on expiring contracts this year and could be trade candidates in July, so Tellez could and should be ready to step in if a trade went down. He’d also be the obvious candidate to receive a promotion if there were an injury as well.

Whenever the opportunity comes for Rowdy, hopefully he can step up to the challenge the way he did last fall and prove that he belongs at the highest level. The likeable personality could very well play himself into a future with the franchise, but with so many talented youngsters on the way to the big leagues, he’ll need to establish himself at first base in the next year or two, at least if he wants to be a part of the long term future in Toronto.

As for the 25th roster spot, my guess is the Blue Jays start him in Buffalo and go with someone else.

Dalton Pompey

There was a time a few years ago that the Blue Jays viewed a Canadian kid as their future in centre field, and somehow that feels like a lot longer than 4-5 years ago.

Since then Dalton Pompey has endured a variety of injuries including significant concussion issues, and hasn’t been able to harness the potential that had so many people dreaming on his future a few years ago. He’s healthy now though, and he’s one of the few Blue Jays on the 40 man roster that doesn’t have any minor league options remaining, but isn’t viewed as a guarantee to make the team.

That fact could work in Pompey’s favour, as there isn’t the same plethora of outfield prospects in Toronto’s system as there are infielders, and the 26 year old is still a talented ballplayer. Assuming the Blue Jays don’t “need” his spot on the 40 man roster for someone else, they may view Spring Training as a chance for him to battle with McKinney or even Hernandez was playing time in the outfield, and an opportunity to earn one more shot in Toronto.

It might also depend on how Charlie Montoyo and the Blue Jays view Brandon Drury as an outfield option, or if they plan on playing Lourdes Gurriel Jr. out there at all now that Galvis is around as well. If they plan to use either player as a 5th outfielder, then it’s possible they don’t need to keep Pompey around. It would be nice to have Pompey as a defensive option and also as a baserunner, something he’s thrived at late in games in the big leagues before.

On a personal note, I’ll be rooting for Pompey to get one more chance to earn a spot on the team. His skillset should play well as long as he can stay healthy, and if the Blue Jays have kept him around this long (they kept him over recent DFA, Danny Barnes, for example), then maybe they’re not done with him yet.

Is he the 25th man on Opening Day? Maybe.

Richard Urena

Yesterday I wrote about how Freddy Galvis’ signing had an effect on the other shortstop options, and there might not be anyone who feels it as directly as Richard Urena.

Sure, you could argue that Gurriel Jr. is bound to see less starts at short now that Galvis is in the fold, but there’s no way it’s going to cost him his spot on the roster. That’s probably not going to be the case for Urena, who had the inside track on the utility man job as recently as last weekend.

That said, it’s possible that the Blue Jays could still carry Urena to open the season, especially if they want to have another infielder around until Vlad Guerrero Jr arrives. They’ll have Drury, Travis, Gurriel Jr., and Galvis, but that only leaves them with one back-up infielder. Granted they went without a shortstop all together at times in 2018, but it never hurts to have an extra capable gloveman around.

Although Urena performed very well in Toronto last season, his stats show that he could benefit from some extra seasoning in Triple-A. History tells us that the Blue Jays are going to need extra infielders to help them get through a 162 game season anyway, and they’ve already called upon Urena in each of the last two seasons, so chances are he’ll be in line for a similar spot on the depth charts this year.

Is it possible that he breaks camp as the 25th man? Like I said, it’s possible the Jays keep him around until Vlad Jr arrives, but I think they go in another direction and call him up if an injury occurs to another infielder.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Last but not least, I wanted to include Vladimir Guerrero Jr because it’s not like the Blue Jays have announced that he’ll star the year in Buffalo or anything. It’s just that most of us assume that will be the case.

For those of you who haven’t already read about this a bazillion times, Guerrero is the no-doubt top prospect in baseball right now, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to break camp with the Blue Jays this year. Because of the way things work with a MiLB player’s big league service time, if Vlad Jr. starts the year in Buffalo and plays there for 3-4 weeks the Blue Jays will be able to guarantee that they’ll control his contract for another year. It’s not exactly fair for a player who deserves to be promoted based on their performance, but you can’t blame any team for this type of strategy, even if they won’t outright admit that’s what they’re doing. In Guerrero’s case, he realistically should have been called up last year.

More from Jays Journal

• Matt Chapman has been exactly what the Blue Jays needed
• Blue Jays: The goalposts are moving in the right direction
• Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays advance to the Championship Series
• Blue Jays: Comparisons for Alek Manoah’s Second Season
• Blue Jays: Adam Cimber, the unlikely decision King

All that being said, I included him here because it’s possible the Blue Jays decide that they want to break from conventional thinking and give the kid the job on Opening Day. I don’t expect that’ll be the case, but maybe they could take such a decision into early extension talks for the young phenom (don’t scoff, it’ll happen sooner than later if he keeps on like this). Maybe Guerrero performs at such a ridiculous level during Grapefruit League play that there’s no choice but to stick him in the middle of the lineup at the get go.

I could go on, but I won’t bother because I’m willing to bet that there isn’t really a rationale that could convince Atkins to give up that extra year of contract control. It might not make Vlad Jr. or his agent to happy when the end of March rolls around, but after seeing the same thing happen to other prospects like Eloy Jimenez of the White Sox, Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres, and even Kris Bryant a few years ago with the Cubs, they can’t get too upset with the Blue Jays for using the rules to their advantage.

If I wanted to turn this article into a novel I could have also written about guys like Eric Sogard, Anthony Alford, Jonathan Davis, or Dwight Smith Jr., but I’m not banking on any of them being a serious threat for the 25th spot on the roster unless there are injuries this spring. I’ve definitely been wrong before though, but I see it coming down to a decision between Pompey, Tellez, and Urena, with Pompey getting the first shot.

That could all change tomorrow with a new free agent signing or a trade, but that’s my guess as things stand on the first day of February.