Answering questions about Rose's reinstatement request, rotation depth and more

Here are answers to the questions making headlines in baseball:

Question: Pete Rose, the all-time hits leader who was banned 25 years ago for betting on games he managed with the Cincinnati Reds, has asked new commissioner Rob Manfred to take a look at his case with a request for reinstatement. Is there a chance?

Answer: No. Bringing Rose back would be great for Rose, but not for baseball. During the 1919 Black Sox scandal, gambling almost wiped baseball off the map. It would be difficult to believe that Manfred, who replaced Bud Selig in January, would open the door for Rose and essentially bring gambling back into baseball, a controversial decision in Manfred's first few months on the job.

But let's say for the sake of argument that Manfred allowed Rose back. That doesn't mean Rose would be an automatic selection to the Hall of Fame. If Rose were reinstated, the Baseball Writers' Association of America wouldn't have any say on Rose's enshrinement. That would be up to the 16-member Expansion Era committee that meets during the winter meetings in 2016. Considering that there are five or six Hall of Fame players on that committee, and that Rose would need 11 of 16 votes to make it, the chances would be slim at best that Rose could get into Cooperstown.

Q: The Orioles and Nationals each have six starters for five rotation spots and plenty of prospects backed up in the system. Is there any other team that comes close to that pitching depth?

A: In the American League, the team that comes closest to that kind of depth is the Cleveland Indians, who have Cory Kluber, the AL Cy Young Award winner in 2013, and Carlos Carrasco at the top of the rotation. There's also Trevor Bauer, Danny Salazar, T.J. House, Zach McAllister, Josh Tomlin and Bruce Chen. In the NL, the Marlins have Henderson Alvarez, Mat Latos, Jared Cosart, Dan Haren Tom Koehler, Brad Hand and David Phelps. And, that's not even counting their 2013 All-Star, Jose Fernandez, who is expected back from elbow surgery in midseason.

Q: Orioles catcher Matt Wieters is coming back from Tommy John surgery. How rare is it for a position player to come from the ligament replacement surgery?

A: Consider that the first seven players that needed the surgery this spring are all pitchers. In 2014, Wieters and Twins prospect Miguel Sano were the only two positions players out with the elbow injury. The other 27 were pitchers. Before that, the most notable position player to have the surgery was lefty-throwing Carl Crawford in 2012 with the Red Sox. He had the surgery and was traded to the Dodgers, who didn't mind picking up his expensive contract. Crawford played well for the Dodgers in 2013. Sano is hitting rockets and doing well for the Twins this spring. Sano is a third baseman, but the Twins might move him to left field later this season.

Q: Philadelphia is offering to pay any team $50 million of first baseman Ryan Howard's contract if they would only trade for him. What is the market like? Do the Phillies have a chance to trade him?

A: Let's just say the market for a first baseman and/or DH doesn't favor the Phillies and that's been a problem since the end of last season, especially for an injured player with little production in the last two seasons. For now, the market is soft.

In the National League, the only team that might need a first baseman is the San Diego Padres, given they have a light-hitting, no-power guy there in Yonder Alonso. But the Padres have a new outfield, from left to right, in Justin Upton, Wil Myers and Matt Kemp, that's defensively challenged. They don't have a true center fielder, so they could move Myers, the former Tampa Bay Ray, to first base and put Cameron Maybin, who has good range, in center.

Even in the American League, where the DH is used, the market is limited. The teams with the biggest need are Toronto, Houston and Cleveland. The Blue Jays have Dioner Navarro as their DH and Justin Smoak at first base. The Astros have Chris Carter as their DH and light-hitting Jon Singleton at first, and the Indians have Nick Swisher and his questionable knees as their DH, with Brandon Moss and Carlos Santana at first base. Singleton is working this spring on more contact, which should make him a better power hitter.

Q: The Marlins signed outfielder Christian Yelich to a long-term deal and the White Sox did the same with outfielder Adam Eaton. How good are these guys?

A: Yelich, 23, has already won a Gold Glove in left field and his sweet left-handed swing may be good enough to win a batting title some day. Yelich hit .283 with a .362 on-base percentage last season, his first full season in the bigs. It's also the first time the Marlins have risked this kind of money ($49.75 million) on a one-year player, but they also did something out of the ordinary in the offseason when they signed right-fielder Giancarlo Stanton to a 13-year $325 million deal. With Marcell Ozuna in center, the Marlins have the best all-around outfield in baseball. Their backup is Ichiro Suzuki, who needs 156 hits to get to 3,000 career hits, but how much time Suzuki gets is up in the air considering how good the three ahead of him are.

Eaton, 26, is the prototypical leadoff batter. He hit .300 with a .362 on-base percentage last season and led the AL with 10 triples. He also won a Gold Glove in center field. He's part of core of the White Sox, who also have pitchers Chris Sale and Jose Quintana, and first baseman Jose Abreu under long-term contracts. Sale can be an AL Cy Young candidate and Quintana is the White Sox's answer to the Orioles' Miguel Gonzalez. Each is under the radar.