The off-season thread can officially be retired. I am a little late in starting this one. Regardless, ST is upon us and we are 3 or so weeks from opening day. I am intrigued by this year's team, yet come in with limited expectations. I feel they have the personnel, should things shake their way, to make the playoffs. They also have the possibility to crash and burn due to age and injury history.

Some updates out of ST. Rob Refsnyder is expected to make the team. He provides versatility, especially since he has shown enough to the brass to at least be a passable backup 3b. This leaves the possibility that Headley could be floated over to 1b or Ackley could see time at 1b if Tex goes down or when he needs a breather. The loss of Bird makes the point actually relevant, as he would have been the guy backing up Tex had he not lost his shoulder. As it stands now, the position players are as follows

1. McCann C
2. Sanchez/Romine C
3. Teixeira 1b
4. Castro 2b
5. Gregorius SS
6. Headley 3B
7. Gardner LF
8. Ellsbury CF
9. Beltran RF
10. Rodriguez DH
11. Hicks OF
12. Ackley UTIL
13. Refsnyder UTIL

It basically looks as if the only position battle is backup catcher. The rest are likely to be as above unless/when someone is injured. I do like the positional depth we have.

First base could be manned by Tex, Ackley, Headley or even Refsnyder
Second base could be manned by Castro, Ackley or Refsnyder
Shortstop could be Castro or Gregorius
Third base could be Headley, Refsnyder, or ARod (in a pinch)
The only OFer of the 4 incapable of handling CF is Beltran. Refsnyder and Ackley can also play the corners if needed

It's good to have redundancy, especially with a 1b and RF who are ancient and a CF and LF who seem to get nicked up a lot