Position players who could make Guards' Opening Day roster

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Opening Day is one week away. Energy is picking up around the Guardians’ training complex and logistics are getting worked out for bus departures to the airport on Tuesday to head to Oakland. With regular season games within reach, we obviously know who will be on the Opening Day roster, right?

Um…wrong.

The Guardians need to have their 26 guys picked by the time the plane leaves Arizona on Tuesday. In these next five days, the team has to figure out who the fifth starter will be and who will take the last few vacancies in the bullpen. Oh, and let’s not forget that we don’t have much more clarity on some position battles than we did heading into camp.

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“It’s still very much open in a lot of areas,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said.

Until we see the official Opening Day roster, there’s a lot to monitor. Let’s take a look at the handful position players who are fighting for a spot before camp ends.

INF Deyvison De Los Santos
De Los Santos is the domino standing up right in front of a long train of tiles. Once this piece falls, everything else can start to come together. Being a Rule 5 Draft selection, he has to make the active roster (and stay on it the whole year) in order to assure he remains in this organization moving forward. But because he’s only 20 years old and has never played above Double-A, having him occupy a spot for the next six-plus months comes with a lot of risk. It also means that the Guardians wouldn’t carry someone on the Opening Day roster who played a prominent role on the roster last season.

OF Will Brennan
If De Los Santos makes the team, Brennan may be in jeopardy of beginning the year in Triple-A Columbus. Cleveland has Myles Straw, Tyler Freeman, Estevan Florial (more on them later), Ramón Laureano and Steven Kwan to fill three positions. If De Los Santos doesn’t make the roster, Brennan is absolutely in this mix, too. But if one of those spots goes to the Rule 5 pick, the Guardians may choose to send one of the six outfielders to the Minors. Brennan may end up being that guy.

UTL David Fry
OK, so let’s say De Los Santos and Brennan make the roster, then Fry seems like the other candidate to start the year in Triple-A Columbus. Vogt has been impressed with Fry since the first day of camp. He told Fry to come into Spring Training solely as a catcher and worry about the other positions later. Vogt has raved about Fry’s improvements behind the dish and his versatility around the diamond makes him that much more useful. If De Los Santos is taking one of the 26 spots on the roster, it’ll likely come down to Fry or Brennan to fight for the final opening.

INF Gabriel Arias
And now we have the shortstop battle. The assumption has always been that Arias would get the first shot to prove this position can be his. Defensively, he’s been stellar this spring. Offensively, he hasn’t gotten going, which was the same problem as last year. Will that prevent him from being the starter? We don’t know just yet.

“I mean, defensively, it’s special to watch,” Vogt said. “Offensively, it’s been a little bit of a struggle. … Just kind of inconsistent right now. But he’s putting in the work and I have no doubt in my mind that he’s gonna find it.”

INF Brayan Rocchio
If it’s not Arias, it’ll be Rocchio, the Guardians’ No. 3 prospect. Rocchio has swung the bat better than Arias this spring, but if Cleveland opts to go with Arias out of the gate, Rocchio will likely start the year in Triple-A Columbus.

INF Angel Martínez
Just given the experience of the first two options, it’d be shocking if Martínez won the job, but the way he’s swung the bat this spring demands attention. Even if he’s not the Opening Day shortstop, he deserves attention for what he could become.

CFs Myles Straw/Tyler Freeman/Estevan Florial
It seems all but guaranteed these three will be on the roster. It’s just a matter of who will win the starting job. Maybe they just stick with Straw at first, but the team has Freeman and Florial as options if Straw isn’t the answer. All three will need to get a handful of at-bats in the next five days to best sort out what makes the most sense.