Editor’s note: This is the Wednesday Feb. 17 edition of the Inside the Dodgers newsletter from reporter J.P. Hoornstra. To receive the newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.
Time’s up. Pencils down.
The off-season is over. Spring training is here.
We tend to think of the off-season as the time when executives build rosters, and spring training as the time when players begin playing games, and that’s true. It’s also true that Bryce Harper became a Phillie two weeks into spring training in 2019, Roy Oswalt didn’t sign a contract until May in each of his final two seasons (2012 and 2013), and Roger Clemens did the same (in 2006 and 2007). Right now, five of FanGraphs’ top 50 free agents are still unsigned, and after the pace of this off-season I’m surprised the number is that low. Players will continue to switch teams in the days and weeks to come.
The Dodgers are no exception. They still haven’t announced the Justin Turner signing, three days after Turner announced it himself. They must make a corresponding 40-man roster move to make Turner’s two-year, $34 million contract official. Tuesday, Josh Sborz was traded to the Rangers and Matt Davidson signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. The roster churn hasn’t stopped.
The Dodgers extended 31 non-roster invitations in all. That’s a healthy number of ice-cream flavors and National Hockey League teams, but real logjam of players trying to make the roster of the defending World Series champions. Today, I’ll run through the biggest names to pay attention to in camp.
Let’s start with the most volatile part of any team’s roster.
PITCHERS
Prospects to watch: Josiah Gray, Landon Knack, Bobby Miller, Kendall Williams, Gus Varland
Gray is the No. 1 prospect in the organization, per MLB.com and FanGraphs. Baseball America ranked him 55th overall. Naturally he’ll command attention any time he takes the mound in Arizona. On a Dodger team that lists Dustin May or Tony Gonsolin as its seventh starter, there’s no room for Gray on the Opening Day roster unless multiple injuries strike the major league staff. Even in that worst-case scenario, Gray figures to need minor-league seasoning before he debuts ― but that debut might not be far off, depending on how he shows in spring. Here’s a video of Gray from intrasquad competition last year.
The Dodgers selected Miller with the 29th overall pick in last year’s draft. Knack was taken 60th overall. In a normal year, by now we’d have some idea of how their skills translate to the professional game. Because there were no minor league games last year, spring training will be their first chance to show fans what they can do.
Williams was one of the players the Dodgers acquired from the Blue Jays for Ross Stripling at last year’s trade deadline. (The other, either a player or cash, must go from Toronto to Los Angeles by the end of the month.) At 20 years old, he’ll be the youngest pitcher in camp. The consensus seems to be that Williams is a year or two behind Gray, but has the potential to be a mid-rotation starter just the same. Here he is striking a dude out last fall.
Varland, a 24-year-old righty, was acquired from the A’s in the Adam Kolarek trade just last week. Injuries limited him to five appearances in 2019, so he’s a bit of a mystery man. Varland was a 14th-round draft pick out of Concordia University in 2018.
Veterans to watch: Jimmy Nelson, Brandon Morrow, James Pazos, Enny Romero, Mike Kickham
The Dodgers took a flier on Nelson last year as a reclamation project, but he underwent back surgery in July and never appeared in a game. The 31-year-old righty was 12-6 with a 3.49 ERA in 29 starts in his last full season (2017) before Tommy John surgery sidetracked his career. If healthy, Nelson could be a candidate to fill the swingman role that Stripling perfected. He at least appears to be ahead of Brock Stewart on that depth chart; Stewart did not get invited to the Dodgers’ major league camp in his return to Camelback Ranch.
Morrow is remembered fondly among Dodger fans for his epic 2017 season. He began the season in the minors and ended it as one of two pitchers to appear in every game of a seven-game World Series. Morrow’s last appearance in a major league game came in July 2018 with the Cubs. Injuries to his right biceps and elbow followed. Now 36, Morrow must show the Dodgers he still has something left in the tank.
When the Dodgers traded Kolarek and Dylan Floro in separate deals Friday, a pair of bullpen jobs opened up. Both spots could go to Gonsolin, May, or some combination of two projected starting pitchers. They might also go to a couple veteran relievers such as Morrow and a left-handed counterpart. Pazos, Romero and Kickham are vying to be that left-handed counterpart (not your personal injury law firm).
POSITION PLAYERS
Prospects to watch: Michael Busch, Kody Hoese, Jacob Amaya, Miguel Vargas, Andy Pages
Busch and Hoese were first-round picks in 2019 and, until I see them play, the two infielders will remain linked in my mind. Hoese is primarily a third baseman and a potential successor to Justin Turner in 2023 or 2024. Busch is a left-handed hitting second baseman who made Baseball America’s short list of instructional league standouts last fall. Here he is batting in a Fall League game last year.
Amaya is a versatile infielder who has drawn raves for his defensive ability in the minors. The former South Hills High School standout batted .250 in his first exposure to California League and was a late invitee to the Dodgers’ alternate site last year.
Vargas, 21, signed as an amateur free agent out of Cuba for $300,000 in 2017. His bat is considered very advanced for his age. Baseball Prospectus ranked him No. 65 overall prior to the 2020 season.
Pages, 20, was nearly packaged to Anaheim in the nixed Joc Pederson/Ross Stripling trade last year. After putting up big numbers in Ogden as an 18-year-old in 2019, he’ll be the youngest player in camp this year.
Veterans to watch: Davidson, Tim Federowicz, Elliot Soto, Rangel Ravelo, Andy Burns
Davidson has had an interesting career. I was covering prep sports in the Inland Empire when Davidson and Taijuan Walker were the Yucaipa High School baseball standouts. Four years after he graduated, Davidson debuted for the Diamondbacks. He never got on base enough to stick as a major league regular, though he did hit 20 home runs in back to back seasons for the White Sox (2017-18). He’s also pitched in six major league games. Now 29, Davidson has little chance of making the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster, but a good camp and a strong start at Triple-A can put him in line for a call-up if Turner lands on the injured list.
Federowicz returned to the Dodgers on a minor league contract over the winter, ostensibly as the veteran-catcher-in-residence at Triple-A. In his first go-around with the Dodgers (2011-14), Federowicz slashed .194/.247/.300 and was a better pitch-blocking catcher than A.J. Ellis. He’s really bounced around since then, spending time with the Padres, Cubs, Giants, Astros, Reds, Indians and Rangers.
Soto, Ravelo and Burns are the only other veteran free agents the Dodgers brought into camp. They’ve appeared in 55 games between them. None is competing for an Opening Day roster spot but could earn a mid-season call-up if injuries warrant.
-J.P.
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