The Los Angeles Dodgers finally broke through and won the World Series in 2020, and a big reason for that was that their roster essentially not having any roles.
Something the Dodgers have lacked in recent years is speed, which is why they brought in Terrance Gore on a Minor League deal this past offseason to potentially be the team’s pinch-runner in big spots.
Gore wound up making the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster after being added to their player pool, although the former World Series champion with the Kansas City Royals only appeared in two games.
Once as a pinch-runner and the other as a defensive replacement, before being designated for assignment a week later. After Gore cleared waivers, the Dodgers were actually able to keep him in the organization and outrighted him to the team’s alternate training site at USC.
At the beginning of October, Gore revealed that he had opportunities in other organizations but ultimately decided to stay with the Dodgers.
“I’m going to be honest, I was really close to actually going somewhere else. But I don’t know, something told me just stick it out, grind it out and work on my craft down at USC at the alternative site and that’s what I did,” he said.
“I was really, really close to actually going to another team, but something just told me to hang it out. I love the club. I even told my agent I really like the Dodgers.
“I don’t know what it is about the Dodgers but the way you guys go about your business and the way you teach players to play the game of baseball like mechanics, you got so much stuff I’ve never even seen in my life. Really blown away by the stuff and technology you guys have over at the Dodgers so I really told him I want to stay with the Dodgers.”
The decision ended up paying off for Gore as he was named to the Dodgers’ postseason roster for the Wild Card Series against the Milwaukee Brewers. With the Dodgers easily sweeping the Brewers, he was not able to get into a game and then was replaced on the roster for the remainder of the postseason.
2020 highlight
While Gore did not get a lot of playing time for the Dodgers in 2020, he did gain valuable experience of learning from one of the best player development teams in baseball to help expand his game, as he alluded to in the above quote.
Additionally, with the Dodgers winning the World Series, he is now a two-time MLB champion.
2021 outlook
After the Dodgers won the World Series, Gore was outrighted to Triple-A Oklahoma City to open a spot on the 40-man roster. He is now among the organization’s Minor League free agents, so the 29-year-old’s future with the Dodgers is very much in question.
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