Along with seeing multiple players reach free agency this offseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers also had more than a handful who are eligible for salary arbitration. The club agreed to one-year contracts with Chris Hatcher and Scott Van Slyke prior to the deadline to tender players.
Although he was not yet eligible for salary arbitration, Charlie Culberson also re-signed on a one-year contract. The 27-year-old was outrighted to Triple-A Oklahoma City soon after, removing him from the 40-man roster.
Culberson again figures to spend much of the season with OKC, while giving the Dodgers positional flexibility and option against left-handed pitching whenever necessary.
Just as he was last spring, Culberson will join the Dodgers during Spring Training as a non-roster invitee, along with the recently-signed Bobby Wilson, according to Eric Stephen of True Blue LA:
Can confirm Bobby Wilson gets a non-roster invitation to Dodgers spring training. So does Charlie Culberson, who was outrighted in December
— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) January 6, 2017
The Dodgers have not yet announced non-roster invites for Spring Training. Culberson appeared in 70 games with OKC this past season, batting .260/.310/.385 with 17 doubles and 33 RBI. He joined the Dodgers in late-August and remained with the club through the remainder of the regular season.
Culberson hit .299/.309/.388 with three doubles, one home run and seven RBI in 68 plate appearances over 34 games with the Dodgers.
The 33-year-old Wilson spent last season with the Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays. He batted .237/.270/.355 with six doubles, seven home runs and 33 RBI in 251 plate appearances over 75 games, and rates as an average to above-average catcher defensively.
Wilson has spent parts of eight seasons in the Majors, also playing for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Arizona Diamondbacks, and is a lifetime .214/.268/.319 batter in 849 plate appearances. Wilson appeared in one game with Triple-A Toledo (Tigers organization) last season, and 17 games with Triple-A Durham (Tampa Bay Rays) in 2015.
