I think they're going to have quite a roster crunch, both on the big league squad and on the 40-man roster. This is going to require some work. Let's say everyone is healthy (fat chance but....). Here's the list of guys who could potentially (and somewhat realistically) be on the MLB club:
C (3) - Vazquez, Plawecki, Wong
IF (8) - Dalbec, Cordero, Arroyo, Story, Bogaerts, Devers, Sanchez, Downs
OF (6) - JBJ, Kiké, JD, Verdugo, Refsnyder, Duran
SP (9) - Eovaldi, Paxton, Pivetta, Hill, Winckowski, Wacha, Sale, Crawford, Seabold
RP (15) - Brasier, Diekman, Barnes, Davis, Strahm, Sawamura, Schreiber, Danish, Taylor, Houck, Whitlock, Valdez, Robles, Bello, Walter
That's a total of 41 guys, for 16 spots. Obviously some of these guys are long shots or at the far end of the likelihood spectrum, like Downs, Wong, and Walter. I think Bello probably will wait til 2023 to come up, but the guy is *electric* and I could see him coming up to be a stud relief arm at the end of the year. But who knows. Anyway, this is a lot of guys for not that many spots. So I think a lot of it is going to come down to which players have options. They're not looking to just let decent MLB players go for nothing, so either option them or trade them. And I could see Boston trading both ways - trading some established vets for prospects, and then trading other prospects for MLB help.
Here's what I'd like to see for a roster, again, assuming these guys are healthy...
C (2) - Vazquez, Plawecki (man I want a better backup, but that's not a huge priority)
IF (5) - Story, Bogaerts, Devers, Arroyo, Cordero
OF (6)- Kiké, JD, Verdugo, Duran, JBJ, Refsnyder
This roster means that they've got several guys with lots of positional flexibility: Arroyo, Cordero, Kiké, and Refsnyder. They can put out there a terrific defensive team if they want with Kiké, JBJ, Refsnyder in the OF. They can go LHB heavy with Duran, Verdugo, JBJ, and Cordero, or they could go RHB heavy with Arroyo, Kiké, and Refsnyder.
SP (5) - Sale, Eovaldi, Pivetta, Paxton, Hill
RP (8) - Whitlock, Houck, Schreiber, Strahm, Diekman, Taylor, Davis, and another stud RHP, or, if they can't swing a good deal for that, bring up Bello to pitch out of the bullpen
Trades I'd like to see:
- Dalbec and a lesser prospect for CJ Cron. Dalbec could hit 35-40 homers for Colorado, and he's dirt cheap. Plus they get another prospect. For Boston, Cron isn't too expensive (just $7m a year) and is signed through 2023, so they have a little more time to ease Casas into the mix. Cron has proven he can hit outside Coors as well (30 hr for TB in 2018, 25 hr for Min in 2019). He'd be a nice short term trade pickup.
- Trade Wacha for a prospect. I still, even halfway through the season, think he's done it with smoke and mirrors, but his numbers are very very good and to another team in playoff contention, a guy like him - veteran, not making much, pitching very well this year - is probably worth something pretty good from their farm system.
- Trade prospects for Bard. Bard would be ideal for this team in the bullpen. Hard throwing, has been very good this year. Love his story. Wouldn't cost much either. Maybe a separate deal for Colorado, or you make it one big deal: Dalbec and a few prospects for Cron and Bard.
These deals would essentially reduce the 40-man crunch by a few spots, which is great. And it improves the team in two key areas: 1b and RP. And if you really wanted Bello still up here (like I might...we'll see) for the stretch run to pitch out of the bullpen, it's rather easy to just option Davis and go with a bullpen of Whitlock, Houck, Schreiber, Bard, Bello, Strahm, Diekman, and Taylor. That would be fine with me. And if Hill or Paxton falters, you can bring up Bello to the rotation or slide Houck or Whitlock back in there, or use Seabold or Kutter if necessary. Though the best option probably would just be to go with Winckowski.
I don't think any of the moves I suggest are really that challenging to pull off. We aren't talking about trading for Ohtani or anything like that obviously.