High chance it is another off-season of limited external moves.
Wouldn't surprise me to see them, more or less, go into 2023 with the same position player grouping, just subbing Arias into Miller's role and Brennan up from day 1 depending on what the verdict is with Amed.
Amed dictates so much of the off-season plan. If he is moved, a RHH 1B not named Owen Miller goes to the top of the want list because that takes Arias out of the Owen Miller role and potentially at SS or 2B. If he isn't moved, I don't think anything changes outside of the bench makeup. Arias and Freeman instead of Miller and Clement.
They aren't going to splash a C. Hedges is a FA and I think Maile will be DFA'd to make room to protect a rule 5 guy, but 1 of those 2 will be brought back to pair with Naylor later in the offseason. The bending over backwards to get little Naylor on the postseason roster should tell you what their expectations are for him next season and how they feel about him moving forward.
I actually think there is a chance they make a trade or small FA signing for a stop gap SP controlled for 1 or 2 seasons. With Plesac set to hit arbitration I think there is a high chance he is moved and they already tried to add Mahle at the deadline. Bring someone experienced in to compete with Morris, Curry, Gaddis, and Pilkington.
As for LH reliever, there is a good chance they have to protect one from the Rule 5 in Andrew Misiaszek. Has nasty stuff, very similar attack path as Sandlin just from the LH side. Like Sandlin, very high K rates, but some BB concerns. But with the 1 inning/end of inning rule the LH reliever has lost some importance to teams, and I'd honestly rather have him as your low leverage LH reliever out of the bullpen than a small FA signing. Spend that money elsewhere.
All-in-all, high likelihood it's going to be another offseason banking on a younger team getting better as opposed to adding impact pieces.
