MiLB Free Agents

It is always great to see former Dodgers prospects do well. players I followed for years while toiling in MiLB.  These guys are very good baseball players.  When you have played in one organization for your entire professional career, but never make the 40 man after 7 years, it is pretty clear you are not going to get inducted into the MLB HOF as a player.  And when you are not snatched up in any of the Rule 5 Drafts you were eligible for, that is another strike.  It appears these players are just one step away from realizing a childhood dream, but for some it might as well be a million steps.

Most MiLB players are released relatively early in their careers.  Some choose to retire, recognizing that professional baseball isn’t for them.  My son had multiple high school friends in the San Fernando Valley he grew up with that chose this path. Some choose to stick around and see if they get moved to another organization for that chance at MLB. If you are fortunate enough to last 7 years in MiLB without making the 40-man roster, you are granted free agency.  These players are not all of a sudden going to get a MLB contract, but they will get a new start to impress another team.

Those who watched the Dodgers vs A’s on Sunday got a chance to see such a player…29 year old OF Drew Avans.  Drew reached AAA at the age of 25.  However, instead of at least getting the call just once, he spent the next 4 years at OKC.  At the end of the 2024 season, Drew was granted free agency and signed MiLB contract with the A’s.

Avans was not simply overlooked.  James Outman, Jonny Deluca, Andy Pages, and even Miguel Vargas all got opportunities to play in LA.  Vargas is an infielder, but he was given the opportunity to become a MLB LF with the Dodgers.  It did not work out.  Deluca and Vargas have been traded, and while both Outman and Pages remain with LAD, neither are guaranteed a spot on the 26 man roster, much less a regular role in the OF.  Other than his parents, nobody believes Avans was more deserving of a chance to fail in MLB over those four.

Avans did not have the requisite power to be a MLB corner OF, and his defense was not quite at the level to offset his “okay” offensive stats.  On the CF spectrum, he was not in the first three with Outman, Deluca, and Pages (who is not a CF).  And yet he was good enough to stick with the Dodgers, a perennial championship caliber team, for 7 years. Would he have been better served playing for the A’s, Pittsburgh, Miami, Cincinnati, Seattle, or any other 2^nd tier and lower team?

A day after Miguel Vargas took Tyler Glasnow deep, LH hitting Drew Avans faced off against 2-time CY winner LHP Blake Snell.  Snell is lethal against LH hitters.  That did not deter Avans in the least.  He pulled a 94.8 MPH 4-seamer that was well inside of the strike zone over the RF fence for a HR.  Snell allowed 2 HRs from a LH hitter all year in 2024.  In his 2^nd AB against Snell, he hit a 102.8 MPH line drive to LF for an out.

Avans is having a very good Spring.  However, with Miguel Andujar and Esteury Ruiz as the 4^th and 5^th OF option ahead of him on the depth chart.  It is going to be tough to get that call.  In addition, 25 year old Denzel Clark is already on the 40-man, and 24 year old Colby Thomas is slated higher than Avans on the A’s OF depth chart.  One point in Drew’s favor is that he is LH and none of the other four are.

MLB used to have a September callup for MiLB players, and this is where many of these level of players got their proverbial “cup of coffee”.  One such player with LAD was 2011 12^th round draft pick from Sonoma State, O’Koyea Dickson.  Like Avans, O’Koyea became a favorite of mine because of his perseverance.

Dickson spent 3 years in OKC before his September callup, September 1, 2017.  He made his major league debut the following day as the starting leftfielder and was hitless in three at-bats with one walk. He appeared in a total of seven games and had one hit in seven at-bats for the Dodgers (9 PA). His first major league hit was a single to centerfield off Madison Bumgarner on September 23, 2017. He suffered a shoulder injury late in the month and was placed on the disabled list. Dickson was outrighted to the minors and removed from the 40-man roster on November 6, 2017, and elected free agency the same day.

For 2018, Dickson signed with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in the JPL.    Dickson did sign a MiLB contract with the Nationals in 2019, only to get released early May 2019. He never again played in MLB. But he did get his chance.  And if the Astros had not cheated, Dickson would have got a 2017 WS ring.

Following the 2025 season, five LAD prospects will reach MiLB free agent status, and will undoubtedly choose free agency.  The most prominent is 27 year old 3B Kody Hoese.  It is possible that Hoese could get called at some point in the season and is then protected for three option years.  Would the Dodgers do that to Hoese, or just give him free agency so he could pick his next team.  Alex Freeland needs to be protected by December 2025, so it is more likely that Freeland would get the call over Hoese.

The other four players in the same predicament are:

• OF/1B Ryan Ward (27 year old) – This will be his 3^rd year at OKC
• RHRP Jack Little (27 year old) – This will be his 2^nd year at OKC
• LHP Alec Gamboa (28 year old) – This will be his 3^rd year at OKC
• RHRP Logan Boyer (27 year old) – This will be his 2^nd year at Tulsa or 1^st at OKC. Boyer missed two years (2022 and 2023) due to TJ surgery.  Logan got off to a great start in 2024 as the Tulsa closer.  In 27.2 IP, Boyer had a 1.67 ERA with 5 saves out of 6 save opportunities.  However, Boyer was shut down again after his June 29 outing for the remainder of the season.

Making it to MLB is NOT EASY.  Some have to be in the right spot with the right team.  My son was one of those.  Tito Francona liked Andy when both were with the Phillies.  After Andy was traded to the Red Sox, they renewed their kinship, and Andy got his chance.  Not all are as fortunate.

Here’s hoping that Drew Avans gets his opportunity.