Outside the Cubs Boxcar plays chicken, part 3

Welcome to part three of our tri-weekly feature. Part one is here, and part two is here. Today we’re going to look at alpha D-F, and see what, if any, adjustments we need to make to our roster. Remember that Arismendy Alcantara and Alexi Amarista have only been extended minor-league invites at this point, so there’s a little flexibility. Here’s the Free Agent Tracker.

The current roster, based on previous editions of Outside the Cubs Boxcar:

1. Arismendy Alcantara
2. Albert Almora, Jr.
3. Alexi Amarista
4. Jake Arrieta
5. Javier Baez
6. Kris Bryant
7. Eddie Butler
8. Trevor Cahill
9. Matt Carasiti
10. Victor Caratini
11. Alex Cobb
12. Willson Contreras
13. Taylor Davis
14. Carl Edwards, Jr.
15. Luke Farrell
16. Justin Grimm
17. Jacob Hanneman
18. Ian Happ
19. Kyle Hendricks
20. Jason Heyward
21. Tommy La Stella
22. Jon Lester
23. Dillon Maples
24. Cory Mazzoni
25. Alec Mills
26. Mike Montgomery
27. Jose Quintana
28. Anthony Rizzo
29. Randy Rosario
30. Hector Rondon
31. Addison Russell
32. Kyle Schwarber
33. Pedro Strop
34. Jen-Ho Tseng
35. Duane Underwood, Jr.
36. Mark Zagunis
37. Rob Zastryzny
38. Ben Zobrist

The starting rotation as of now:

1. Jon Lester (L)
2. Kyle Hendricks
3. Jose Quintana (L)
4. Jake Arrieta
5. Alex Cobb

The relief corps:

1. Trevor Cahill
2. Matt Carasiti
3. Carl Edwards Jr.
4. Dillon Maples
5. Mike Montgomery (L)
6. Pedro Strop
7. Duane Underwood Jr.
8. Rob Zastryzny (L)

We’ll look at the positional depth chart in a bit. For now, let’s identify some people that we might like that have on our team.

Yu Darvish and Wade Davis jump out immediately. Since our roster includes Jake Arrieta, I’m not going to opt for Darvish. I do want Davis though. Let’s say he signs for an even $15 million for each of the next four years. That’s more than I’d like to pay, and about two years longer than I’d like, but I suspect that’s what it’s going to take. We’ll have to work out the money at some point, but not right now.

As always, this is dependent upon reality. Should Davis sign elsewhere, we’ll adjust for that. For now, it’s gonna knock Duane Underwood back to Triple-A, and leave the 40-man roster at 39.

Brian Duensing is going to get more money than I’d like to spend, and more years, I think. Likewise Zach Duke, who is also getting on in years. Jarrod Dyson is interesting -- he’s older, but his skillset is still useful. I’m tempted but I’ll hold off for now. Doug Fister has played himself into more money than I want to spend for him, and I want a younger man, if possible. Scott Feldman likewise.

So Davis is the only add here.

Here’s the current infield, according to both the depth chart and our additions:

1B

1. Anthony Rizzo
2. Kris Bryant

2B

1. Javier Baez
2. Ben Zobrist
3. Ian Happ
4. Tommy La Stella
5. Alexi Amarista
6. Arismendy Alcantara

SS

1. Addison Russell
2. Javier Baez
3. Alexi Amarista

3B

1. Kris Bryant
2. Tommy La Stella
3. Ian Happ

C

1. Willson Contreras
2. Victor Caratini
3. Taylor Davis

Zobrist, Happ, and Alcantara are all capable of playing in the outfield as well, but there’s a logjam at second. Not necessarily a bad thing at this juncture. Next time, we’ll look at letters G-K and the outfield depth chart.

Thanks for reading.