The last of the four full-season rosters is out (H/T to Ben Meyers of the Auburn Citizen for heads-up), as the Syracuse Chiefs have released the initial roster for the 2012 campaign.
Aside from the presence of John Lannan, there were a few minor surprises:
…Chris McConnell was promoted from Harrisburg after two grueling days on paper for the Sens.
…Tanner Roark, who repeated AA in both ’10 and ’11, made it to AAA for the first time.
…”OG” favorites Erik Arnesen, Hassan Pena, and Cory VanAllen not only made the cut, but got the bump.
…Some kid named B. Harper is listed as a CF
The rundown (watchlisters in bold, 40-man guys in italics):
PITCHERS
Erik Arnesen
Mitch Atkins
Austin Bibens-Dirkx
Zach Duke
John Lannan
Rafael Martin
Yunesky Maya
Hassan Pena
Ryan Perry
Tanner Roark
Atahualpa Severino
Cory VanAllen
Josh Wilkie
CATCHERS
Carlos Maldonado
Jhonatan Solano
INFIELDERS
Seth Bynum
Jarret Hoffpauir
Chris McConnell
Tyler Moore
Carlos Rivero
Mark Teahen
OUTFIELDERS
Corey Brown
Bryce Harper
Jason Michaels
Xavier Paul
Starting on the DL are Mike Schultz, Waldis Joaquin, Jeff Fulchino and Adam Carr.
For the second year in a row, there are multiple pitchers that would have been in Washington in years past. The Chiefs continue to get older, which is also consistent with how contenders use their AAA teams (e.g. Lehigh Valley for Philadelphia position players, Pawtucket for Boston pitchers). Of course, the Mets are also among the oldest in IL for those two categories, so it may not necessarily be a function of contention (*rimshot!*).
As stated from day one, I know all eyes are on the team’s 19-year-old, but I’m not going to make him the focus of the daily News & Notes unless he actually, you know, does particularly well or particularly poorly — just everyone else (except maybe in the tags, can’t hurt with the ads, right?).
This isn’t a bad-looking roster on paper and it might make for a decent summer for the folks in upstate New York after all.