San Diego Padres: Three sleeper candidates to make the roster

Major League Baseball’s roster expansion this year will provide some flexibility for the San Diego Padres. Here are three sleepers that could make the team.

Beginning this year, the traditional 25-man roster will expand, adding another player that a team can carry throughout the year. How organizations utilize the extra roster space is entirely up to them. Still, the move is certainly going to provide opportunities to fringe players that were usually cut or sent to the minors in previous years. For the San Diego Padres, the roster appears to be mostly set, outside of second base, center field, and the fifth starter position.

However, the team is likely to utilize the 26th man to provide depth at a particular position. But first, let’s look at what figures to form the first 25 guys on the roster:

Catcher: Francisco Mejia and Austin Hedges

First Base: Eric Hosmer

Second Base: Brian Dozier, Jurickson Profar, and Greg Garcia

Shortstop: Fernando Tatis Jr.

Third Base: Manny Machado

Left Field: Tommy Pham

Center Field: Trent Grisham and Franchy Cordero

Right Field: Wil Myers and Josh Naylor

Starting Rotation: Chris Paddack, Garrett Richards, Dinelson Lamet, Zach Davies, and Joey Lucchesi

Bullpen: Kirby Yates, Drew Pomeranz, Emilio Pagan, Andres Munoz, Craig Stammen, Matt Strahm, and Jose Castillo.

Now let’s look at three players that could sneak onto the roster.

Jake Cronenworth

Jake Cronenworth came over to the Padres in the Tommy Pham trade back in early December. The former University of Michigan standout was drafted in the seventh round of the 2015 MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays. He smacked a whopping 10 home runs during his three years in Ann Arbor but made up for it with 36 doubles and nine triples while batting .312.

The 26-year-old spent all of last season playing for the Rays Triple-A outfit and slashed .334/.429/.520 with 26 doubles, four triples, 10 home runs, and 45 RBI in 94 games. He primarily plays at shortstop but has seen a considerable amount of time at both second and third base in his professional career.

How does he fit into the roster this season? While shortstop is almost certainly not an option – outside of a Fernando Tatis Jr. injury – he should have the opportunity to get playing time at second base. The position is wide open in Spring Training with Brian Dozier, Jurickson Profar, and Greg Garcia as the primary candidates.

However, Cronenworth’s versatility is invaluable, and with a strong showing in spring, he can find his way onto the roster with a potential to start at second base. On Wednesday, he replaced Tatis at shortstop in the game against Cleveland and went 2-2 with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning.

He could also spot start at third when Machado needs a day off.

Juan Lagares

Juan Lagares is a guy that could find his way onto the roster who can play all three outfield positions. Last season was a disaster for the 30-year-old, slashing .213/.279/.326 in 133 games with the New York Mets. He’s two years removed from batting .339 – albeit over a 30-game sample – and batted .250 in 94 games during the 2017 season.

He’s not a high on-base guy, but he plays excellent defense, collecting a Gold Glove Award in 2014, and could be given spot starts throughout the week when other players need days off.

If anything is going to derail his chances of making this roster, it will be because of his issues to remain healthy. Since 2014, Lagares has spent a substantial amount of time on the injured list, playing in a combined 124 games between 2017 and 2018.

He’s off to a good start thus far in spring, batting .400, including 1-2 and two RBI on Tuesday against the Oakland Athletics.

I’ll admit that Lagares is a long-shot to make the roster given how tight the 40-man roster is. However, he’s a prime candidate to take advantage of an injury or a trade during the spring.