Here We Go Again

Well, 2023 Spring Training is almost ready to start. Pitchers and catchers report to Camelback Ranch in nine days on the 16th of February. The first full-squad workout is on February 20th. This spring will be different as there will also be the World Baseball Classic. Nine Dodgers are scheduled to play for different teams. Kershaw, Smith, Betts, and coach Dino Ebel will be with the American team. Austin Barnes and Julio Urias with team Mexico. Miguel Rojas and Brusdal Graterol will be with team Venezuela. Freeman will play for the Canadian team, and Trayce Thompson for the British.

There will be some new faces present and some old favorites gone. Martinez, Rojas, Syndergaard, and Miller are the newest members of the 40-man roster. There are 21 players coming in as non-roster invitees. Some are well-known, others not so much. Also present will be a large contingent of Dodger prospects. Cartaya, Miller, Vargas, Busch, Pages, Pepiot, Stone, Leonard, Knack, Nastrini, Outman, Vivas, Grove, DeLuca, and Ward, will all start spring in the big-league camp.

With the WBC going on, most of those kids are going to see a lot of action on the diamond. The biggest questions revolve around the makeup of the outfield, 2nd base, and the starting rotation. Positions that are pretty much set in stone are C. Smith and Barnes, 1B, Freddie Freeman, 3B, Max Muncy, SS, Gavin Lux, 2B, Miguel Vargas, and RF, Mookie Betts. The primary DH is going to be JD Martinez. So they need to settle Left field and center and pick their five or six primary starting pitchers. Locks are Syndergaard, Kersh, Urias, and Gonsolin, which is, of course, barring an unforeseen injury in spring. May is a lock as long as he stays healthy. Pepiot and Miller would probably be the first two up in case of injury, but that could change if they decide to keep Pepiot as a long reliever. Then my first guess after Miller would be Stone.

Roberts has said there would be no set closer to begin the year, so at least five are locks in pen, Miller, Graterol, Phillips, Hudson, and Vesia. The rest of the pen will be made up of pitchers who show the most in spring training, and there are a ton of candidates, including some who were pretty effective last season. Forget Treinen; he is going to miss most, if not all, of 2023. They will probably opt for a second lefty in pen, and my guess is that will be Ferguson.

JD Martinez. This guy is going to look great in Dodger blue.

Relievers on the 40-man roster I have not mentioned yet, are Almonte, Bruihl, Bickford, Feyerisen, Gonzalez, Andre Jackson, and Michael Grove. Jackson has some nasty stuff and could be considered at the back end of the pen. I personally believe only one non-roster position player has a chance of making the team, and that is the most experienced of the bunch, Jason Heyward. I know I will get a ton of blowback on that, and that is ok. I just believe the motivation he has to justify Freeman’s belief in his abilities will help him play at a higher level than he has in the past several years. The ability is there, and belief in oneself is also an asset. If you truly believe, you can do a whole lot more.

The only major coaching change is Geren is no longer the bench coach. Lehmann takes that job. Chris Woodward returns and is helping coach the infielders. He has been working out with Vargas for a while. So, who will be the centerfielder, and who is going to play left? Biggest questions of the spring.

So sit back, my friends, and enjoy the ride. It is going to be the most interesting Spring Training since the Guggenheim Group bought the team.

This article has 50 Comments

  1. I find it interesting that you include Miller in your 5 locks for the bullpen but omit Almonte.

    Unless he is injured, I think Yency is as big a lock as any of the other guys and more likely than Miller who hasn’t been good for a long while. Hopefully, the Dodgers can fix him and have another success story, but Almonte is on the opening day roster if he’s healthy.

    1. Almonte had a very good season, he is also one who will probably be in the pen. But a lot of things can happen to change. Miller is a lock in my opinion since the Dodgers felt strongly enough to sign him as a free agent and place him on the 40-man roster instead of just signing him to a minor league deal. He and Almonte are both making the same 1.5-million-dollar salary. The Dodgers obviously liked what they did see of Miller enough to sign him. These choices are simply my opinion of who I think is going to make the 26-man roster.

  2. I totally agree.Miller needs more seasoning.Ithink Grove and Pepiot gets their shots before Miller.Well Pepiot already has.Sorry i have misspoken,not the last time I hope.I got my My Miller time confused.

  3. JDM looks like a guy you don’t mess with.

    He looks to be in mid-season form, and his reputation as a clubhouse leader is unparalleled… even by Justin Turner. No loss of leadership here!

    1. I think this quality was underappreciated when the Dodgers signed him. Kirk Gibson would have been throwing things in the clubhouse after that game 1 loss against the Padres, and the Dodgers would likely not have folded like they did (pure speculation, but I’m sticking with that story). They won 111 games, but there was a lack of toughness on that team.

  4. I agree that Almonte should be on the OD roster. Last season, I think onlyonly Phillips had a better season out of the bullpen.
    Almonte said he came to the Dodgers on the advice of his former teammate Jake McGee, who just announced his retirement. It’s great how the reputation of the Dodgers coaching staffs have attracted talent. I’ve read that Syndergaard had bigger offers, but figured he’d get better with guidance from Prior and his staff. Even if Thor has a strong year, Dodgers may let him walk knowing that Buhler is coming back and Bobby Miller and Stone should be ready. (But I hope Julio stays.)
    I’m also rooting for Victor Gonzalez to bounce back. He had almost quit before he became a key part of the 2020 championship.

      1. I’m getting way ahead of myself, but I would think Buehler might sign a one or two year deal in 25 to see if he can get back to where he was prior to TJ and then test the open market for a multi-year deal. Anderson used the Dodgers to rehab his career before signing elsewhere. Several pitchers have. That’s Thor’s aim.

        Buehler’s market value is going to be depressed in his walk year (2024)

          1. Good point, although that is a risk on the Dodgers part. Anthopoulos has been great at this for the Braves.

          2. Thing on the past Bum. What’s in vogue now is non incentive, generations set for life contract no matter what kind of numbers are put up. Sure wish I had one of those in my 20’s. Wasn’t meant to be. Month to month for 40 years. Guess I’ll be grateful I wasn’t born in Turkey.

    1. Too many outfielders like Duggar, Zimmer, et al, who likely have opt-outs in May or June. The Dodgers have to let them play so if they don’t call them up someone else can snatch them, That’s the way they play it.

  5. As I recall it, both Outman and Busch started 2022 in Tulsa. Busch was called up to OKC first, and Outman maybe a month later–and then Outman had his ML debut.
    If DeLuca or Pages perform, they could move up to OKC pretty soon.
    They (or Outman) could also be part of the midseason Ohtani package–especially since Hunter Renfroe is in the last year of his contract. If the Mets or Padres or ?? engage the Angels, I don’t think the Dodgers stand idly by.
    AF may be averse to long-term contracts for pitchers, but of course Ohtani is a special case. And he’d be quite the consolation prize if Julio seeks greener pastures.

  6. I sure hope dodger brass isn’t so fixated on getting Ohtani as most fans and some analysts are. I’m one who thinks can do much better with that money and or loss of prospects in other ways but being that he’d create so much revenue and buzz around the city they probably are

    1. You could sign a player like Bryan Reynolds and another near-superstar for what he makes a year. Of course, you get 2 for 1 with him…

  7. There’s no doubt Otani is a very gifted player but he is noy needed to put butts in seats at Dodger Stadium. It’s very novel having a pitcher that can hit bombs but with the NL having DHs it doesn’t seem the wisest way to invest at what he’ll likely get. I’m pretty certain other clubs have more interest in order to fill their parks. Who wants the cost of viewing to increase?

  8. I am telling you guys and you should listen, if Ohtani is put on the market and traded, there is absolutely no way Moreno lets his GM trade him to the Dodgers. And there is no way the Dodgers are going to pay the price he would command without a guarantee that he would sign a long-term deal. So as the Mob would say, fuhgeddaboudit.

    1. So Bear, what you’re saying here is that if the Mets and Dodgers are bidding for Ohtani, Moreno would take a lesser offer from the Mets?
      OK, let’s imagine that all the prospects have roughly equal value. Let’s say that the Dodgers offer a group of prospects that clearly have more potential than what the Mets offer. The Mets, like you, assume Moreno deal with the Dodgers–so why should they up their offer?
      So the Mets get him….
      But then the season ends and it turns out that Ohtani ain’t just about money. He finishes the season with Mets and then decides he’d rather be on the West Coast in SoCal, playing for the best franchise in baseball, knowing he’d be gunning for the WS every year.
      If Ohtani winds up in LA anyway, wouldn’t it have been wiser for Moreno to take the better offer in the first place?
      Something else to remember: Moreno is still planning to sell the team. This season could well be his last hurrah. If Trout, Ohtani & Associates don’t have good year–if it’s certain that Ohtani will walk–then how valuable is the franchise? (My guess is that he took it off the market because the offers were below his expectations.)
      I think that, if the Angels can’t extend Ohtani (and that seems unlikely), a potential buyer would be more interested in a franchise that has a strong collection of talent.
      The big decision is to deal or not to deal. After that, the imperative is to take the best offer. That’s just smart business.
      By all accounts, the Dodgers have one of the two or three best farm systems in the majors–and the Angels have one of the worst. The Dodgers don’t just make money putting butts in the seats at Chavez Ravine, but selling merchandise as a growing global brand.
      The Dodgers are in a great position to make a deal. Why be “prospect huggers” if an all-time great like Ohtani is put on the market? Do you want to win in OKC and Tulsa that badly? He’d be the Dodgers ace and the team’s top slugger.
      Mookie RF
      Freddie 1B
      Ohtani DH
      Et cetera…

    1. I mentioned him, he will most likely be the second lefty in the pen simply because unlike Vesia or Gonzalez, he can go multiple innings.

  9. Don’t you guys think that with the 3 batter minimum it’s better to build a bullpen with guys that are good/excellent/dominate against both sides of the plate no matter which arm they use?

    I still keep hearing about 2 lefties in the pen, like it’s a must have. I know the Dodgers don’t have what I think is the ideal bullpen like I described, but it still sounds like 2 lefties in the pen is a must have.

    Just a question I thought I’d ask in the first paragraph.

    1. Very true Eric, but is there any such thing as a ideal pen? Usually something happens in season that changes the whole dynamic. You can look at last season’s Dodger pen and see what I mean. When Hudson went down, the whole dynamic changed. With Kimbrel less than the stellar closer they needed, it made guys like Phillips and Almonte more valuable as they became more and more effective in their late inning role. Very few teams carry less than two lefty relievers. Last season at one point, the Giants had three. So did the Dodgers when Bruihl, Vesia and Ferguson were all on the roster. The three-batter rule has mainly changed the way most manager’s deploy their relievers. In very critical situations with two-outs, they are sometimes leery of using a reliever for just one hitter. But it happens.

  10. Former Dodger prospect, DJ Peters signed a minor league deal with the Tigers. Previously played for the Rangers and spent some time in the KBO.

  11. What makes a ideal pen for me is when real confident other team isn’t gonna score in the last three innings. It’s amazing last year how many times pen kept em from scoring for three innings or more to win games. Huge reason they reached 111 wins and even with Kimbrel not doing his part very well and so many on offense with high K rates hitting around Mendoza line. Gets me to wondering what if. Look out for Muncy this year. Sounding like he’s ready to get it

    1. Yep the bullpen was very good last year. The only ones I picked on was Bickford and Price and when Heaney part time relieved. I gave Kimbrel some slack because of how dominate he was in the past until the time came that I gave up on him.

      Yep I’m expecting a bounce back year for Muncy also Taylor.

  12. There were times last year Bickford looked pretty good to and ate up some important innings, if he can find some consistently, not a bad piece to have especially to call up or sent down when needed , what is it five times they can do that now. I give him some slack since we were born in the same town. I kept hoping Kimbrel would find his past grove but to no avail. Be interesting to see what he does in Philly this year

    1. You have to understand that most relief pitchers are “fickle.” They may be great one year and so-so the next.. Bickford was great in 2021, but not so much in 2022. Hopefully. he will be good in 2023. That’s why a plethora of pitchers are essential.

      1. Bickford has to make the opening day roster and remain there because he has no more remaining options or will have to DFA and I’m sure he will be picked up by another team for what he is currently making salary wise.

    2. Yeah I wouldn’t mind Bickford for depth just like you mentioned for calling up and sending down when absolutely needed, but if he isn’t very good I wouldn’t want him on the roster permanently. But he could be good this year and in that case I’m fine with him on the roster for as long as that’s the case. We’ll see.

      1. In 2021, Bickford pitched 50 innings with a 2.50 ERA. That was very good.

        In 2022, he regressed, as many relievers are prone to do. He pitched 61 innings with a 4.72 ERA – Not good.

        We shall see what he looks like in 2023… and he was paid the MLB Minimum, not $10 Million.

  13. I don’t know about putting that much money into Ohtani. You could get 2 stars, not superstars for that price and I think that would be a better choice.

    I don’t think he will end up with the Dodgers for that reason because I don’t think AF will do it.

  14. Arte Moreno Reiterates Angels’ Desire To Keep Shohei Ohtani Past 2023 Season

    Halos’ brass has unsurprisingly maintained on numerous occasions they’re hopeful of retaining the two-way superstar for the long haul. Owner Arte Moreno reiterated that goal in a recent interview with Jon Heyman of the New York Post. “I’d like to keep Ohtani. He’s one of a kind. He’s a great person,” the Angels owner told Heyman. “He’s obviously one of the most popular baseball players in the world, and he’s an international star. He’s a great teammate. He works hard. He’s a funny guy, and he has a really good rapport with fans.”

  15. Well good hope angels keep him. I’m not a angels fan but would like to see Ohtani and Trout in postseason, also be good for baseball

    1. I keep hearing that Ohtani is the “Dodgers Plan” – I don’t believe it. I think the chances are very slim he comes to the Blue.

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