In addition to teams needing to set a 60-man player pool, Major League Baseball also instructed them to find an alternate training site that can be utilized both during Spring Training 2.0 and the 2020 season.
Part of the mandate reportedly included that the training site would need to be within 100 miles of a team’s home ballpark. For the Los Angeles Dodgers the natural choice appeared to be their High-A Rancho Cucamonga facility.
And while they will eventually end up there, the Dodgers first will be more local. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman confirmed a report that indicated the Dodgers planned to stage their alternate training site at USC, where they could use Dedeaux Field.
“We’re finalizing that right now,” Friedman said on a conference call. “My full expectation is we will start at USC and then at some point when students start potentially arriving on campus, we’re looking into most likely going to Rancho. We’re still working out those final details.”
Although USC has begun allowing student-athletes to return to campus for voluntary workouts, the baseball team is not one of the six sports welcomed back at present time. The university also has set forth a plan to have students attend classes in-person.
With a plan in mind for their alternate training camp site, the Dodgers haven’t fully decided on matters for their player pool. “Obviously, a lot will depend on how things play out over the next one to three months,” Friedman said.
“Our thought process in putting together the 60-man is trying to balance whether or not this might be the only reps some of our prospects get this year. There’s just a lot that’s up in the air.”
The Dodgers are expected to include 2020 MLB Draft picks Bobby Miller and Landon Knack, along with pitching prospect Marshall Kasowski.
Players are due to report for the start of Spring Training 2.0 on July 1, and the Dodgers are scheduled to hold their first official workout at Dodger Stadium two days later.
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