The Major League Baseball regular season begins this week for the majority of its teams, with the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers already having begun their season last week with two games in Japan. With Spring Training coming to an end, teams will have to make some tough decisions on who will make their Opening Day rosters.
Some of the players who will soon know their fate are non-roster invitees and players who are not on a 40-man roster, but are in camp battling for a job, or to spell stars and regulars. While a lot of these players are top prospects whose clubs want to wet their feet against major league competition and have already been sent down to the minors, many are MLB veterans who have struggled over the past few seasons and/or did not have a strong free agent market for their services.
While the majority of them will be released or serve as minor league depth for their respective clubs, there are a few veteran NRIs every year who are able to make a big impact on an MLB squad. That group could quite conceivably include four former MLB award winners who are currently on minor league deals, but who seem to be in strong positions to play key roles for their major league organizations.
Carlos Carrasco, New York Yankees
With parts of 11 seasons in Cleveland under his belt, Carrasco led the American League in wins in 2017 and won the Roberto Clemente Award in 2018. In addition, he was named the 2019 AL Comeback Player of the Year after being diagnosed with a treatable form of leukemia in July of that season and later returning in August. He was dealt to the Mets as part of the Francisco Lindor trade prior to 2021, and his numbers began to decline upon his arrival in New York as he battled injuries.
The right-handed pitcher returned to the Guardians last season but struggled mightily before being cut just before the postseason. Carrasco signed a minor league deal with New York in early February but has seen his outlook go from minor league depth to mid-rotation starter.
Injuries to Yankees starters Luis Gil, Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt have opened a spot for Carrasco to break camp as a member of the rotation. Carrasco, for his part, has done everything he could to make the decision as easy as possible for Yankees’ brass. In five spring games, Carrasco has pitched to a 1.69 ERA through 16 innings with 15 punchouts. The Venezuela native may have sealed the deal with his latest outing against the Braves, in which he went five scoreless innings against an Atlanta lineup featuring the majority of the club’s regulars. Yankees GM Brian Cashman confirmed that Carrasco had made the roster on Saturday. His top competition came in the form of rookie starter Will Warren, who struggled in six games last year but has generally performed well this spring with a reintroduced curveball and a revitalized changeup. The competition has now become a moot point, as now both seem likely to begin the year in the Yankees rotation. Carrasco’s ability to carry his strong spring into the regular season will determine whether it is him or Warren who is able to hold onto a rotation spot when Schmidt returns in a few weeks.
Yuli Gurriel/Jose Iglesias, San Diego Padres
Gurriel is a two-time World Series champion, collecting two rings as the starting first baseman for both of the Houston Astros championship campaigns. His best season in terms of hardware came in 2021, as he won the AL Batting Title with a .319 batting average while also collecting a gold glove for his work at first base. Gurriel started last year with the minors for the Braves before being traded for cash to the Royals, right before the deadline to be eligible for playoffs with a new team. Gurriel spent September in the majors with Kansas City and ended up filling in for an injured Vinnie Pasquantino during their playoff run. He signed a minor league deal with the Padres a few days before the beginning of Spring Training, and he has put together a strong slash line of .303/.343/.485 through 14 exhibition games (as of 3/23/25).
The Padres carrying him on their Opening Day roster would allow the defensively limited Luis Arráez, who himself has won three batting titles in a row, to serve primarily as a designated hitter. He would also give the Padres a right-handed hitting complement to lefty Gavin Sheets, who the Padres selected to their 40-man last week and who seems likely to also make the team. His biggest competition comes from former Pirate Connor Joe, who is already on the 40-man, can play the corner outfield, and is also having a nice preseason.
Iglesias is also in camp with San Diego, though his path to playing time is much clearer than Gurriel’s. Despite a resurgent campaign for the 2015 all-star last season, while also serving as one of the catalysts for the “OMG Mets,” he was only able to secure a minor league deal this offseason. Still, he has always looked likely to make the roster after being given a $3 million base salary for time spent in the majors this season. He hasn’t had a great spring, but his defensive versatility and production last season still leaves him in a strong position to break camp with the team. For a Padres team that faced financial limitations this past offseason but who are looking to compete in a competitive NL West, both Gurriel and Iglesias could go from NRIs to impact bats on a team looking for added offensive production.
Tim Anderson, Los Angeles Angels
Anderson is a two-time all-star (2021, 2022) who was also a Silver Slugger in the shortened 2020 season. In addition, Anderson is a former batting champ, accomplishing the feat while hitting .335 in 2019. The former White Sox shortstop didn’t bat under .303 for four straight seasons from 2019-2022, though he played less than 80 games in two of those seasons.
Anderson’s numbers declined in 2023, with his most memorable moment of the season coming courtesy of a right hook from José Ramírez. The Alabama native played a full season’s worth of games but was a below league average player at -1.8 wins above replacement. He signed a one-year deal to play with the Marlins for 2024, but he hit so poorly over 65 games that he was released in July after putting up a horrendous -1.5 WAR in that short time. Anderson did not catch on with another team and was out of baseball for the rest of 2024.
Once a poster boy for MLB’s “Let the Kids Play” movement, his precipitous fall left him only able to secure a minor league deal with the Angels in late February. He has posted a decent .260 average this spring with a .315 on base percentage in 50 at bats. Those numbers aren’t great, but they are a marked improvement over his 2024 Marlins numbers. Regardless, his ability to make the roster has less to do with his spring production and more to do with the current injury situation of the Angels’ infield.
Starting shortstop Zach Neto will begin the year on the injured list after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery. Anthony Rendon is again facing a long-term absence, possibly being at risk of missing the entire season after undergoing hip surgery. Free agent pick up Yoán Moncada is also suffering from a thumb injury and is not likely to be healthy for Opening Day.
On the Angels’ opening day roster, Kevin Newman is Anderson’s top competition for playing time. Newman was one of the first free agents to sign with any team this offseason, and the journeyman infielder has had a solid spring. The versatile journeyman also had a good season with Arizona last year, putting up a 2.2 WAR. He is in line to serve as the starting shortstop in Neto’s stead and will likely serve as a utility man upon his return. Anderson also has some versatility, having been a strong defender at short throughout his career. He also has major league experience at second base and could conceivably cover third if called upon. Working in a backup role may help him utilize whatever he has left in the tank best. With Newman being pushed into the starting lineup, starting second baseman Luis Rengifo coming off a serious wrist injury and being a generally poor defender, and the Angels’ injury woes at third base, Anderson gives the Angels an experienced option to serve as a backup infielder until the injury picture clears up some.