Rosters, 2009 & 2010

OK, the Bucs signed Octavio Dotel for a year with an option, and announced he'll be the closer; we'll have more on him tomorrow.

Here's what the 40-man roster looks like now:

Pitchers (18) - Ramon Aguero (R); Jose Ascanio (R); Brendan Donnelly (R); Octavio Dotel (R); Zach Duke (L); Joel Hanrahan (R); Kevin Hart (R); Chris Jakubauskas (R); Brad Lincoln (R); Javier Lopez (L); Paul Maholm (L); Daniel McCutchen (R); Evan Meek (R); Bryan Morris (R); Charlie Morton (R); Ross Ohlendorf (R); Ronald Uviedo (R); Donnie Veal (L).

Catchers (2) - Ryan Doumit (S); Jason Jaramillo (S).

Infielders (10) - 3B Pedro Alvarez (L); SS Ronny Cedeno (R); 1B Jeff Clement (L); SS Bobby Crosby (R); SS Argenis Diaz (R); 2B Akinori Iwamura (L); 3B Andy LaRoche (R); 1B Steve Pearce (R); INF Ramon Vazquez (L); 3B Neil Walker (S).

Outfielders (10) - Ryan Church (L); Gorkys Hernandez (R); Brandon Jones (L); Garrett Jones (L); Andrew McCutchen (R); Lastings Milledge (R); Brandon Moss (L); John Raynor (R); Jose Tabata (R); Delwyn Young (S).

As best as I could reconstruct it, the opening 2009 40-Man Roster:

Pitchers (20) - Jimmy Barthmaier (R); Sean Burnett (L); Matt Capps (R); Jesse Chavez (R); Phil Dumatrait (L); Zach Duke (L); Tom Gorzelanny (L); John Grabow (L); Chris Hansen (R); Jeff Karstens (R); Paul Maholm (L); Daniel McCutchen (R); Evan Meek (R); Ross Ohlendorf (R); Ian Snell (R); Jeff Sues (R); Ronald Uviedo (R); Donnie Veal (L); Virgil Vasquez (R); Tyler Yates (R).

Catchers (4) - Ryan Doumit (S); Robinzon Diaz (R); Jason Jaramillo (S); Steve Lerud (C).

Infielders (8) - 3B Pedro Alvarez (L); INF Brian Bixler (R); INF Luis Cruz (R); 1B Adam LaRoche (L); 3B Andy LaRoche (R); 2B Freddy Sanchez (R); INF Ramon Vazquez (L); SS Jack Wilson (R).

Outfielders (8) - Eric Hinske (L); Nate McLouth (L); Andrew McCutchen (R); Craig Monroe (R); Nyjer Morgan (R); Brandon Moss (L); Jose Tabata (R); Delwyn Young (S).

That's a pretty remarkable 23 changes in 12 months; only six guys removed from the roster remain with the organization.

The opening day lineup in 2009: LF Nyjer Morgan; 2B Freddy Sanchez; CF Nate McLouth; C Ryan Doumit; 1B Adam LaRoche; 3B Andy LaRoche; RF Brandon Moss; SS Jack Wilson; and P Paul Maholm.

Our best guesstimate of 2010's opening day lineup: CF Andrew McCutchen; 2B Akinori Iwamura; 1B Garrett Jones; C Ryan Doumit; LF Lasting Milledge; RF Ryan Church; 3B Andy LaRoche; SS Ronny Cedeno; and P Ross Ohlendorf.

What do we think about the movement? Better rotation, if for nothing else due to addition by subtraction; a deeper bullpen, though the closer's role is still to be proven; probably a stronger bench, depending on the configuration, and a lineup that still needs some boppers. Looks like a lotta question marks to us.

But hey, don't worry. This crew isn't going to stay together that long anyway. There are still changes afoot, and August's team will probably bear little resemblance to this one.

-- Dejan Kovacevic of the Post Gazette pulled out his handy Casio and calculated the cost of this year's team: The 25-man payroll will start at an estimated $35.65M, probably the MLB's lowest, and the 40-man payroll, which was $ 48.693M last year according to Cot's Contracts, should fall between $40-45M in 2010.