I'd give the edge to Bae over Marcano for a starting job, and it's possible he could play some CF and push Reynolds back to his old stomping ground in LF, but it's still a little early to make guesses. I think Andujar is more likely to split his time between an OF corner and DH, assuming he hits well enough to get regular playing time.
And one more name I probably should have thrown into the mix in the second tier is Triolo -- he's probably in the plans for 2023 in some way, even if he may not initially make the team. The disappointing thing with him is that he's a defensive wizard in addition to having the RH bat, but it doesn't seem like he's very comfortable at SS. I wonder a bit if that's an area we'll try and get him more reps at in AAA before a callup, though of course we also have Peguero in the pipeline and Bae can play SS too. I'm totally fine with Cruz getting 162 starts at SS if he's healthy all year, but it's obviously a position where you need a backup on the roster, especially given how Shelton likes to play matchups and be aggressive (which, while annoying at times, from the cold distance of the offseason I think is a good thing).
It's my own fault for reading the comments section at MLBTR but I can't really understand why there's negativity towards this move, other than that people like to fetishize younger players and are dismissive of veterans. The lack of leadership in the clubhouse without Quintana is glaring, and even from a cold analytic perspective, the team is likely upgrading a position that got them negative value in 2022 to something like 2ish WAR in 2023, with the potential for more than that if there is some positive regression.
The path to more success for this team lies with the potential impact of players already on the roster like Cruz, Reynolds, and Keller, along with possible futures impact in Endy and a group of others. But getting established MLB veterans to supplement the roster is world's better than endless reclamation project who clogs up playing time for 6 weeks and amounts to nothing, even if those established veterans are just "average" MLB players.
As we go forward, obviously catcher needs to be addressed, and I think SP is the biggest immediate need. The bigger question is still probably how serious we are about winning with Reynolds, since if we're only going to make small strides, there is still some argument to maximizing his value while you still can. I hate the trap of the either/or logic that these kinds of things always fall into, especially because I think if any trade happens between now and opening day, then it should have happened even earlier for an even better return, but the fact still remains that we're making necessary, but incremental and short-term, improvements to the 2023 team.
If BC follows through on his word and signs a SP to a multi-year contract, then the move in the right direction looks even more committed and we can go from there. Maybe it's still a scenario where you assess how the team is playing at the deadline and what kind of returns are available for rentals, but there's still a core in place that has demonstratively improved, and the 11-12M being spent on short-term options this year (though to be cynical and fair, it should be noted that if any trades happen, that number goes down) can be repurposed and then some for 2024.
We'll see, but the SP and a multi-year commitment are probably the first big thing I'm looking for, and the second is a shift in development strategy that opens up a real possibility for Endy to make the team out of spring training. I'd like to see that possibility with Perez returning as the primary option, though the one thing I wonder about in that scenario is Endy's bat regularly being in the lineup. It would be an interesting and more efficient use of the roster to have your backup C also be a utility player and DH, and there are some limited examples of this I can think of (Grandal comes to mind), but I still wonder if you would want a third catcher. Maybe a taxi squad makes the question less relevant, or you just go with it. There's also the chance that Perez gets hurt again, but I don't really think there's a true way around the situation. Signing two veteran catchers would probably be too far in terms of actually blocking Endy. If his bat plays, the latest he should be up is mid/late-May.