Benches can be signed as free agents. One could also easily have Quinn and Galvis on the bench which would automatically make the bench better than this year.
On Rupp, he is a poor defensive catcher. His framing is pretty bad and he is not great at blocking balls. He is also could easily start going into decline as Alfaro gets better. If there is one catcher who might put up an 800 OPS in a few years it is Alfaro. Chances are probably close to 50-50 he is as good as Rupp next year when the complete game is considered. And if Rupp is better it would not be that much and frankly Rupp is not better than Knapp who could easily start. Our catching is not likely to be worse next year.
Will some of them have bad years? Sure. But some could have career years also. It is a young team that could easily have several players get dramatically better. I also said I only expect a 2-5 WAR gain. That is easily plausible when defense is considered.
It is still not a good team without serious work on the pitching staff. They really need a couple of pitchers added. Hopefully they bid on Darvish because he alone could solidify the staff. We probably need several new pitchers to have a shot at .500 but we do have that shot. I just think going with that young lineup and you'll have someone like Crawford or Altherr or Williams put up a 4+ WAR season. And they do have a serious trade piece in Hernandez if they deem Kingery ready. Cesar could bring them an extra #3 starter or a top prospect if they chose that route.
Franco is a concern but they probably don't have many better options other than give him another year. That would be why they would keep Galvis around potentially to make sure they do not slip there. Franco still has upside. If he does not improve however they probably get something else for 2019.
Playing young players does not necessarily mean losing if the young players are good. This is not playing guys like Ruf. These are generally all young players with the potential to be average starters or better.
