Is the Rangers Opening Day roster already pretty much set?
Spring training has just gotten started, but we seem to have a pretty good idea what the Opening Day roster for the Rangers will look like
Spring training has just kicked off, the Texas Rangers haven’t played their first Cactus League game, and we are still weeks away from Opening Day.
Nevertheless, it feels like we have a pretty good handle on what the 2024 Opening Day roster will be. Injuries can (and no doubt will) change things, of course, and there are a few question marks around the fringes of the roster, but really, this spring is going to likely be pretty dull from a “competing for roster spots” point of view.
From the position player side, the only two real questions appear to be whether Corey Seager will start the season on the injured list or not, which would create a spot for someone on a TDY assignment, and who the 13th position player will be.
There are 11 players who, barring injury or not being fully recovered from offseason surgery, would appear to be locks:
I almost wrote 12 guys who are locks, and included Andrew Knizner, the catcher who the Rangers signed to a cheap major league deal this offseason. The only other catcher on the 40 man roster is Sam Huff, and he has a fourth option and needs regular reps, particularly behind the plate, so it would be pretty surprising if Huff stuck instead of Knizner.
However, Knizner also can be optioned, veteran catchers Andrew Knapp and Jose Godoy are in camp as NRIs, and it isn’t like Knizner is such a solid choice that he has to be on the major league roster. And while the Rangers’ 40 man roster is currently full, there are four pitchers who the Rangers can stick on the 60 day injured list without a problem, should they wish to open up a 40 man spot. So I’m not putting him as a lock, since it wouldn’t be shocking if the Rangers ended up without someone different, whether in camp currently or not, as their backup.
(And after writing this paragraph but before publishing this post I saw this video where Bruce Bochy talks about Knizner and Knapp in positive terms and says he expects it to go down to the wire as far as the backup catcher spot goes.)
