Something I haven't seen brought up much is the possibility of injuries. If Beltre is injured, Olt will be up and playing, unless he's traded. If Elvis or Ian is hurt, expect to see Profar, if we haven't already. The only everyday player that got sent to the DL last year was Moreland. The year before, we lost Hamilton, Beltre, and Cruz at different times. This year we might not be so lucky; you never know.

I know we have some depth up the middle. But if Olt is traded and Beltre gets injured, who will play 3B until he gets back?

Andrew/utb, I believe we had a Depth Chart post a ways back and ultimately concluded that there would be two roster spots to fill after the Berkman deal (excluding Soto and Martin and assuming 12 pitchers on the roster). If that's the case, I see a few viable options:

(1) Profar is your MIF backup, Ian backs up 1B against LHPs, leaving Profar with 80-100 games (barring injury). Then you would need a backup 3B....unless you decided to have somebody on the roster backup 3B for 10-15 games (can Elvis play third?). Olt would be in AAA in this scenario, and I don't know who would take that other roster spot.

(2) Olt backs up Moreland at 1B for roughly 50 games/year, 3B for another 15-20, and maybe RF/DH here and there for a total of maybe 80 games. Profar starts at AAA in this scenario, and either somebody like Garcia or a vet utility MIF takes the backup SS/2B time.

(3) Olt and Profar both start at AAA and the two unknowns above fill the roster.

Andy, you make a good point. I think when you're determining who should start on the opening day roster and who goes to AAA, you have to assume no injuries, even though we know there'll be some. That's why I'd like to see Profar start in the bigs (in the platoon I suggested) and Olt in AAA. If Beltre or Moreland is out for an extended period, we can bring Olt up.

The big issue overall here is finding out if Gentry, Martin, Profar, Olt, and Moreland are everyday players on a WS team in 2014 and beyond. We have to see enough of them in 2013 to figure that out, because Murphy, Cruz, and Berkman are FAs next year (assuming Berkman's contract won't vest), Elvis is a year closer to FA (and with ever-diminishing trade value), and the risk of Beltre losing a step defensively (and thus DHing more frequently) grows by the year.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if we start Profar in the minors for a month (a la Trout and Harper), will we not be docked a year of his control clock?

I THINK that Ian thinks he can play 3B...

Would Ian or Elvis be worse at 3B than MY? Surely not.

@Andy

A year of service time is equal to being on the Major League roster for 172 out of 183 official days. I'm not positive if Olt/Profar's time on the 2012 roster affects that number, but I believe if they are down in AAA for two weeks at the onset of the season they will maintain 6 years with Texas.

If a player is capable of MLB level play, no team is going to be overly concerned about service time no matter how a reality it is. They simply can not ignore the hear and now and can not go into battle to win it all without the best weapons. Saying that, a MIke Trout treatment [ie on the team before the end of May] of Profar, and to lesser factor a 24 year old Olt, of starting the season in AA or AAA is a definite possibilty. IF a player is not ready [The Clyde effect] rushing him to the Majors is detrimental, and is an entirely different matter.

@Andy
IF Beltre gets injured, Kinsler will move to 3rd. He's gonna be there when/if Adrian gets traded anyway.