Texas’s four full-season squads announced their opening rosters yesterday. I’ll cover the top levels today and the rest tomorrow. Top-thirty rankings from MLB Pipeline are in parentheses. I’ve updated my rosters and org info here. But first:
Diamond Pod!
On Tuesday, Sean Bass of The Ticket, Michael Tepid and I discussed our anxiety about the rotation possibly undercutting some favorable predictions among statistical models and pundits, Evan Carter, and what did or didn’t impress us during our trips to Surprise. Links are in my signature.
AAA Round Rock Roster
Pitchers: Dane Acker, Joe Barlow, Caleb Boushley, David Buchanan, JT Chargois, Luis Curvelo, Dane Dunning, Matt Festa, Codi Heuer, Nolan Hoffman, Adrian Houser, Jacob Latz, Walter Pennington, Michael Plassmeyer, Daniel Robert, Hunter Strickland, Emiliano Teodo (6), Cole Winn
The top newcomer is Teodo, who spent last year at AA Frisco and impressed enough in Surprise to throw short, high-leverage relief deep into March despite ostensibly being a rotation prospect. (He probably is a reliever in due course, but we’ll see.) Joining from Frisco are Dane Acker (twice a 40-man groomsman, not yet a groom) and offseason free-agent acquisition Luis Curvelo. On the 40 along with Teodo and Curvelo are Latz, Pennington, Robert and Winn. Dane Dunning was successfully outrighted.
Who is starting for this squad? Several have in the past or worked swing roles, but literally everyone is a potential relief candidate. We might see plenty of bullpen nights and/or tandem-esque usage in lieu of a traditional rotation. My “job” will be to assess who’s standing out as a potential call-up and whether any 40 spots are in jeopardy.
In late news, recently signed Patrick Corbin was assigned to AAA.
Catchers: Tucker Barnhart, Konner Piotto, Chad Wallach
Texas lost Sam Huff and Matt Whatley and didn’t have anyone in the system ready to advance. Thirtysomethings Barnhart and Wallach will jockey for first place should one of the big-league catchers suffer an injury. Piotto is a 2021undrafted signing who might bounce around various levels as needed.
Infielders: Blaine Crim, Justin Foscue (15), Cody Freeman, Jonathan Ornelas, Alan Trejo
Crim, Foscue and Ornelas are the very familiar faces, all beginning their third years at the level. Crim is in his last year before free agency, Ornelas is on his last option, and Foscue (now 26) is probably on his last chance to make an impression. Up from Frisco is Cody Freeman, who’ll play plenty of third and a little second. Freeman’s prospect status took a hit when he stopped catching, but his strong infield defense and best season at the plate in 2024 still make him someone to watch.
Outfielders: Evan Carter, Dustin Harris, Sam Haggerty, Trevor Hauver, Kellen Strahm
The primary story in this group is Evan Carter’s progress. His statcast data will be critical. I’m looking for better contact rates against lefties and better exit velos across the board.
The former CIF Harris has improved to competency in the outfield but has yet to repeat his breakout 2021 at the plate. His mild exit velocity is a concern, although he did smack the hardest-hit ball of his career (at least as measured by Statcast) a couple of weeks ago. MLB Pipeline dumped him completely out of their top thirty, but Baseball America holds more hope with a #19 ranking.
Strahm is a strong AAA OF who would need some breaks to reach the Majors and probably would have better odds in a different organization. Hauver was frankly awful in last season’s first four months and outstanding the final two.
AA Frisco Roster
Pitchers: Robby Ahlstrom, Ben Anderson, Mitch Bratt (21), Gavin Collyer, Kohl Drake (13), Peyton Gray, Skylar Hales (25), Stephen Jennings, Ryan Lobus, Travis MacGregor, Bryan Magdaleno, Daniel Missaki, Winston Santos (5), Josh Stephan (22), Trey Supak, Avery Weems
Not a single pitcher finished last year at a lower level, but Bratt, Collyer, Drake, Lobus and Magdaleno all advanced from high-A fairly late in 2024. Among the likely starters, Santos had a terrific spring including a dominant Breakout Game start, and I saw strong outings from Bratt and Stephan. I didn’t see Drake, but he’s another starter who might reach the Majors. Hales and Magdaleno form a solid relief duo.
A few of these guys have pitched in AAA, and Ahlstrom certainly belongs there but presumably was crowded out temporarily. Gray, MacGregor, Missaki and Supak are offseason signings.
Catchers: Cooper Johnson, Tucker Mitchell, Ian Moller
22-year-old Ian Moller gets a sink-or-swim promotion. The 2021 fourth-rounder has always reached at an impressive rate (career .344 OBP) but has shown little when he swings; he actually has more walks (173) than hits (165). Johnson is a capable undrafted sign. Mitchell has sometimes batted well enough to warrant extra plate appearances at first, but last year both high-A and AA challenged him.
Infielders: Cam Cauley (19), Frainyer Chavez, Alex De Goti, Abimelec Ortiz (14), Keyber Rodriguez, Sebastian Walcott (1)
Cauley’s promotion surprised me, but on further review it makes more sense. On the whole, Cauley backslid modestly from the previous year, and injuries limited him to 93 games. In his favor, from July onwards he batted .243/.316/.497 with 10 homers in 43 games, and he improved on what had become an alarming tendency to strike out. Cauley makes noisy contact, the question is how often.
Ortiz will try to maintain last year’s second-half surge. His stats and underlying data in March were solid, while I saw one beefy homer and some fearsome (in a bad way) hacks through breaking stuff. Chavez and Rodriguez are re-signed free agents. You’ve probably heard of Sebastian Walcott.
Outfielders: Josh Hatcher, Luis Mieses, Alejandro Osuna (8), Aaron Zavala
Osuna deserves a Triple A assignment on the merits, so in that respect I’m disappointed, but some additional time in Frisco isn’t worrying. Round Rock has five outfielders already, and though their prospect statuses might vary, they all deserve to be there, and none will be collecting dust on the bench. In Round Rock he’d be part of a rotation, whereas in Frisco he won’t have anyone crowding him for playing time.
Hatcher, Mieses and Zavala are holdovers from 2024. The 26-year-old Hatcher batted .300/.350/.448 last year and earned an end-of-season promotion to AAA, and he could return if some room is created.
Unassigned To Date (listed by where they finished 2024)
AAA pitchers: Aidan Anderson, Reid Birlingmair, Tim Brennan, Ryan Garcia, Nick Krauth
AA pitchers: Bryce Bonnin, Bryan Chi, Jackson Kelley, Adrian Rodriguez
High-A pitchers: Jacob Maton, Mason Molina, Ivan Oviedo, Florencio Serrano
Low-A pitchers: Kolton Curtis, Jake Jekielek, Janser Lara, Justin Sanchez
Position Players: IF Jax Biggers (AAA), IF Theo Hardy (AAA but mostly hi-A), C Brandon Martorano (AA), OF Yosy Galan (hi-A), IF Erick Alvarez (lo-A)
Transactions
Texas released OF Cody Thomas, who spent last year in Japan following brief MLB spells with Oakland in 2022 and 2023.
Elsewhere
Sam Huff has won the battle for San Francisco’s #2 catcher spot over Max Stassi, with some assistance from perpetually injured would-be #2 Tom Murphy, who played only 13 games last season and is currently out for an unspecified time with a back injury.
Philadelphia designated RHP Tyler Phillips for assignment, and he’s been acquired by the Marlins. He’s out of options and will join their big-league roster, partly because they’ve suffered some injuries, and partly because they’re the Marlins. Phillips debuted for his boyhood team last summer, nine years after he was drafted.
RHP Mason Englert has made Tampa Bay’s Opening Day roster. The Rays acquired him in trade after Detroit designated him for assignment. Non-roster invite Jonathan Hernandez was in the hunt but apparently will head to AAA Durham.
OF Travis Jankowski made the White Sox.
RHP David Robertson remains unemployed.
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