Thursday, July 23, 2015

What to do with the 25-Man roster?

The 25-Man roster is full. The 40-Man roster is at 39, with Thatcher's DFA. The Astros have Kazmir on the way, and Lowrie rehabbing in Corpus for a return sometime next week (personal speculation only). So that's two spots on the active roster that will need to be filled...what will the Astros do with them?

The Astros will need to clear one spot on the 25-Man in the next 24 hours. Here are the possibilities I can think of:

a) Send Singleton back to Fresno. Lowrie will be getting time at the corners when he returns, and there's always Gattis and Carter getting time there, as well.

b) Send Hoes back to Fresno. Gattis will just have to play LF every now and then, and with Tucker, Marisnick, and Rasmus situated in the outfield, Gattis can act as a 4th OF if needed.

c) DFA Fausto Carmona Roberto Hernandez. This clears a spot on the 25-Man and the 40-Man, allowing both Kazmir to join and Lowrie to rejoin. Not Fausto has only appeared in four games in July - two since July 4 - so it's not as though the Astros need him to mop up innings. If the Astros *really* wanted to keep Velasquez's innings down, they could move him out of the rotation and into the bullpen for the stretch run and let him own that fastball through the push.

You probably want something done with Tony Sipp, but that's not going to happen as he's the only lefty reliever now that Thatcher's gone.

There are other possibilities, but these are the three - and two of them are going to have to happen -  that stand out to me. Remember, the Astros need one 40-Man spot, but two 25-Man spots. We're also not mentioning the possibility that spots open up with trades over the next eight days.

Thoughts?