As of Christmas — whether you’d like to believe it or not — we’ll be exactly two months from baseball of the 2017 variety. Yes, on Feb. 25th, the Los Angeles Dodgers will be playing baseball against the Chicago White Sox at 1:05 p.m. at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz.
So with that in mind, it’s time to re-boot the “State of the Dodgers” series. Over the next few weeks, we’ll examine every facet of the team in evaluating where they stand — starting pitching, bullpen, outfield and the infield — but before we get there, we’re going to look at the big picture: the 40-man roster.
For many teams, the bottom of the 40-man roster is a neglected and ignored. Not so for the Dodgers. They used 55 different players this season (31 pitchers, 24 position players), so, yes, the depth of the 40-man matters.
At the moment, the Dodgers have a full 40-man roster (23 pitchers, seven outfielders, seven infielders and three catchers). That doesn’t include Kenley Jansen, who reportedly agreed to re-sign, which means there’s more to do.
After undergoing Tommy John surgery in October, Yimi Garcia is expected to miss the entire 2017 season, so perhaps there’s a move there.
Or maybe the constant trade speculation involving Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier will come to fruition, sending more players out than Los Angeles receives in return.
So let’s break it down: the players on the verge of being cut, those on the outside of the 25-man roster looking in, who’s on the inside looking out, and finally, the 25-man roster guarantees.
First, the players who would be the first to go if a move needed to be made: Darin Ruf, and Rob Segedin.
Ruf’s out of options and, as long as Scott Van Slyke is healthy, seems like an unnecessary bat to have around. While Segedin has options remaining, he’s 28 years old and — like Ruf — doesn’t exactly provide a unique skill-set the Dodgers can’t find elsewhere on the roster.
Next, those who won’t make the 25-man roster come Opening Day, but are safe on the 40-man: Chase De Jong, Kyle Farmer, Carlos Frias, Jacob Rhame and Brock Stewart.
Stewart is blocked by several other starting pitchers on the list (and very well might be traded in the near future), so his inclusion here isn’t for lack of potential.
Frias has one more option year remaining, but with just one appearance last season in the Majors, granted due to injury, it’s hard to imagine he’s part of any serious plans in 2017. In fact, Frias is as close to the bottom group as you can get.
As for De Jong, Farmer and Rhame, they’re only here so they weren’t taken in the Rule 5 Draft.
Third, players with a good shot to make the 25-man roster but aren’t guaranteed anything: Luis Avilan, Jose De Leon, Josh Fields, Chris Hatcher, Micah Johnson, Adam Liberatore, Vidal Nuno, Josh Ravin, Ross Stripling, Chris Taylor, Trayce Thompson, Andrew Toles and Scott Van Slyke.
Plenty of interesting names here, and many who are dependent on what the coaches decide to do with the bullpen (Avilan, Fields, Hatcher, Liberatore, Nuno, Ravin and Stripling).
Of the bullpen arms, it’s worth noting that Avilan and Hatcher are both out of options, so it’s big league roster or the waiver wire for them. Then there’s De Leon, who’s plenty talented to make the roster, but probably won’t because of depth ahead of him. Plus, De Leon may be the cornerstone in a Dozier trade.
Of the aforementioned group, Thompson and Van Slyke may be the best bets — both because they hit lefties, and because they have some positional flexibility that is helpful.
That brings us to Johnson and Taylor, who would be needed if the roster were decided upon today, but are most likely to be impacted by future moves. Then again, if Charlie Culberson was already sent outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City, maybe it’s because the Dodgers chose Johnson and Taylor to move forward with?
Finally, players you can darkly pencil onto the 2017 Opening Day roster (barring injury, of course): Pedro Baez, Austin Barnes, Grant Dayton, Andre Ethier, Adrian Gonzalez, Yasmani Grandal, Kiké Hernandez, Rich Hill, Kenley Jansen, Scott Kazmir, Clayton Kershaw, Kenta Maeda, Brandon McCarthy, Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Julio Urias and Alex Wood.
In the final group we have three relievers, eight starting pitchers, two catchers, three infielders and four outfielders. For reference, last season the Dodgers took 12 pitchers and 13 position players into the regular season — two catchers, five infielders and six outfielders.
So what does all this mean? Really, the answers are obvious:
The Dodgers need some help in the infield — and perhaps more than just one player, depending on how the club feels about Johnson and Taylor, they need to sort out (read: TRADE) the glut of starting pitchers and, lastly, they need to sort out the bullpen.
Thank goodness they’ve got a couple months left.
