Roster poll

Since the big news of the final week of spring training is that 25th spot on the roster, I figured I'd see what you all have to say about it. As battlekow points out, it comes down to three guys:

• Tony Gwynn
• Mike Rivera
• Vinny Rottino

It's a little odd to me how this came to pass; a couple of days ago Gabe Gross was on the bubble and all of these guys were probably out; now we're making cases for all of them. None will make much of an impact this year, even if given a chance; none will get much playing time, either.

In brief, here are the cases for each one, pro and con:

• Gwynn: May have nothing left to prove in triple-A; good defender and fast, so he'd give us an outfield defensive replacement and a late-inning pinch runner, something we would not have otherwise. Then again, pretty weak bat coming off the bench, and I don't know that we need a defensive replacement in the outfield.
  
  
• Rivera: We don't need him right now, but Damian Miller is fragile, and it would be nice to have him in the organization. If he doesn't clear waivers, he'll have to stay on the 25-man to stay in the org, so we'd basically be stashing him on the roster as an occasional pinch-hitter and Damian insurance.
  
  
• Rottino: Not as good a hitter as Rivera, but more flexible: he can play any position on the diamond, especially the infield corners. Gives us some Damian insurance but with the possibility of more at-bats. He could be a fan favorite, since he's local. His ceiling is lower than either of the other two guys, though, and it's not hard to see him going a week at a time between at-bats.

What do you think? I put the poll in this thread and on the right-hand sidebar.