We are just a day away from pitchers and reporting for the first team functions of the spring. This offseason was quite like none other in many ways, but baseball is finally returning.
The Dodgers still haven’t officially announced the signing of Justin Turner, as they are likely waiting until Wednesday when they make room on the 40-man roster by adding Caleb Ferguson and Tommy Kahnle to the 60-day injured list.
Josh Sborz, who was designated for assignment last week, was announced to be traded to the Rangers today. Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times first broke the news. Sborz was drafted by the Dodgers in the second round of 2015 amateur draft and made 11 relief appearances for the club at the big league level.
The 2021 non-roster invitees to spring training were announced Tuesday morning. Among the invitees are 16 pitchers, nine infielders, three catchers, and two infielders.
Here is the full list:
Right Handed Pitchers
Josiah Gray, Michael Grove, Landon Knack, Nolan Long, Jose Martinez, Bobby Miller, Brandon Morrow, Jimmy Nelson, Ryan Pepiot, Nick Robertson, Gus Varland, and Kendall Williams
Left-handed pitchers
Mike Kickham, Robinson Ortiz, James Pazos and Enny Romero
Catchers
Stevie Berman, Tim Federowicz, and Hunter Feduccia
Infielders
Jacob Amaya, Andy Burns, Michael Busch, Omar Estevez, Kody Hoese, Devin Mann, Rangel Ravelo, Elliot Soto, and Miguel Vargas
Among the invitees are some recognizable names, as we have old friends such as Morrow and Federowicz, as well as some high-ranking prospects in the Dodger farm system like Gray and Hoese.
Once Cactus League play gets into full gear, it will be fun to watch some names we didn’t get to see last season. The first full-squad workout is on Feb 23, while the first game is on Sunday, Feb 28, against the Oakland Athletics.
The Dodgers have announced that there will be about 2,500 fans allowed for Cactus League games, but no decision has been made for fans at Dodger Stadium for the regular season so far.
The Dodgers have also announced that they’ve hired Courtney Moore for the team’s newly created position of vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion. She has several years of talent acquisition and previously worked as a special events coordinator for the Chicago White Sox. Moore earned a master’s degree in sports management from the University of Massachusetts.
We can add infielder Matt Davidson to the list of NRI. Basically a first and third baseman, former first round draft choice of the Dbacks who had 20-homer seasons for the White Sox in 2017 and 2018.
Another righty power bat at his best although I would guess he’ll spend most of the year at OKC.
And for any of you who were wondering, Neuse pronounces his name “noisy”.
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I thought we’d all be saying “The Neuse Is Loose” this year. 🙂
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Nothing rhymes with noisy…that sucks. Got another really cool Koufax card today.
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Boise rhymes with noisy. Does that help?
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Nope, Unless we trade him there. Dodgers send Neuse to Boise in exchange for 5 large bags of Idaho potatoes. One of the best trades ever made by Friedman!
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Talk to me at the end of the year and I’ll tell you what I think of that trade.
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Ok.Sounds good to me.
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You missed the 2 outfielders on the list, Andy Pages and Josh Outman. Davidson also plays the outfield. If he shows something, he could be an emergency call up if something happens to Pollock..
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I don’t see where he’s played outfield in the majors Bear, not that this is a major point to argue with you. Maybe some in the minors. He has actually pitched 6 innings though. Three good innings in 2018. Three bad innings in 2020.
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I may have read it wrong, but somewhere I saw OF-3B-1B. Of course, I am getting old and have not got my new glasses yet……any excuse will do!
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I’m willing to wait until you get your new glasses and then you can report back to me.
I think what you read as OF was actually DH.
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Okie dokie….that’s my story and I’m stickin to it.
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You are right, I checked his MLB page on baseball reference. Of more concern is that K rate. Awful. He struck out 165 times in BOTH of his full seasons in the majors.
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That proves he’s consistent. He stuck out two guys as a pitcher in 2018 so we can knock his strike out number down to 163 for that year. New rule from Manfred, you can deduct your k’s as a pitcher from your k’s as a batter.
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Ron Roenicke back with the Dodgers as a special advisor to the GM. Well at this point they have no GM, so I would guess he is helping in many areas. He is already at Camelback with the team.
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I think that’s pretty mean. They’ve hired Ron to be a special advisor to someone who doesn’t even exist. I wonder if the pay is commensurate with the position?
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