I agree, and our 40 man roster, from #18-40, is about as thin as I've ever seen it. Of course, signing 22 FAs makes little sense, but I do think we may outbid other teams for top minor league/AAAA type players for depth.
It's also entirely possible we start guys like Houck and Dalbec in AAA for opening day, while we let the lower to moderate FA players settle in and prove they should not be replaced. I'm not saying this will happen, but we have a lot of players with options remaining and service time aspects to the choices we will make. Even Beni & Chavis could start the season in AAA, since they have 3 options left. Pivetta is not even on the 40 man roster.
Assuming Sale, Pedey and ERod begin the season on the 60 day IL, we could have 10 slots to fill via free agency:
SP _________
SP Eovaldi
SP _________
SP Perez
SP _________
SP _________
RP _________
RP _________
RP Barnes
RP D Hern
RP Valdez
RP _________
RP Taylor/Brasier
C Vazquez, Plawecki
1B _________
2B _________, Munoz/Arroyo
3B Devers
SS Bogaerts
LF Beni
CF _________
RF Verdugo
OF _________
DH Martinez
I doubt we sign 10 notable FAs, but doing so would give us the depth we sorely need. More likely, we sign 4-6 noteworthy FAs and maybe 4-6 depth signings who have options left, which would allow us to give the best depth players (FAs and in-system) a shot at winning key slots on the 26 man roster.