Dodgers 40 Man As Of August 8, 2022
It is fairly clear now why the Dodgers passed on players at the deadline. I think it is also clear that Washington wanted 2 of Gavin Lux, Dustin May, and Tony Gonsolin plus, plus, plus. That was not going to happen. But there had to be interest in Diego Cartaya, Bobby Miller, Michael Busch, Miguel Vargas, Andy Pages, Gavin Stone, Landon Knack, and Maddux Bruns, right? Of course there was. But not so much interest in Jacob Amaya, Michael Grove, Justin Bruihl, Andre Jackson, Edwin Ríos, Eddys Leonard, or Jorbit Vivas? Certainly not the kind of interest to get Juan Soto or Luis Castillo or Frankie Montas.
Why the distinction? It really does become clear when you recognize the roster crunch that is coming. Trading the first group of players does nothing to reduce the 40 man roster. The Dodgers have as many as 8 players who may be coming off the 60 day IL in the next two months. 5 almost certainly…Dustin May (August), Edwin Ríos (August), Brusdar Graterol (August), Blake Treinen (Late August/Early September), Tommy Kahnle (Mid September). Then there are 3 more who are reportedly going to be ready in September…Walker Buehler, Victor Gonzalez, and Danny Duffy.
All eight of those players will need to be added to the 40 man before being reinstated to the active roster. Who is going to be DFA’d? To make it even more curious, the Dodgers traded a non 40-man roster player for Joey Gallo who was added to the 40-man. Admittedly, Gallo is an enticing wild card, but what if it is between adding Walker Buehler to the roster or retaining Joey Gallo and holding Buehler out for the year? It could happen.
Andrew Friedman on where Walker Buehler is now.
“Each day, it’s been better. We’re monitoring that progress on a daily basis, that said, we’re gonna be smart about it. So to the extent it continues to improve day over day over day as we get into a throwing progression…”
Friedman also hinted about a potential bullpen role or mid-inning reliever when Walker gets back.
“Yeah, I think anything is possible… We’ll figure out where he is and factor it in and round out our pitching staff with the guys we have now and some combination of guys we have coming back. … We feel like that 13-man staff is absolutely going to be a strength for us in October.”
Another curious move was the addition of former LAD prospect Rylan Bannon who was picked up off waivers from Baltimore. One has to figure that Bannon is also in a more precarious position than others. The Dodgers may try to squeeze him through waivers and send him to MiLB. That is what Baltimore was reportedly trying to do.
IMHO, there are two relatively straight forward DFA candidates…Jake Reed and Eddy Alvarez. But what about after that? I thought at the time (and wrote it) that I thought it was unnecessary to add Eddys Leonard or Jorbit Vivas to the 40 man. I cannot think of one team that would have selected either player and positioned them on the active roster all year.
To be fair, if not Leonard or Vivas, it would have been someone else added.
So trade them for lower level prospects to clear space? Nope. Only players who are NOT on the 40-man roster, and have not been on the 40-man roster at all this season, can be traded after August 2. To create roster space, a 40-man roster player will need to be designated for assignment. If they are designated now, some team will pick them up to place them on their 40 man. They will not have to be held on the active roster (26-man).
What if it is only 4 that will need to be added…Dustin May, Brusdar Graterol, Blake Treinen, and Edwin Ríos? That still needs four that will need to be designated. Ríos is playing every day at OKC, and can remain on rehab assignment for 20 days.
MLB: Per Article XIX-C of the CBA and with the player’s consent, a player on the MLB 10-day,15-day, or 60-day Injured List may be assigned to a minor league club for rehabilitation purposes for up to 20 days (for “position players”) and up to 30 days (for “pitchers” and for “two-way players”).
That period is due to expire on August 16. There is no reason to add him to the active roster at that time, but he does need to be activated to the 40-man. He could conceivably be optioned to OKC, and brought back up in September or not brought back.
Dustin May was sent out on rehab to Arizona Complex League on July 16 and to OKC on July 22. Because he falls under a special category (rehabbing from TJ surgery), he has additional time if needed.
“With approval of the MLB Commissioner, a player who has undergone elbow UCL reconstruction surgery (so-called “Tommy John surgery”) may have his Minor League Rehabilitation Assignment renewed for up to 30 additional days (in the form of three ten-day renewals).”
It has been reported that May needs one more rehab start, but no more than two before being activated. I believe that May is scheduled to start on Tuesday, August 9. Depending on how he pitches that game, a decision will be made whether he needs another rehab start or to bring him up to Milwaukee for a start against the Brewers (August 16?).
I am assuming that AF/BG know which players will be healthy enough to be added to the 40-man, and how to do that without losing a future prospect. I am sure there are ways of getting around this crunch that none of us mere fans are aware of.
And here I was thinking the Dodgers could still trade players after August 2 but those players would not be eligible for the playoffs this year. That hurts that they can’t.
Maybe the plan was to DFA Muncy but he objected with his bat to spoil that plan.
What if Justin returns and hits like he was before being injured and Max and Cody start producing. That would be quite the team going into the playoffs.
I wish the O’Malley family well but at the same time I am enjoying the current struggles San Diego is having.
Vargas was optioned to AAA. At present there are 25 players on the roster. So someone will be added before tonight’s game with the Twins or they will play a man short.
2B or not 2B?
Well, that question has finally been answered.
I believe some of us have been high on Lux as a 2B (not OF) for some time, while others thought he was a bad player with the yips.
Lux is a good enough athlete that he could work on playing the OF, but WHY. I would also prefer LAD re-signing Trea Turner. I would also consider taking a page out of other organizations playbook (Atlanta, CWS) and extending Lux. He is not yet arb eligible, so the cost could be reasonable to eliminate the arb years and a couple FA years.
I don’t have a lot to add, but you’ve given me a few things to think about.
I recognize the importance of the 40 man, and I don’t mean to minimize it, but I view those from 26 on as the junior varsity. In September we can add 2 of those guys. The way I’m looking at for the next couple of weeks we appear to have the luxury of allowing Gallo time to figure out how to connect, he and Thompson are my left right off the bench, and we can allow 2 top pitching prospects to get some innings. I know May is coming back, and obviously that’s a good thing, but I still exercise extreme caution with him. He’s got one more start to reach 75 pitches and if it’s me I don’t let him go more than that the rest of the way. That’s me. I’m probably more cautious with injuries than most.
Other than starting pitchers, do any other starters need a few innings off? They don’t look like it, but, couldn’t hurt.
The 40-man crunch is definitely going to cause AF some headaches. When Rios comes back, it’s almost certain that Bannon will be the one to go.
It’s the pitchers that will cause the problem. I think we can assume that Treinen, Graterol and Buehler will almost definitely make it back before the post season. That will necessitate dumping 3 guys, probably Reed, Moronta and Bickford or Bruihl. Any of the last three would have tradeable but, if I understand correctly, can only be released now.
If either Duffy or Kahnle make it back, that means another one or two guys have to be jettisoned. That problem alone may make Andrew decide not to bring those guys back this year, even if they might be available.
Some guy named Mason McRae released his Top 100 MLB prospects on Twitter this morning. I’ve never heard of him and I’m guessing no one else here has either. From what I can tell, he’s just basically a fan who spends a lot of time looking at players.
The reason I bring this up is that he has one of our very young DSL shortstops as #83 on his list of 100. The rest of his list is more or less reasonable except he has excluded Vargas and has included Hurt.
The player at #83 is Oswaldo Osorio, a 17 year old. Since three of you (Jeff, Rob and Harold) follow prospects more closely than the rest of us, I was just wondering what any or all of you know about this kid.
Here’s the link: https://masonmcrae.medium.com/ranking-the-top-prospects-in-baseball-18509483c856
Good morning. You seem to sleep in more in the summer than you do in the winter.
Good morning, Fred.
Silence does not equate to inactivity. I’m out of bed by 6:00 most mornings, but I don’t always comment here the minute I’m awake.
I have to let my thoughts ruminate a bit.
For example, this morning I spent at least an hour thinking about whether Oswaldo Osorio would want to wear uni #00 if he ever made it to the Dodgers.
That thought crossed my mind as well along with whether he was 6′ 7″ tall and played shortstop.
LOVE this kind of information find.
Thanks much.
Oswaldo Osorio is a 6′ 1″ 171 pound 17 year old infielder from San Felipe Venezuela. He was not considered one of the top International Free Agents in the group, but he is having a good (not great season in the DSL). Maybe Mason McRae has got some DSL knowledge, but there is no way I am putting a kid who would be just entering his junior or senior season in HS in the top 100 unless he was freakishly toolsy, which Osorio is not. Maybe NYY Jasson Dominguez or Vlad JR, or Wander Franco, deserved it as a 17 year old, but Oswaldo Osorio is not at that level.
His numbers – .246/.436/.500/.936 – 4 doubles, 5 triples, 6 HR, 20 RBI, 37 BB, 39K, 11 SB, 7 CS
Another player that I have been following, is CF Josue De Paula. He is also 17. He is 6′ 3″ 185 pounds.
His numbers – .338/.451/.477/.928 – 9 doubles, 4 HR, 21 RBI, 29 BB, 25 K, 15 SB, 5 CS
One more Mairoshendrick (Mairo) Martinus 17 year old infielder from Curacao. Some say he is the best infielder from Curacao since Ozzie Albies. He is 6′ 3″ 161 pounds.
His numbers – .246/.321/.458/.779 – 4 doubles, 4 triples, 6 HR, 30 RBI, 14BB, 39K, 9 SB, 4 CS
These kids are all babies. They need to play stateside before giving them a top 100 status.
Thanks for the follow up info, Jeff. We’ll have to keep an eye on all three of those young guys.
If I were just going to go by names, I’d have to say Mairoshendrick is my new favorite prospect. 😋
News From Internet:
The person behind future Dodgers, who is apparently also studying for the bar, recently wrote (and wrote well) on the Dodgers trade deadline:
He/she also updated the prospect rankings:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Tuooytw157kjyMeY1ecRDnPq9FTGGWQOwzWSgsQpqN4/edit#gid=882166644
Top Ten:
Cartaya, Miller, Vargas, Pages, Stone, Busch, Pepiot, Ramos, Nastrini and Bruns.
Latest Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet ($$$$$)
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/hot-sheet-baseballs-20-hottest-prospects-from-the-past-week-8922/
Ryan Ward at 15. “The Scoop: The Dodgers latest draft steal as an eighth-rounder out of Bryant in 2019, Ward has hit at every level and is continuing to crush this year at Double-A….”
Yunior Garcia in the “Helium” section “Garcia has been hampered by injuries the last few years, but now that he’s healthy, he’s raking for Low-A Rancho Cucamonga. ”
FanGraphs looks at the remaining schedule for teams
The Dodgers’ is on the tougher side.
Baseball America updated their top 100
https://www.baseballamerica.com/rankings/2022-top-100-prospects/
Cartaya at 9, Miller at 24, Vargas at 27, Busch at 50, Pepiot at 54, Gavin Stone at 56, Pages at 80. That’s SEVEN. Uh-Maize-Zing.
Ben Clemens Chat:
Mike M The Dodgers sweeping the Padres: small sample outcome or something greater? If the latter, what did we learn?
Ben Clemens With four-game series, I’m always gonna lean small sample. That said, if I learned anything, it’s that the Dodgers are good
davealden53 Thoughts on the Zaidi/Kapler regime in San Francisco? I think that the Giants were remarkably lucky last year and almost equally unlucky this year, two blips that confuse the long-term picture, but I still trust the approach.
Ben Clemens I agree with that. Trying to figure out if they’re equal is tough, but I think they ran extremely hot last year and have had a ton of bad breaks this year… I believe in the approach, Zaidi also has a track record long enough that I’d believe in the approach even if things were going a bit worse
Farhandrew Zaidman Am I insane to be REALLY high on the AAA bats in the Dodgers’ system – Vargas especially, but also Outman, Cartaya, Amaya, Busch…
Ben Clemens I’m not sold on Cartaya and Amaya yet, but to be honest i haven’t given their numbers a thorough comb-through so it’s more just inherent conservatism about prospects than anything
Vargas is one of my favorite hitting prospects. He made my data-driven mid-tier hitters list last year and has done nothing but hit since then. Definitely a believer
I missed this but the great Mike Petriello took a look at StatCast’s bat speed tool:
https://www.mlb.com/news/what-you-need-to-know-about-statcast-bat-tracking
To note, Cody Bellinger’s tracked bat speed is now 78.4. I believe it used to be around 82 at least. Perhaps this is behind all the tinkering he is/has been doing…
Julio Rodriguez said Ryan Pepiot was the best MILB pitcher he’s ever faced
Baseball America lists the youngest player by minor league:
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/youngest-players-by-league-august-2022/
Vargas at #5, he’s only 22.7YO
Ilmerson Colon in the DSL is only 16.8YO
FanGraphs Prospect Roundup includes;
Moises Brito has fanned 32 batters and issued just one walk in 29 Dominican Summer League innings. Signed by the Toronto Blue Jays as an international free agent on June 2, the 20-year-old southpaw was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Tuesday’s trade deadline as part of a four-prospect swap.
Ryan Ward leads the Double-A Texas League with 27 home runs. Featured here at FanGraphs last November, the 24-year-old outfielder in the Los Angeles Dodgers system is slashing .267/.323/.534 with a 110 wRC+ for the Tulsa Drillers.
Despite the 40 man crunch KEEP an eye on Robles, he has MLB pitching experience:
Hansel Robles was a tick up on his fastball recently (97 last time out vs 96 avg this season) and also had five inches less run than his season avg. That’s been a trend over his last few games with OKC—not a bad thing, as his fastball had 2+ inches more run this year than prior years.
Ben Badler is bullish on what the Dodgers received for Mitch White ($$$$)
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/trade-central-blue-jays-dodgers-swap-prospects-with-nick-frasso-alex-de-jesus/
MLB.com rates the Padres package for Soto as arguably the biggest of all time:
https://www.mlb.com/news/prospect-trade-hauls-all-time-rankings
#2 oddly is the old Teixeira deal. No not Ruy Teixiera!
Very cool FanGraphs article about how trades happen in MLB
Jay Jaffe on the Kershaw injury:
In the grand scheme, the Dodgers have higher-ceiling pitchers in their system more likely to round out a future rotation in Ryan Pepiot and Bobby Miller. White, who’s out of options after this year, was less likely to figure in next year’s plans, hence the trade to Toronto….
Miller, a 23-year-old righty with an upper-90s fastball and a plus slider, is still at Double-A and unlikely to figure in this year’s plans. Pepiot, a 24-year-old righty with a 70-grade changeup, has made four starts for the big club this year, posting a 2.76 ERA and 4.15 FIP but only once lasting even five innings…
By that point, the wild card in this whole sequence, Dustin May…..
Dodgers Digest does a mid-season look at the Dodgers top prospects:
Longenhagen ranks the prospects traded:
Relief only Beeter is at 10. Frasso at 16. Brito 2nd to last.
Great stuff, as always, Bluto. Thanks for posting it on a regular basis.
By the way, the guy behind Future Dodgers is Justin Lorber. He does a great job, as Jeff and I have stated previously. Not sure where he’s from, but he’s studying in Indiana. I guess if you’re a law student, staying up late at night for Dodger games is no big thing since you’re probably up half the night anyway.
See the Twitter from Dodger Poke Report on Cole Percival. He is 23 and just got promoted to AA. He has had a rough start in Tulsa, but I think Percival has got some promise if he can handle the command/control. That is always a hard balance for pitchers. I like Cole as a dark horse for 2023/2024 bullpen.
Thanks for all the great info. Cheers.
True act of sportsmanship and human kindness.
Most of the twitter responses were saying players should have instead charged the mound.
Speaking of head hits…
That was funny.
I remember getting hit on my left cheek in Little League. I convinced our coach that I was OK but when I got out onto the field the next inning, I had double vision and was hoping no one would hit the ball to me (no one did).
On July 23, 2022, the Dodgers just signed former LAA top prospect Jahmai Jones to a two year MiLB contract. On May 27, 2022, Jones underwent TJ surgery. On May 28, Jones was DFA’d by the Baltimore Orioles and released on July 3.
Jones has been assigned LAD ACL, but will not be playing this year. Jones is extremely athletic and comes from an athletic family. Jahmai’s father and two sons each played professional football. Jahmai was a high school football star but wanted to concentrate on baseball. Jones was a 2nd round pick out of high school (70th overall). He is a 2B who is just as comfortable in the OF. He can play all three OF positions.
This is the perfect risk the Dodgers take…an athletic player from an athletic family who needs a change of scenery. The Dodgers development team may find yet another throw away like JT, CT3, or Max Muncy. And now Trayce Thompson.
They seem to be treating him like more than just filler. Let’s hope it works out.