We’ve started our annual Depth Chart Discussions, re-branded as Playing Time Battles for 2016. You can catch up on every team we’ve covered in the Playing Time Battles Summary post or following along using the Depth Chart Discussions tag.

This time yesterday, there really weren’t any Cubs playing time battles to discuss. There’s always the token catcher chat, and we’ll flesh that out below. Some words could have been spilled regarding utility men Chris Coghlan and Javier Baez. Overall, it wouldn’t have been an exciting post. With Dexter Fowler’s stunning agreement, there is a real battle to address.

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A few weeks ago, we introduced depth chart discussions in the form of playing time battles. RotoGraphs staff have discussed and assessed noteworthy battles for playing time and/or starting gigs for position players and, separately, pitchers, and such analysis will continue until the season’s commencement. Here, specifically, this author will investigate the Milwaukee Brewers‘ position player situations.

This post would have been a lot less interesting had the author written it four weeks ago when he originally considered doing so. But after what can be conservatively described as a favorable offseason, the Brewers have some playing time battles with peculiar fantasy implications, especially for prospectors.

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We’ve started our annual Depth Chart Discussions, re-branded as Playing Time Battles for 2016. You can catch up on every team we’ve covered in the Playing Time Battles Summary post or following along using the Depth Chart Discussions tag.

We’re now three-quarters of the way through our playing time battles series. The remaining assignments in the series come in one of two flavors – nightmare or virtually battle free. The Marlins fall into the latter category.

The outfield will once again feature Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, and Marcell Ozuna with Ichiro Suzuki chasing hit records in the background. Derek Dietrich may be the fifth outfielder, or they might round up somebody who isn’t also a primary backup infielder. Whoever it is, they’ll only play when somebody suffers an injury.

Second base is Dee Gordon land. Dietrich is on backup duty here too. Gordon will team up with Adeiny Hechavarria for double plays. Scouts love Hechavarria’s defense (UZR finally liked it too last year), and he hits just enough to play regularly. That leaves us with three positions that are pseudo-unsettled. Even that’s a stretch.

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After 7 disappointing years under Jack Zduriencik (which followed 5 soul-crushing seasons under Bill Bavasi), new Mariners’ GM, Jerry Dipoto, raced up I-5 with a mandate to bring consistency and a fresh approach to the Emerald City. Faced with a number of holes to fill, the former Angels exec has already made a series of moves signaling a shift in the Mariners’ philosophy towards defense and on-base ability, a welcomed change from that of the last regime’s affinity for low on-base, immobile power hitters who strike out a lot. Huzzah.

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We’ve started our annual Depth Chart Discussions, re-branded as Playing Time Battles for 2016. You can catch up on every team we’ve covered in the Playing Time Battles Summary post or follow along using the Depth Chart Discussions tag.

The Indians pitching was the team’s strong point in 2015 by leading American League in strikeouts, HR/9, and FIP. With all of the major players from the 2015 staff returning, the team has high expectations going into 2016. Even though the top spots in the bullpen and rotation are set, some interesting battles exist further down the roster.

Defense

Usually, team defense should be considered too much when looking at pitching, but the Indians made a significant change a third of the way through the ’15 season. Mid-June, they added Francisco Lindor and Giovanny Urshela to the left side of the infield. Before the pair arrived, the Indian’s pitchers posted a .326 BABIP. After the pair took over, the value dropped to .277. The Indians should continue to have low BABIPs with defensive minded Juan Uribe taking over at third. Indian pitcher experienced some higher early season ERAs and they may see their ERAs drop even more.

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We’ve started our annual Depth Chart Discussions, re-branded as Playing Time Battles for 2016. You can catch up on every team we’ve covered in the Playing Time Battles Summary post or following along using the Depth Chart Discussions tag.

The Red Sox were supposed to be quite good in 2015. They failed for a number of reasons. Yes, the lineup underperformed, but the pitching staff was the most glaring issue. For as long as a year, it was glaringly obvious that the Sox would trade for Phillies ace Cole Hamels. They never ponied up the necessary prospects. The rotation posted a 4.39 ERA – seventh worst in the majors. The bullpen was comparably bad with a 4.24 ERA – fifth worst. In retrospect, they needed a lot more than Hamels.

Boston hopes that regression and two very big offseason acquisitions stabilize both units. We’ll see, won’t we?

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We’ve started our annual Depth Chart Discussions, re-branded as Playing Time Battles for 2016. You can catch up on every team we’ve covered in the Playing Time Battles Summary post or following along using the Depth Chart Discussions tag.

The Cardinals starters — and even their reserves — are mostly set. Jedd Gyorko was acquired in return for Jon Jay and should serve as the primary backup to Matt Carpenter at third base, Jhonny Peralta at shortstop and Kolten Wong at second base. None of the starters ahead of Gyorko are in danger of losing their starting jobs, but should any of them suffer an injury, the former Padre could have modest deep-league value as a middle infielder with average to above average power (.158 ISO and 49 homers in 1,426 career plate appearances), albeit with an ugly average (.247 last year and .236 for his career). That said, there’s no playing time battle at second base, shortstop or third base. There is, however, a fierce battle to be waged at first base. The outfield is essentially settled, but there is one position worth monitoring during the year. Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve started our annual Depth Chart Discussions, re-branded as Playing Time Battles for 2016. You can catch up on every team we’ve covered in the Playing Time Battles Summary post or following along using the Depth Chart Discussions tag.

Position battles? Not so much. Like with the cross town Mets, we’ll mostly talk about depth today. The rotation in particular looks brittle, and the options beyond the sixth guy are kind of terrifying.

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We’ve started our annual Depth Chart Discussions, re-branded as Playing Time Battles for 2016. You can catch up on every team we’ve covered in the Playing Time Battles Summary post or following along using the Depth Chart Discussions tag.

Fresh off 98 wins and a third consecutive post-season appearance, the Pirates enter 2016 with an elite outfield and one of baseball’s preeminent pitch framers behind the dish. But the infield, like the Allegheny that flows just beyond PNC’s walls, is both murky and shallow.

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We’ve started our annual Depth Chart Discussions, re-branded as Playing Time Battles for 2016. You can catch up on every team we’ve covered in the Playing Time Battles Summary post or following along using the Depth Chart Discussions tag.

At present, the Orioles are far from favorites to win the AL East. In fact, our own projections have Baltimore finishing dead-last in the division this year, with a 78-84 record. Personally, I think they’re considerably better than the Rays, but that’s not the point of this column.

As was the case with Jeff Sullivan’s piece on Friday, Yovani Gallardo may or may not have signed with the Orioles by the time you’re reading this. If you want an in-depth look at Gallardo himself, I highly suggest reading Jeff’s article. Either way, it’s interesting to dig into the “why” behind the club’s pursuit of Gallardo, who will turn 30 later this month.

It would certainly seem that the Orioles view themselves as contenders, as they would need to sacrifice the 14th overall pick in this year’s draft to sign Gallardo, because he declined the Rangers’ qualifying offer. Why else would a team coming off a .500 season in a highly competitive division cough up a top-15 pick and ~$15 million a year for a solid — yet unspectacular — mid-rotation arm? Especially when that organization possesses an already-depleted farm system?

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