With spring training camps ready to break in just a little over two weeks, the Dodgers have announced their list of non-roster invitees. Every spring each MLB club invites a group of players to camp that are not on the 40-man roster. Any of those guys can make the opening day club, but a corresponding roster spot would need to be cleared.
The list this year is nothing surprising. You have your prospects and minor leaguers. Guys like Yasiel Sierra, Keibert Ruiz, Will Smith, Edwin Rios, Yusniel Diaz, and DJ Peters are among others that will be getting their first glimpse of major league spring training.
You also have your typical journeymen and past their prime veterans who are looking to make one last comeback. Former MLB veteran Mark Lowe who hasn’t pitched since 2016 is on the list. Manny Banuelos pitched in 7 games for the Braves back in 2015. How did he do? Hint: he was awful. Daniel Corcino pitched in 5 games for the Reds back in 2014.
Most of the position players are up and coming prospects. However Max Muncy played in 96 games for the A’s between 2015-2016. Muncy hit a blistering .195 with 5 home runs and a .290 on-base percentage. Donovan Solano’s claim to fame was five years of part time play split between the Marlins and Yankees. He’s a career .257 hitter with 9 home runs and 99 runs batted in across his five major league campaigns. Travis Taijeron batted .179 (9 for 52) with a home run in 59 plate appearances with the Mets in 2017. Perhaps the Dodgers can find a diamond in the rough from some of these guys. Check out the complete list below.
Non-Roster Invitees for 2018
Pitchers:
LHP Manny Banuelos
RHP Joe Broussard
RHP Daniel Corcino
RHP CC Lee
RHP Mark Lowe
LHP Brian Moran
RHP Zach Neal
RHP Yaisel Sierra
LHP/RHP Pat Venditte
Catchers:
Keibert Ruiz
Will Smith
Infielders:
Max Muncy
Edwin Rios
Donovan Solano
Outfielders:
Yusniel Diaz
DJ Peters
Travis Taijeron
The two guys I’m mostly interested in are Keibert Ruiz and Yaisel Sierra.
Ruiz – is he the next Posey or Molina? Amazing to see someone that young with his performance. Does he have the endurance? I think when the year ends he will have caught more innings in a single season than either Barnes or Grandal.
On Sierra, ok he’s been a disappoint, but he has the tools to be a Morrow-lite. He didn’t look all that bad to me last spring. And this is the year for him – if he doesn’t put together soon he will need a lot of long term career and financial planning.
Can we see a list of the quarter billion dollar IM players we’ve signed over the last several years? Puig, Guerrero, Arruebarrena, Pablo, Fernandez, Olivera, Alvarez, Sierra, Diaz, Estevez… I know there are others I’m missing, but I did read that in ‘15-‘16 they signed 45 international players. It’s now ‘18 and how many show up on the MLB Top 100 or the LA Top 15.
Badger
Did they sign those 45 international players on the advice of the scouts they fired?
I don’t know MJ. Probably some of them. FAZ has been here since October of ‘14, so all those signings in ‘15 & ‘16 belong to them.
Well for me there are a couple of guys on that list who are interesting. Ruiz for sure will get a lot of attention as will Will, I am not that Will, Smith. Joe Broussard had an outstanding year in the bullpen last year. He has some serious heat and will get a look. DJ Peters of I took Madison Bumgarner deep twice in a game fame will be interesting to watch. The kid can hit. Henry Ramos had an outstanding spring and I think he would have made the roster last year had he not gotten hurt. He played well when he came back. Beatty has a lot of power. But I think he is primarily a first baseman and blocked by Cody. Venditte is more a curiosity than a real contender to make the team. Lowe, this is his 2nd go around in spring with the Dodgers. He got released last time. Neal could slip in with an outstanding spring. The rest are roster fodder. Zarraga has been hanging around for the last few years.
On a sad note, a day after Kevin Towers passed, Oscar Gamble passed away. Oscar was known for his huge afro. I am still trying to figure out how he got that thing under his hat. But he was a good player and had some decent years…….RIP Kevin and Oscar.
https://tomahawktake.com/2018/01/29/atlanta-braves-still-another-deal-dodgers/
Does anyone think this has legs?
Here’s the bio of the “writer”:
Software Engineer by trade, piano player on Sundays, Braves fan for life… yes, even through the bad years. Hoping to add an analytical perspective to what the Braves might be doing… and why. I’m a lot less serious about life than this picture makes me look.
Package
I rather keep Ryu then any of these three players myself, but we do need Forsythe to play third, to give Turner rest, throughout the season.
There is an article in the LA Times today, about leftfield this year.
And in this article, it shows all the outfielder’s numbers, that are competing to play leftfield.
And Kemp is not the only outfielder in this competition, that had a negative War, last year.
But Kemp does have the best offensive numbers, of all the candidates, and if he improves on defense, it isn’t even close.
Although Toles has had good numbers every time, he has been given a chance.
I’m pulling for Tolesy.
Also Keith Law has a more focused look at the Dodgers system. It’s a pay article, so I can’t post much of it. Law’s opinion is one I like, I know YF isn’t as laudatory.
Of note given recent discussions about the high-variance in International Signings, Law has six of them in the top 20.
He writes:
The Dodgers’ system remains strong if slightly shallower than it has been in recent years, as they’ve promoted several superstar prospects and traded some of that depth to fuel playoff runs.
3. Yadier Alvarez, RHP (ranked No. 52)
4. Keibert Ruiz, C (ranked No. 97)
5. Yusniel Diaz, OF
11. Starling Heredia, RF
15. Dennis Santana, RHP
18. Omar Estevez, 2B-SS
I think Badger asked for this elsewhere, but here’s as complete a list as I could find for total Dodgers signings. Remember most of these years were financially limited. Also remember I rushed through this compilation, so it may be incomplete:
Dodgers 2017-18 international signings
Pos Player Country
C Jenderson Jardines Venezuela
SS Yhostin Chirinos Venezuela
SS Eddys Leonard Dominican Republic
SS Vladimir Perez Dominican Republic
SS Amin Valdez Dominican Republic
IF Randy Rodriguez Dominican Republic
IF Jesus Valdez Dominican Republic
IF Jorbit Vivas Venezuela
OF Mayron Cathalina Aruba
OF Julio Enrique Cuba
OF Jimmie Feliz Dominican Republic
OF Gorge Heredia Dominican Republic
OF Brayan Rodriguez Dominican Republic
OF Rushenten Tomsjansen Curacao
OF Imanol Vargas Dominican Republic
RHP Jeffry Abreu Dominican Republic
RHP Axel Acevedo Dominican Republic
RHP Jonathan Alvarez Dominican Republic
LHP Andrew Budier Nicaragua
RHP Jeisson Cabrera Dominican Republic
RHP Darlin Camilo Dominican Republic
RHP Daniel Cruz Dominican Republic
RHP Carlos De Los Santos Dominican Republic
LHP Benony Robles Dominican Republic
RHP Martin Santana Dominican Republic
RHP Jonathan Vasquez Dominican Republic
2016-2017
Albert Suarez, ss, Dominican Republic,
Edward Cuello, rhp, Dominican Republic
Yariel Puello, rhp, Dominican Republic
Edwin Uceta, rhp, Dominican Republic
Esmerlyn Cespedes, rhp, Dominican Republic
2015-2016
RHP Yadier Alvarez
OF Starling Heredia
IF Ronny Brito
IF Oneal Cruz
OF Christopher Arias
RHP Ramon Rosso
OF Carlos Rincon
SS Luis Rodriguez
2B Aldo Espinoza
Thank you!
Any Major League All Stars in that group?
See the Keith Law bit above, he’s a good baseball person IMO.
Bear in mind though, they are all prospects and absurdly young. So even the highly rated ones are not sure things.
Remember Joel Guzman or Rubby De La Rosa? Anderson Espinoza?
I don’t know this world well (pun) but here are some other names, some of them have been traded:
Oneil Cruz, SS
Cristian Santana, 3B
Oscar Arzaga, RHP
Johan Mieses, OF
Carlos Rincon, OF
Ariel Sandoval, OF
Romer Cuadrado, 1B
Angel German, RHP
Francis Cespedes, LHP
Badger
Did you get all of that?
Yeah. No. Maybe. Not really.
Most of those names I do not recognize. I just know a butt load (1 gross Avogadros cubed) of money was spent on that market and I don’t see the return.
That 2016-17 group was drastically smaller. Were their restrictions during that time frame?
I’m not sure all the Names are accounted for in those other years.
international money and signings are interesting on a number of levels to me.
1. Age. Even though ages are occasionally falsified, these kids are seventeen sometimes 16!
2. There’s a lot of headwind in addition to age. Basic skills, cultural acclimation. This makes it a crap shoot (mitigated less with the upper prospects, but not entirely)
3. Even with the upper-end limitations, this is an area the Dodgers (and other high-rev clubs) can use their financial advantage by signing a shit-ton of players. If one lottery ticket hits….
4. The Dodgers in specific have done a lot to help develop international signings. From nutritional guidance to having at least one Spanish speaking coach at every minor league level. This doesn’t mention the skill development and off-season guidance.
6. None of the international guys may turn into anything, they are still so young. But the signs are promising, and you have to at least try, right?
Yes. After the spending spree we were restricted for the next 2 years on most international prospects (exceptions are older prospects).
I read two nice articles today. One in DodgerBlue and one in Hardball Times.
The one in Dodger Blue has Roberts commenting on Bellinger being amenable to better nutrition habits. This was s great becausethe kid was eating ice cream all the time last year.
The Hardball Times creates a simulated present-day comp Vs Jackie Robinson stats. This is really hard to do becauseJackie is a unique player. He played out of position most of his career, had more power than you think, stole less bases than you think but with a great success rate when he did go for it, never struck out and had a ridiculous CAREER OBP of .409 “helped” in part by betting hit by bigoted oppposing pitchers. So we are not looking for close comps – the highest comp came in at only 68%. And the winner is … JUSTIN TURNER!! Great result that’s a bit weird but perfectly understandable for Dodger fans. It’s a really long article and a great read.
Hosmer wants a contract for 8 plus years according to reports…….How out of touch with free agency the way it is now is that guy? No way any team gives him 8 years. He is no Bryce Harper who will get close to that.
Wow – that is nuts.
From a most excellent article on the lost art of bunting by Sam Miller at ESPN:
“So what’s interesting about the recent drop in bunt-for-hit attempts is that the league’s success hasn’t gone up. The league hit .398 on bunt attempts last year. In 2016, when the league attempted about 15 percent more bunts, it hit .400. In 2015, when it attempted almost 30 percent more bunts than in 2017, it hit .402. In 2014, when it attempted 35 percent more bunts than in 2017, it hit .405.“
I didn’t know it for a fact, but I knew it was true.
I recommend reading that piece. He talks about sluggers who used to bunt. Ruth did it, Mantle did it, Maris did it in ‘61, and Derek Jeter hit .629 when bunting. And a thanks to Tim for giving me a heads up on this.
Sam Miller is tremendous!
His comment section is usually a hoot too.
Bunting for a basehit is a good strategic play, bunting for a sacrifice is a bad one. My opinion of course.
Well Bluto, if pitchers are not going to spend the time learning how to hit, and even if they do, I would still have them bunting the guy over.
The Barber
A Guy stuck his head into a barbershop and asked, ‘How long before I can get a haircut?
The barber looked around the shop full of customers and said, ‘About 2 hours.’ The guy left.
A few days later, the same guy stuck his head in the door and asked, ‘How long before I can get a haircut?’
The barber looked around at the shop and said, ‘About 3 hours.’
The guy left.
A week later, the same guy stuck his head in the shop and asked, ‘How long before I can get a haircut?’
The barber looked around the shop and said, ‘About an hour and a half’.The guy left.
The barber turned to his friend and said, ‘Hey, Bob, do me a favor , follow him and see where he goes. He keeps asking how long he has to wait for a haircut, but he never comes back.’
A little while later, Bob returned to the shop, laughing hysterically.
The barber asked, ‘So, where does he go when he leaves?’
Bob looked up, wiped the tears from his eyes and said….
‘Your house’
Gotta love the Street and Smith baseball guide. I have been getting that book every year for a long time. Good stories about the trends in baseball and the up and comers. I also love the all time leader lists. My favorite kind of stats. And the only ones to me that mean anything. There is no listing for WAR or OBP or any of that stuff. BA< runs, RBI's HR's and all the stuff that makes baseball what it is. Oh yeah, wins and losses too. There is a new stat they would like to see added. That stat pertains to the leaders in producing runs. You add runs scored and RBI's, subtract the HR's and you have the amount of runs the player produced. Actually made sense to me. Baseball is the only sport that does not have a scoring leader. This would change that. Top scoring leader in the majors last year, Charlie Blackmon. He had 204 points, beating out Paul Goldschmidt who had 201. Top AL guy was Aaron Judge with 190. Only Dodger in the top 25, Cody Bellinger with 145. They have also come up with a scoring efficiency stat which takes at bats and divides them by the scoring points. Kind of like BA when you are scoring runs. Cody much better in that category as his SE is .265. The leader in that was Bryce Harper at .311. Only Goldschmidt and Scooter Gennett joined Harper at over .300. The best season ever at scoring would be Lou Gehrig's 1931 season when his points topped 300 at 302. He is the only player to top 300 and appears 4 times in the top 25 of all time. Only other player with multiple appearances on the list……Joe Kelley from the 1890's. Best since 1978, Manny at 252 in 1999. They also had a category for career scoring. Pretty interesting stuff. Pujols is the only active player over 3000 points. Just a different way to look at a players worth…..Oh, and Kemp is in the top 25 of active players. Little quiz…..since the draft was implemented, how many #1 draft picks have the Dodgers had?
One?
The Dodgers have never had the #1 overall pick since the draft was implemented. I found that rather amazing. The highest draft pick for them ever in a draft was Darren Dreifort at # 2 in 1993. They had 2 #5’s….Bill Bene and Bobby Valentine. Kershaw was a # 7. Since Kershaw was drafted the Dodgers have not picked higher than # 15. Most of the time they have been in the 20’s or 30’s. FAZ has drafted 6 players in the first round in their 3 years at the helm. Buehler at # 24, Funkhouser at # 35, he did not sign, Lux at # 20, Smith at 32, Sheffield at # 36 and Kendall at # 23. Since the draft began in 1965, 19 of those players had some significant time in the majors, a couple had no more than a cup of coffee. Being drafted in the first round does not insure MLB success. Which is one huge reason I would rather trade a prospect for a certified major leaguer any day.
Good stuff Michael. Have to give those ideas more thought but most of them I like.
I know the Dodgers had a #2 that didn’t work out all that well.
How can a guy who leads the league in passed balls also lead the league in defensive runs saved? What I would like to see is a defensive stat for catchers who save wild pitches. A ball in the dirt that goes to the backstop is ruled as a wild pitch. Grandal is one of the worst I’ve seen at blocking balls in the dirt and every time it happens with a runner on base it cost the team a base. “Bases saved” should be a thing.
Interesting stats.
There is one stat stands above all others to me. It’s a strategy my high school coach drilled into our heads. THE most important stat when looking at runs scored, runs batted in, and now runs produced, is On Base Percentage. The guys that knock in a lot of runs are always guys that are on teams that have a lineup in front of them that gets on base. The way my coach said it was “Dont make an out. If nobody makes an out we will score a lot of runs. With a lot of runs, we will win.” The MLB team with the highest OBP in 2017 – Houston. The MLB team that scored the most runs? Houston. Not surprising it would be an AL club, the top 3 in OBP are teams are AL teams. The top 2 in the NL – Chicago and Colorado.
The Dodgers had a team OBP of .334. Not bad really. As a coach, I would be looking to improve that stat. The way to approach that is always “next pitch”. And a book could be written on next pitch. Probably has. Mine? “Next Pitch – The Strategy to Hit Your Best When It Matters Most” by Badgerdamus, B.S. PhD, AARP
Nosler has his no’s 41-50 Dodgers prospects out. I’m intrigued by RHP relief prospect Gonsolin – this kid is a total no namer coming out of a no name college, but has improved his fastball and slider (his fast ball now hits the high 90’s), with a 29% K rate vs only a 6% walk rate. And he can often pitches 2 innings in relief. He’s jumped more than 40 spots in Nosler’s ranking. If he can improve at AA and make it to AAA by mid season, I think this is the next Morrow. How much did we pay to sign this kid? $2500. Seriously. Jack pot if he even sees one season of MLB action.
if you can catch a ground ball you should be able to play third . you make it sound extra hard…i dont believe that ..
LOL.
second base is a lot harder then third ..you have to go to second then turn and throw to first and sometime s you got to cover first …so you are all ways moving ..yes a simple ground ball is easier …but most your on the move ..
Jerry’s on a roll of interesting comments.
jerry has always been a man of few words and no capitals…..
Hee hee
More anecdotal information:
Quite a few guys did a good job of keeping the ball in the yard last season. Some, not so much. Some notable 2017 HR/FB rates:
Buehler: 13.6%
Santana – 6.9%
May – 6.5%
Ferguson – 5.6%
Yadier – 5.3%
White – 4.5%
Of note, in that article, for Yadier Alvarez:
“The industry has begun talking about Alvarez’s makeup after he looked out of shape early last spring, but he’s in Arizona already working on his changeup command in preparation for the season.”
“In the last year, Will Smith has altered his stride in a way that has increased his in-game power rather significantly. He’s an Austin Barnes sequel who’s perhaps two years from the majors.”